A mother and daughter duo will bring a puppet show inspired by Korea’s women freedivers to Wollongong Library as part of Council’s Culture Mix festival this Saturday.
Haenyeo: Women of the Sea is a tale about handing down traditions that will feature puppetry, crochet and Korean music. “It is inspired by the real women divers of Jeju Island, South Korea, as well as a traditional folk tale,” says professional puppeteer Kay Yasugi.
To help tell the story of this matriarchal community of freedivers, family breadwinners who earn a living harvesting shellfish, seaweed and other seafood, Kay roped in her mum, Youngkyu Kwon.
“In the show, she plays the grandma diver and I play her 10-year-old granddaughter,” Kay says. “The grandmother tries to teach her granddaughter to dive but the little girl does not listen to the call of the sea.
“The show also has a bit of an environmental spin on it, because there is a turtle in the show, and the story was inspired by a Jeju Korean folk tale about a Haenyeo diver who saves a turtle.
“We hope that audiences in Wollongong who are so connected to the water will also connect with that part of the story. And we hope that especially the children in the audience will be left not only thinking about what traditions they want to take on from their families, but also how they can be caring custodians of their environment.”
As part of their research, Kay and Youngkyu travelled to Jeju Island.
“They have an experience where you can go diving with real haenyeo divers and then, depending on what you catch, you can eat it for lunch,” Kay says.
“It was an incredible experience and very humbling considering I was surrounded by these women in their 70s and 80s who were far fitter than I am and who could hold their breath for up to two minutes and dive up to 20 metres.
“It's a tradition that's been going for 600 years … they can withstand very cold temperatures and very difficult situations. It's one of the only matriarchal societies in the world, and they're the breadwinners. I just think they're incredible.”
Kay has crocheted the show’s puppets herself. “We're celebrating women's stories and it made sense aesthetically to make the puppet in an art form that is done predominantly by women and to celebrate that craft.”
The family-friendly show is also a way of connecting with her own heritage. “I was born in Japan, so my father is Japanese and my mother is Korean, and we moved to Australia when I was three,” she says.
“I can speak Japanese and I can only speak a little bit of Korean.
"Doing this show and researching about Haenyeo Jeju divers, going to Korea, it was also about just getting connected with my Korean roots. I don't have a diver in the family, but the show is about passing down traditions, which I think is universal.”
Kay’s mum helped, acting as an interpreter. “She really is the cultural custodian of the whole project. When I first made the show, it was a lot more geared towards school educational, content. I did it on my own, but it didn't feel right.”
Once Kay included her mum, a writer and essayist, the story came alive. “We premiered our show in Italy at the Figura Offida Festival in a little medieval town. At that time [in 2019], I'd been doing puppets for 15 years and she'd been doing it for 15 weeks. But she's been working so hard and she's such a natural performer, that it's worked out really well. It's certainly been a really special experience for us."
The music came from a chance encounter at Jeju Haenyeo Museum. “There was a performance by former haenyeo divers and one of the singers was Kang Kyung Ja, who is one of Jeju’s living treasures for her knowledge and skills in traditional haenyeo folk songs.
“We ended up getting a lesson with her on haenyeo singing and drumming. And we were absolutely surprised and delighted that she gave us her music and told us to use it in our show. So it's her voice that you can hear.”
One Kay’s favourite childhood memories is visiting the puppet shop at the Rocks and seeing shows at the Puppet Cottage. “There was a nice full circle moment with that because a lot of the shows were done by Sue Wallace and Steve Coupe, who now run the ImaginArta Australian Puppet Centre down in Sutton Forest. And Sue was a co-director for this show, Haenyeo.”
As a child, Kay loved making things. She created her first puppet – a monkey named Chi Chi – after finishing high school. “I went to my local library to get a book on doll making, and they only had puppet books… and it kind of started from there.”
Years later she met the book's author, Ken Haines, in London and thanked him for kickstarting her career.
“Chi Chi was made of felt, newspaper, stuffing, googly eyes and a coat hanger. I still perform with Chi Chi, even though she's had quite considerable plastic surgery.”
Kay’s entry to professional puppetry came by chance at a conference where she met puppeteer Mal Heap. “Mal was part of The Ferals show in the 90s, he was Modigliana the cat. I grew up with that show and I was completely starstruck. He taught me a lot.”
Kay went on to do a Bachelor in Education Primary at Sydney University and then study at the London School of Puppetry. “Now I run Pupperoos, which combines puppetry and education, and I also run Digital Seagull, which is more for adults and corporate clients.”
In the screen age, when children are used to sophisticated special effects, Kay believes there’s even more reason to embrace puppetry.
“I think people are very much yearning for something tangible and real. More and more when you look at the digital world, you're questioning what is real.
“Puppetry is one of the oldest art forms in the world and I think the reason why it'll keep going is it's just such a powerful and imaginative and meaningful way to tell stories.
“There's something very special about live performance because it's ethereal, because it's not permanent. It's very much in that moment. And so you enjoy it while it's there.”
Haenyeo: Women of the Sea is on from 12-12.30pm on Saturday, October 14 at Wollongong Library. It's free – reserve your spot here.