Woori Sori (meaning Our Voice) is all-women's percussion group that creates a space for people to share the powerful connection through dance, singing, and playing drums. The group normally plays four of the traditional Korean percussion instruments involved in pungmul.
Each of the four instruments represents different aspects of the universe and nature: the kkwaenggwari (smaller gong) – stars and thunder; jing (gong) – sun and wind; buk (barrel drum) – moon and cloud; and janggu (hourglass drum) – rain, and the pungmul players are the people who walk upon the land to tie the spirits and body.
Historically, pungmul was played for harvesting rituals, collective farming labor, community celebrations, and gathering people for action to resist colonial power.
Pungmul is not only designed for performance but creates a space to celebrate the lives of all individuals and communities and lift up collective power. Today, it continues to be played by people all over the world to celebrate Korean culture and resist oppression.
Woori Sori is drumming to bring people together not only for performance but also a collective ritual that bridges the powerful connections to celebrate community and gather power to make the transformation.
While such space was dominated by men culturally and historically, Woori Sori came together in 1995 led by a group of leaders at KAN-WIN, and now also HANA Center, whose mission is to fight against gender-based violence, and now opened to a larger community that shares values. Multi-generational members of Woori Sori bring various backgrounds as mothers, sisters, community workers, and churchgoers, but the common thread tying us together is our commitment to work together to achieve gender, racial, and social justice.