Maria the Korean Bride

korea

marriage

performance art

mariayoon.com

News!

I am 34th times married (16 states remain out of 50)! Yes, it is true. This time, I even married a black angus cattle from Nebraska. To learn more about my road trip this summer, 2008: PLEASE JOIN ME FOR THE SOLO SHOW, A LIVE PERFORMANCE ON STAGE SCHEDULED AT THE RECITAL HALL, Henry Street Setttlement: Sept 18th, 19th and 20th, 2008! This show will be collaborated with one of the directors from the Blue Man Group, Sara Shives and with LIVE music which will be performed/improvised by Sun-Young Park. TO PURCHASE ADVANCED TICKETS ONLINE, click here!

To view my last year's wedding please visit this site: http://www.nanomajority.com/
On June 18th, 2008, I had my very first premiere screening of Maria the Korean Bride, short documentary click here to view PHOTOS from the event.

Maria the Korean Bride is fiscally sponsored project of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and an on-going multi-media performance designed to bring attention to the social pressure and ostracism that I have endured as a first generation Korean-American unmarried woman.

Korea is a small country steeped in many traditions. Its people are proud of their hard fought heritage, divided by communism to the North and still coming to terms with Japan’s brutal thirty-six years occupation in the early part of the 20th Century. Its people are protective of its rapidly fading ethnic purity and culture. Its male dominated society has for countless generations insisted on arranged marriages with strict adherence to both ethnicity and class. It may seem to Western eyes as somewhat outdated cultural mores but for many Korean American women, marriage has often meant choosing between families and following their hearts.

Maria the Korean Bride challenges and explores what marriage is as I document my cross-country journey as a forever Korean bride in my Korean bridal garb. It includes my random marriage proposals, interviews with various participants and mock wedding ceremonial performances with them. When complete, Maria the Korean Bride will be a feature documentary including highlights from most of the fifty states where these marriages take place.

Additionally, Maria the Korean Bride has also been formatted and memorialized as a collector’s
set of playing cards representing all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. This
series of work is also in the collection of the following institutions: Temple University, University of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art, Wellesley College, Haverford College, Scripps College, Smith College, Otis College of Art and Design.

Interested in participating or you think you can help?
Please write me. I usually start planning in May and travel in July.
Note: Your participation should not take no more than an hour. There is no script to remember only your vows if any for the GROOMS to be. All wedding crashers welcome!