Pansori from an African-French singer

It was when master singer Min Hye-seong (age 51, learner of the pansori Heungbu-ga of the National Intangible Cultural Property) was holding a Pansori performance at the Korean Cultural Center in Paris, France. Laure Mapou (age 39), a French woman of Cameron descent who majored in accounting and economics in France, had been working at the Paris office for Samsung Electronics. When the pansori Chunhyangga filled the room of the Korean Cultural Center, which she attended to learn Korean, she felt a strong urge to “express every sound pent up in my body.”

As soon as the performance ended, she went up to Min and said she wanted to learn. Min replied that she would teach him if it would take even up to twenty years if she came to Korea to learn. Two years later in 2017, Mapou left her job and boarded a plane to Korea against her parents’ wishes. “That Pansori performance changed my life forever,” she said.

Your reporter met with Mafo, who is learning Pansori from Min for the seventh year, at a café in Jongno. “The Heungbu-ga that I sing today is totally different from the one I sang seven years ago,” she said in fluent Korean. "I’ve fallen in love with Pansori on how it challenges me to chase my own voice. I want to reach the limits to see how far I can go."

Mafo, who had been invited to many prestigious occasions such as the dinner banquet for the Korea- French summit held at the Elysee Palace, says her most memorable performance was the one held at the Korean Embassy in Cameroon, where her mother lives. At that time, she sang ‘Sarang-ga’ in French. “All of the Cameroon audience stood and clapped even though they heard Pansori for the first time. My mother quietly watched and encouraged my ambition for the first time, saying to “go as far as I wished.” She has been nominated as the ambassador for the Korea-African Foundation since 2020.

She was invited to give a Pansori performance at the 2023 Cultural Communication Forum held under the theme of “Immersion, Hidden Talent and the Joy of Sharing” at the French Embassy to Korea located in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, which was hosted by the Corea Image Communication. French Ambassador to Korea Phillippe Lefort, who has a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, gave a Taekwondo performance, while German Ambassador Michael Reiffenstuel played Chopin’s Nocturne on the piano. Mafo sang “Song on Poverty” in Heungbu-ga.

Mafo’s, who joined the Korea Traditional Arts School at the Korea National University of Arts in 2021, aspires to teach Pansori to Korean students, just as her teacher Min. “When living in France, I felt like my voice was oppressed, but in Korea I was able to find my real voice while learning Pansori,” she said. "I wish to share the power of Pansori to the audience."


always99@donga.com