The people of Hahoe are probably the most disappointed as their village is home to Major Intangible Cultural Asset No. 69: Hahoe Byeolsingut Talnori ( masked play). It has many functions: to entertain, appease the gods, pray for good harvests, exorcise evil spirits and to mock corrupt officials. Even if there aren’t many tourists to entertain this time, perhaps the masked performers could still perform the talnori to pray that the H1N1 scare will die down rapidly. Or it could satirize the tug of war between KNTO whose efforts to draw more tourists to Korea have been frustrated by the government which has been cancelling one festival after another.
If you’re determined to visit Andong this fall, you can find some consolation in the the Hahoe Mask Museum ( Hahoe-domg Tal). Its quite comprehensive collection has masks from around the world include fierce visages from Papua New Guinea, earthy ones from the African continent and ornately decorated ones from Venice. At least you can see here the wide range of Korean masks used in their folk dances and drama. You can also buy reproductions of masks at the museum gift shop. More explanatory notes in English would’ve been good but I guess the curators preferred to let the masks do the talking.
Source: KNTO webpage http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/GK/cms_list_3157.jsp?cid=682664
