Director Ryu is holding a sign states “Artists make what they want, and planners make what others want”
RYU Jaehyun, the director of Sangsang Gongjang who created numerous cultural events in Korea including the World DJ Festival, gave a lecture at Seoul National University IBK Communication Center on September 17. During the hour and a half lecture, Ryu spoke about his career as a cultural events manager who organizes creative outdoor entertainments, as well as giving advice to students as an SNU alumnus.
Perhaps Ryu would be best described as a"Sangsang Gongjang," which means"imagination artisan" in Korean; he formulated the name himself because it was an apt depiction of his identity. Although Sangsang Gongjang is a small business with qualities of a civic organization, it hosts popular, large-scale festivals such as the World DJ Festival, Hi! Seoul Festival, Silent Disco, Ageless Day, and so many more. Ryu is at the center of planning these innovative and popular events that have become a vital aspect of Korea's cultural activities.
But Ryu revealed that organizing festivals was not something he had always intended to pursue as his career. In college, he was an Industrial Design major at the SNU College of Fine Arts, where he became a freshman at age 26 after years of taking college entrance exams and two years of military service. Until he graduated at age 30, a large portion of his campus life had to do with playing basketball and taking pictures, and he sometimes introduced his own major as"Industrial Photography Physical Education." Even after graduation, Ryu led on a life very different from that of a typical SNU graduate. He became a famous character in most of Hongdae's clubs, because he danced every night for three hours for a few years."During all the hours I spent dancing to techno music flowing from the clubs," he said,"I wanted many more people to experience this lively and entertaining cultural atmosphere." But by 1999, more and more people were gathering in the Gangnam area to go to parties attended by foreign artists. To revive Hongdae's clubbing culture, Ryu created something that no one in Korea had ever done before. He organized an event called"Club Day," where people could enter all of Hongdae's clubs after buying a single ticket. Club Day became so popular that, according to Ryu, Hongdae was able to build the vibrant atmosphere it has today.
Once Ryu became a leading figure in Seoul's techno clubs, he was recruited to work for Seoul Institute for Policy Development, through which he was given an opportunity to direct the music program for Hi! Seoul Festival 2003. That year's festival was a huge success, drawing 35000 people who had gathered to enjoy Hongdae's street culture. It was the first time that a governmental event showcased outdoor performances, B-boying, rock music and DJs. After this sensational festival, Ryu founded Sangsang Gongjang, where he continued to conceptualize new and creative ideas of festivals and put them into action.
Of all the festivals that Ryu directed, the most well-known innovation would be the World DJ Festival, held every year in May. Ever since it first began in 2007, the festival has become one of the biggest outdoor events hosted in Asia that introduces many talented DJs and musicians from all over the world."The motivation for coming up with the World DJ Festival was to create a space where people could dance all night in fresh air," Ryu explained."The clubs in Hongdae today, with all the drinking and smoking, are completely different from what I experienced in the 1990s. Back then, Hongdae clubs were a place where people could experiment with artistic expression and originality. Today you cannot find any of that, and it has become very difficult to appreciate the pure joy of dancing. This is why I decided to create the World DJ Festival."
When asked how he is able to constantly think of creative ideas, Ryu replied that he always starts by asking himself,"Why not?" He stressed that it was not about inventing a brand-new object out of thin air, but about viewing the same objects from a new, unique perspective. For him, this process was in part made easier by his habit of instantly googling recent information on whatever topic he came across during conversations or meetings."But most importantly, you need to incorporate your opinions and your own story in order to come up with something that is original," he emphasized.
The lecture ended with Ryu's three points of advice to SNU students: endure, experience failures, and put things into action. Even if it seems as if one is walking an experimental, unstable path, it is definitely worth giving it a try because one will never know the outcome without taking the chance. And during the process it is essential to hang in there and do one's best. Even if one fails as a result, one will be able to learn so much from that failure, so experiencing failure does not mean one is lagging behind. Finally, no matter what ingenious idea one has in his or her mind, it will not be truly ingenious until it has been put into action."Many people of the younger generation today are hesitant to choose a path that no one else is willing to take, but in the end that path will be the one that lasts long. Looking at the world from a unique perspective will enable you to match together distinct ideas in a creative way, eventually taking you a step closer to making the world different."
Written by YOON Jiwon, SNU English Editor, jiwonyoon@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr