From the monthly archives:

July 2007

Korean Film at Edinburgh

by Philip Gowman on 31 July, 2007

in Edinburgh 2007,Events news,Film,Im Sang-soo,Kim Ki-duk,Park Chan-wook,Roh Gyeong-tae

The Edinburgh Film Festival will be showing four Korean films this year. The choice of three of the four comes as no surprise. No western film festival with Korean content is complete without a recent Kim Ki-duk film, and this time round it’s Breath (숨). Everyone wants to know how Park Chan-wook can follow his [...]

{ 0 comments }

More Korean performances at Edinburgh Fringe

by Philip Gowman 31 July 2007

My recent post on Korean events at the Edinburgh Fringe seriously undersold the Korean involvement there. I was simply reproducing the publicity of one particular organisation – Korea@fringe. But that organisation is only responsible for the six acts I mentioned in my previous post. Thanks to Colin Bartlett for pointing this out. So here is, [...]

Read the full article →

A North Korean coup, years in the planning

by Philip Gowman 30 July 2007
Thumbnail image for A North Korean coup, years in the planning

Prologue The North Korean flag stirred gently in the breeze in Pall Mall, the heart of London’s clubland, a few hundred yards from Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. An elderly gentleman pottered up the steps to the Athenaeum. The blue and red flag caught his eye, but its significance did not register. A young woman [...]

Read the full article →

Pastor Bae Hyun-kyu

by Philip Gowman 29 July 2007

Just received from a reader On behaf of Avaaz.org, I am asking the Korean Community to remeber the death of Pastor Bae Hyun-Kyu who was killed on his 42nd birthday on Wednesday 25th July by the Taliban militia in Central Afghanistan. Also, let us remember the 22 remaining hostage in Ghazni, who were due to [...]

Read the full article →

New Labour Britain: North Korean policies, South Korean branding

by Philip Gowman 28 July 2007
Thumbnail image for New Labour Britain: North Korean policies, South Korean branding

July has seen two dramatic changes in Britain. A new regime in Westminster and the implementation of a draconian measure in the name of public health. On the latter point, England is catching up with Scotland, who implemented a smoking ban last year. And also with North Korea: The North Korean capital, Pyongyang, has reportedly [...]

Read the full article →

A meeting with MOT

by Anna Lindgren 27 July 2007
Thumbnail image for A meeting with MOT

by Anna Lindgren The summer of 2004, MOT’s debut album, “non-linear”, was my soundtrack of choice. Three years later, MOT have finally released their second album, “Strange season”, and it’s hard to think of a better suited companion for this rainy summer. Amidst the band’s activities following this recent release, the two members took the [...]

Read the full article →

Last chance to see Oh Tae Seok’s masterpiece

by Philip Gowman 26 July 2007
Thumbnail image for Last chance to see Oh Tae Seok’s masterpiece

The enigmatically titled Bicycle finishes this weekend. The play is performed by a western cast, in the English translation by Kim Ah-jeong and RB Graves, in Camden People’s Theatre, an intimate space (audience capacity around 40 I would reckon) near Euston Station. Oh Tae-Seok is known for making the audience work, skipping parts of the [...]

Read the full article →

Korean traditional dance at Asia House

by Peter Corbishley 25 July 2007
Thumbnail image for Korean traditional dance at Asia House

Peter Corbishley reports on last week’s dance event at Asia House Thanks to some unusual traffic your reviewer arrived late enough to get a front row seat for this unique performance of seven of eleven traditional Korean dances. ‘Exciting’, ‘beautiful’, ‘unexplored but most interesting’ were some of the words and phrases used to introduce this [...]

Read the full article →

kore@fringe

by Philip Gowman 24 July 2007

Korean artists feature in no less than six productions at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Something for everyone. Full details below: Dulsori Binari — The Spirit of the Beat @ The Old College Quad 3 – 27 August Don’t miss this passionate and colourful performance showcasing the unique heritage and spirited origins of traditional Korean [...]

Read the full article →

A guide to Los Angeles Koreatown

by Philip Gowman 23 July 2007

For a good description of Los Angeles Koreatown, pay LAist a visit. Some good pictures, and also a 5 minute video right at the bottom of the post. See if you can work out how to cook a kimchi chigae from the edited version in the video. One day I’ll persuade someone to do a [...]

Read the full article →

Fakes and curruption in art and academia

by Philip Gowman 22 July 2007
Thumbnail image for Fakes and curruption in art and academia

There has been a number of stories of fakes recently. Here’s a brief round-up of links 1 Shin Jeong-ah. Dongguk University Fires Bogus Professor, Korea Times, 20 July Stroke of luck, raw talent fueled Shin’s ascent, JoongAng Daily, 14 July. Some selected extracts: Shin Jeong-ah was 23 when the 1995 collapse of the Sampoong Department [...]

Read the full article →

Artists, Art and Culture of D. P. R. Korea

by Susan Pares 21 July 2007
Thumbnail image for Artists, Art and Culture of D. P. R. Korea

By Susan Pares For what is said to be the first time, the arts of North Korea hit the London gallery scene. North Korean contemporary art can be viewed periodically at the Korea Gallery of the British Museum, but this exhibition offers the chance for larger exposure to media and themes that are typical of [...]

Read the full article →

Welcome to a new guest contributor

by Philip Gowman 21 July 2007

I’d like to thank Susan Pares for stepping into the breach today to report from the opening of the new exhibition of art from the DPRK. I wish I could have been there myself. Thank you, Susan, and also to Jim Hoare for some additional material

Read the full article →

How many Koreans have never heard of Rain?

by Philip Gowman 20 July 2007
Thumbnail image for How many Koreans have never heard of Rain?

I don’t know the answer to that question. Maybe a reader can help. But seeing as I’m over in the States visiting my US co-workers right now, I thought I’d do a bit of market research. We had a team-building dinner yesterday. And on an impulse, I asked the person sitting next to me: so [...]

Read the full article →

London & South East to coordinate Korea campaign

by Philip Gowman 19 July 2007

A press release issued yesterday THINK LONDON AND SOUTH EAST ENGLAND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY JOIN FORCES IN PROMOTING LONDON AND SOUTH EAST IN KOREA July 18, 2007 Â Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London, and SEEDA, the South East England Development Agency, announced the establishment of their joint representative office based at KOTRA [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries