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Author Archives: Matthew Jackson

AKS Korean night - he said

23-Apr-08

One of two accounts of the recent Anglo-Korean Society evening at the KCC - this one by Matthew Jackson

The forces of the AKS, KTO and KCC were combined to good effect at the Cultural Evening on Thursday, 10 April. Walking around the packed Cultural Centre, it felt as though things have changed a lot in the last two years, and there is a chance that Korea may become known in this country for more than its history in the past fifty years.

The core of the evening was a series of talks and performances in the multi-purpose hall. Sir Stephen Brown, the AKS chairman, opened proceedings with a brief speech, introducing high profile attendants, which included a senior Hyundai executive. He also announced that AKS has now acquired three corporate sponsors, mentioning Diageo (who I believe do a brisk trade with the Koreans in Scotch whisky).

The presentation by the KTO representative examined Korea-UK tourism, which is increasing in both directions. There then followed an overview of Korean tourist attractions, both ancient and modern, and he revealed that a third airline, Finnair, will offer flights from the Manchester to Seoul from June onwards. The Asiana representative followed this with a rundown on what the airline is doing at the moment, but I went for a glass of water at this point, and only managed to catch the last part about the flat-bed seats.

Kayageum

I was in time to see the whole of the Kayageum and guitar recital by Jung Ji-eun (above) and Jeon Sung-min, which included traditional and contemporary pieces – ‘Let it Be’ caught me by surprise – as well as an original composition. It was interesting to hear to two instruments together, although my favourite was the solo Kayageum piece which opened the programme. I was familiar with the sound of the Kayageum, but I had never seen it played before. It looks pretty difficult.

Finally came the Taekwondo demonstration by a group of children from New Malden. This was more impressive than I originally envisaged, haunted by images of lack-lustre judo exhibitions from my school days consisting largely of forward-rolls.

Taekwondo Kids

Accompanied by a rousing soundtrack, the demonstration encompassed board breaking, two intervals of meditation, and what appeared to be a kind of martial arts themed dance routine.

After a somewhat chaotic raffle, the buffet was opened, and the evening was allowed to reach a natural close at around 10.30pm. I was impressed to see all the staff of the centre, including the director, pitching in to carry the tables used for the buffet down to the lecture rooms.

Although the AKS cultural evening is now over until next year, I am pretty sure that the KCC team has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. Thank you to Sylvia Park and all concerned for another sparkling event!

Thanks to Lee Hyung-wook, editor of The East, for the photos

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Im Kwon-taek shines at KCC

31-Mar-08

Matthew Jackson’s impressions from last Thursday’s screening of “Beyond the Years” at the Korean Cultural Centre

Beyond the years

There is definitely something extra that you get out of going to see a film in the company of people that you do not necessarily know, in surroundings that are not quite the same as any other you are used to, whilst being exposed to a culture that you like but do not entirely understand.

Regarding the surroundings, whilst I thought they were pretty good to begin with, the ever friendly and welcoming KCC team are continuing to process feedback. Mr. Choi announced in his pre-performance speech that they are investigating how to make the somewhat purist theatre seating more comfortable. The tiered benches are probably ideal for an audience accustomed to adopting the lotus position, but for more senior members of a Western audience, the chairs currently provided on the right hand of the theatre in some cases make it difficult to see the subtitles.

The subtitles of ‘Beyond the Years’ were useful, particularly during the many examples of pansori which occurred throughout the film. Although I could enjoy this music to a certain extent, it remains a relatively impenetrable art form to me, especially when I compare it to English folk music. Like many Korean art forms in fact. I wonder what Vaughan-Williams would have made of it.

Beyond the years

The actual story of the film was not what you would immediately recognise as uplifting, following as it did the intermittently successful quest of a man to be re-united with his sister, with whom he grew up playing as part of a pansori duo.

As much as telling a story, the film took the viewer away from airbrushed views of gleaming modernity. The time frame was that of the late fifties to the early eighties, before economic progress had permeated to the countryside, and a taste was given of lifestyle of rustic communities, where the old traditions lived on.

Beyond the years

While the focus of the story was technically on the brother Tong-ho (Jo Jae-hyun), his sister Song-hwa (Oh Jeong-hae) emerged as the central figure, passing through each successive misfortune with an imperturbable majesty.

From the perspective of someone who is fascinated by the otherness of Korean culture, I initially felt that the mere experiences the film left me with were more valuable than any ‘message’ that might be drawn. It felt at the end of the film that I had come a tiny bit closer to solving the riddle of Korea.

Thinking more about the character of Song-hwa, though, I started wondering whether she was supposed to represent something more than a heroine. I recently learned about the significance of the lotus flower in Korean thought, and how its ability to remain untainted and beautiful in the mud is symbolic of wisdom and virtue.

Song-hwa (Oh Jeong-hae)

While the director was clearly thinking of the huge changes that have occurred in Korean culture during his lifetime, this might imply that he feels that there is hope for what he might regard as the essence of Korean culture.

Although there was only one film night this month, it appears that they are to be held twice a month from now on. The next one is on the 11th of April, is Ki-duk Kim’s Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring, which I have not seen but am reliably informed is not to be missed. See you there.

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Good Evening, Ms. Jiyoon Lee!

11-Mar-08

Matthew Jackson reports from last Thursday’s gallery talk at the KCC

I had assumed that the Nam June Paik talk by Jiyoon Lee would take the form of a tour around the gallery itself. The schedule of the evening was fuller than I had expected, and required the setting of the ‘Sejong Room’ on the basement level, newly fitted out with lecture-room tables and an LG flat screen TV of considerable proportions.

The talk material had evidently been prepared very carefully for a non-Korean audience, which was much appreciated by those non-Koreans who did make it (in spite of the late announcement).

Jiyoon Lee is an independent curator, and director of the London-based SUUM Project, which brought us Through the Looking Glass at Asia House last year. An intense and engaging speaker, she devoted the greater portion of the talk to the history of contemporary of Korean art, thus providing a context for the current exhibition.

The development of contemporary art in Korea was encumbered for most of the 20th century, first by the Japanese occupation, then the Korean War, and finally the extended period of military rule.

The key turning point was 1989, when restrictions on foreign travel were lifted for Korean citizens. This being accompanied by economic prosperity, many Korean artists were finally free to go and study abroad.

Since then Korean contemporary art, though still ‘young’ by European and US standards, has been gaining prominence both in auction houses and galleries around the world.

Ms. Lee of course showed many examples of Korean contemporary art in the course of this narrative. As well as drawing out the link between the messages contained in the art works and the socio-political trends of the day, she made the point that Korean artists tend to rank the labour that goes into creating a piece of work as highly as the concept itself.

Gwon Osang photo sculpture

This was evident from Gwon Osang’s painstaking human sculptures composed of hundreds of photographs of the person in question (example above), and seems to be a trait in Korean art throughout the ages.

After this detailed historical perspective, Jiyoon Lee turned to the exhibition itself. Devoting minimal time to the exhibition pieces (presumably on the basis that they should be seen and not heard), she spoke at some length about Nam June Paik, a pioneer and patron of the Korean contemporary art scene.

Miyeon Yoon - Elizabeth IHis approach was ‘collaborative’ above all else, she emphasised, and this was reflected in the cross-cultural nature of many of the works on display (see right, Miyeon Yoon’s Elizabeth 1). She went so far as to say that her hope for the Cultural Centre was for it to become a place not only for Korean art, but artists from all cultural backgrounds.

She ended with an explanation of the curious title of the exhibition. In 1984, Paik staged a media-themed exhibition entitled Good Morning, Mr. Orwell, through which he aimed to demonstrate the ability of a pervasive media to serve positive ends. Jiyoon Lee felt that the continuation of Nam June Paik’s spirit in the young contemporary artists of today merited a more positive title for a commemoration of his death, hence, Good Morning, Mr. Nam June Paik.

My thanks are due once again to the KCC for what was definitely another stimulating evening.

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Han Sang-hee and the Art of Happiness

29-Feb-08

Matthew Jackson reviews “Virgin Snow” - the first film to be screened at the KCC, Tuesday 26 February

Virgin Snow

The Korean and Japanese cultural attachesThe screening of Virgin Snow at the new Korean Cultural Centre was the inaugural session in its programme of monthly film nights, and I felt it would be well worth attending for that reason alone. From the little I had read about it, the film itself looked like an average sort of heavy romance movie, which is not generally the kind I go for. I was pleasantly surprised.

Rice cakesThe centre provided an ideal setting. There was an opportunity to meet and talk with others before and after the film, and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of exquisite rice cakes. The director of the film, Han Sang-hee, was present to introduce it and to answer questions. Being a joint-event with the Japanese Society, their directors were also in attendance (above left), and mention was made in the introductory speeches of the recent reconciliatory gestures between the Japanese and Korean governments.

Hang Sang-heeHan Sang-hee (left) stated that his intention behind making the film was ‘to depict purity and innocence’, and expressed the wish that ‘everyone who saw the film that evening would go home with a happy heart’. This struck me as unusual, and I was interested to see how the film would measure up to these claims.

The film is about a young, passionate Korean (Min) who travels to Japan with his father to study there for a year, where he meets an innocent Japanese girl (Nanae), and they form an attachment. ‘Form an attachment’ best conveys the way their relationship is depicted by Han, who in tune with his intention to portray purity and innocence, applies a delicacy and restraint to his characters’ actions that would not seem out of place in a Jane Austen novel. One day, Min makes a visit to his grandmother in Seoul, and finds on his return that Nanae is gone. They are eventually re-united, reconciled, and the film ends.

Hang Sang hee with rice cakesIn terms of what actually happens in the film, there is not a great deal more to it than that. The plot complications consist in the language barrier, as neither of them speaks each other’s language, and the situation of Nanae’s alcoholic mother, the precise details of which Han characteristically leaves to the viewer’s imagination. There are some entertaining scenes in the school where Min is studying, including a tongue-in-cheek fight scene by the bike rack, and a dialogue conducted in a mixture of broken English and sign-language on the school roof, where a Japanese colleague advises Min on how best to court women from Kyoto. The easy relationship Min has with his father, the frantic bicycle races he has with the comical Zen monk, are all pleasantly interwoven into the main scheme of events.

Inside the KCCIt is very difficult to pinpoint where the substance of the film lies. It appeared from the questions at the end of the film that others were also puzzled by this question, and that some perhaps doubted that it had any. So far as this viewer was concerned, Han achieved both his objectives. Happiness, innocence and beauty pervaded the whole length of the film, and the result was something more profound than the ‘feel-good’ experience which Hollywood accountants have now managed to reduce to a science. In the end, the niceties of the contrived and ‘unrealistic’ storyline did not matter.

Inside the screening room, KCCThe next film on the KCC’s agenda (27 March) is Beyond the Years (aka A Thousand Cranes, Im Kwon-taek, 2007), a story of brother-and-sister musicians trained to perform pansori. I certainly won’t be dragging my feet.

Credits:

  • All photos courtesy of Gemini Kim, www.geminikim.com (except for movie still at top of article)

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