From the monthly archives:

September 2007

October at Chatham House

by Philip Gowman on 30 September, 2007

in Chatham House,Events news

Two talks at the Korea Discussion Group at Chatham House in October. Firstly: The Six-Party Talks & the Future of the Korean Peninsula Yuri Kim Monday 15th October 2007 Meeting: 2.00-4.00pm Chair: Jim Hoare Yuri Kim is chief of the DPRK (North Korea) Affairs Division at the U.S. Department of State. Her portfolio covers the [...]

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Korea still an emerging market

by Philip Gowman 29 September 2007

More than 10 years after joining the OECD, South Korea is still an emerging market. FTSE (the company owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange) has recently been reviewing the constituent countries in its various global equity indices. In drawing up the indices, they categorise countries into three lists: Developed, Advanced Emerging, [...]

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K-film at the BFI London Film Festival

by Philip Gowman 28 September 2007

Not to be confused with the Korean Film Festival at the Barbican at the beginning of November (on which more later), the BFI London Film Festival in October has an excellent spread of recent Korean film. The Highlight: Secret Sunshine (Lee Chang-dong, 2007, starring Jeon Do-Yeon, Song Kang-Ho, 142 mins) “A devastating account of a [...]

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10 Comes to Europe

by Philip Gowman 27 September 2007

10, LKL’s favourite Korean-Japanese experimental indie music duo, is coming to Europe to challenge, amaze and entertain audiences in Spain and France. Half of the duo is itta, interviewed by Anna Lindgren in March this year. The other half is Marqido, who describes himself as a Noise Artist. Here are the tour dates: 28 Sep [...]

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Chuseok at the BM — part sprint, part marathon

by Philip Gowman 26 September 2007
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It is a commonplace observation that Korea is caught between two larger neighbours. Similarly, in marketing terms, the Korean events at the British Museum last Saturday were dwarfed by the blitzkrieg advertising for the Chinese “First Emperor” and the Japanese modern design exhibitions, both also at the British Museum at the same time. But although [...]

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Moon jars old and new

by Philip Gowman 25 September 2007
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There were moon jars a-plenty at the British Museum on Saturday: old and new, whole and smashed, real and fake and, as is the nature of these objects, none of them perfectly spherical. In pride of place in Room 3, just as you enter the museum, is one of the prized items in the British [...]

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Paekho’s architectural art

by Philip Gowman 24 September 2007
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I happened to arrive at the DPRK embassy at the tail end of the afternoon, after the reception which welcomed numerous dignitaries to the exhibition of work produced by the Korea Paekho Trading Corporation. I therefore had the works to myself: it was just me, Pak Chang Sop (People’s Artist and president of the corporation), [...]

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Chuseok at the British Museum

by Philip Gowman 23 September 2007

I haven’t had a chance to write anything yet – that will come in the next couple of days – but in the meanwhile I’ve uploaded my snaps onto my flickr page. Let me know of any other photos you wish to share.

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Rags in the Wind – some photos

by Philip Gowman 22 September 2007
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Here are some photos from Rags in the Wind – a group show in the Graz Botanical gardens, on now. It’s featured here because it includes the work of London-based, Korean-born artist Francesca Cho. Her “Floating Soul 1″ is below: Some thumbnails of the work of some of the other artists are below: View a [...]

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Kim Young-jin: Lee Chang-dong

by Philip Gowman 21 September 2007
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(Seoul Selection, 2007) I can imagine that there was a certain amount of discussion about the timing of this book. After a break of some years — enforced by his stint as Roh Moo-hyun’s first Minister for Culture and Tourism — the well-regarded director Lee Chang-dong was active again. His new film, with two of [...]

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Pictures from the Thames Festival 2007

by Philip Gowman 20 September 2007

Thanks to Tristan Kinslow for letting me post some of his photos of the Korean Village last weekend’s Thames Festival. View the rest of the photos at Tristan’s flickr account. And here’s one of the lantern procession, from the London SE1 site:

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More DPRK art in London

by Philip Gowman 19 September 2007

This is proving to a bumper year for North Korean Art in London. The exhibition in Pall Mall is just winding down, and we have yet more this week, in no less prestigious a location (albeit less central): on DPRK territory itself. On Friday and Saturday this week there will be an exhibition of work [...]

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Jackie Choi London showcases new designs

by Philip Gowman 18 September 2007
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Jackie Choi London, the Korean designers whose “Eye” chair was featured on Graham Norton’s show, are showing new designs at 100% Design 2007 (Earls Court, 20-24 September). The sideboard above was inspired by Lucio Fontana and his “Slash” series of works, (example right). The Choi sisters will also be launching a pewter candelabra (left) in [...]

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Jung at Heart

by Beccy Kennedy 17 September 2007
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Beccy Kennedy reviews an exhibition of Korean artists in Finchley, North London, September 2007, and interviews two of the artists. Work by Jung-mi Bae, Chul-won Kwak and Sang-yoon Yoon.

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Unequal treaties

by Philip Gowman 16 September 2007

A quick notice of a seminar upcoming this week: Centre of Korean Studies Seminar 18th of September 2007. Venue: SOAS Room B111 Time: 5pm – 7pm Han Seunghoon (Korea University) The Beginning of the Unequal Treaty System in Late-Nineteenth century Choson As usual, the event is free and no pre-booking is required

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