Gradually more real-life events are appearing in the calendar, but while we wait for things to catch up with the improved Covid situation, let’s get out and enjoy the weather after such a dismal May. Special Events The British Korean Society is arranging an event to honour British veterans of the Korean War on Thursday […]
When a PowerPoint presentation can hold your attention for almost two hours…
How long is it since the time when we could go in person to a talk given by a real person in an actual physical room? I reckon it’s around 15 months. Since the beginning of March last year, Zoom has been the norm. Online talks do have advantages over a traditional lecture theatre: you can […]
May events 2021
Despite the gradual easing of the lockdown, things are still mostly online. Only Han Collection seems to be welcoming real-life visitors (do pay them a visit, and while you’re in the area pop into the contemporary ceramics showroom at 63 Great Russell Street – you’ll usually find work by at least one Korean potter in […]
London and Seoul unite with giant Hockney video screening
CIRCA, a new platform showcasing digital art both online and in a public space in the heart of London, has commissioned a digital artwork from David Hockney which will be on show in London and Seoul, plus LA, New York and Tokyo, during May. In London, the display will be on the big screen at […]
Book review: Kim Soom – One Left
When the issue of comfort women has been with us since the Pacific War, to re-emerge in 1991 when Kim Haksun came forward as the first to announce herself as victim, it is astonishing that we had to wait until 2016 for what is, according to Bonnie Oh’s introduction (p ix), “the first Korean novel […]
April events 2021
Exhibitions Han Collection will be exhibiting the ceramics from Icheon that it featured online for Collect earlier this year, from 12 April The KCC is hosting a season of artist videos, with a limited online viewing window, starting 6 April Pontone Gallery is hosting an online exhibition featuring the work of Lee Jeonglok Screenings Minari […]
Gallery: Jewyo Rhii’s “Love Your Depot”
The 2020 KCC Artist of the Year exhibition featuring Jewyo Rhii was of course a victim of the intermittent Covid lockdown. Even though the exhibition was, at various times that I can no longer remember, theoretically open to the public, there wasn’t much public around in Central London to visit it. I managed to pay […]
Cliff Richard in Seoul, 1969
OK, here goes… possibly LKL’s first ever Cliff Richard post. While searching for vintage Korean vinyl records sold in the UK on the Discogs record collectors website (they do crop up now and then, but if you’re a fan of Songolmae or Lee Mija, forget it: you’re too late!), I found this intriguing item – […]
Mari Kim’s new projects
Here’s a nice introduction to the multi-faceted work of Seoul Based artist Mari Kim, with English subtitles, just released on her YouTube channel. In the video she announces her plan to post a series of tutorials to help those learning to paint at home. Her work is always accessible, but in 2011 reached a wider […]
Son Heung-min reaches another milestone
The 2020/21 season isn’t over yet, but Tottenham’s Son Heung Min and Harry Kane have just become the top goal-scoring partnership in the history of the English Premiere League. The milestone was reached in Spurs’s 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace yesterday, when Son assisted the final goal from Kane. Son scored his 100th goal for […]
Michael Gibb’s Korean Odyssey: a great way to enjoy Korea without the the visa and quarantine
If I were to win an insane amount of money on the lottery, here’s how I might spend it. I’d charter a boat (and crew – I’m no sailor), and maybe a guide / interpreter, and go on a slow sea voyage for a couple of months from Busan to Mokpo, taking in some of […]
Minari: a movie re-viewed
After my first viewing, I was wondering whether to recommend Minari to my friends and family. If I’d bought an expensive cinema ticket to see it then I would have only seen it once. However, I bought a ticket that licensed me to view it as many times as I wanted within a 24 hour […]
March events 2021
Our Korean cultural fixes are sadly still exclusively online. One year into the lockdown, maybe I’m beginning to suffer from Zoom fatigue: the coming month feels the most barren for a while. Current highlight is the tail end of the Glasgow Film Festival, at which Korea is the focus country. But I’ll be aiming to […]
Bae Myung-hoon’s Tower could be the most fun thing you read this year
Bae Myung-hoon’s Tower is the first of several science fiction books to reach us this year, and if the rest are as good as this we’re in for an enjoyable time. It’s his first full-length work to be translated into English, and also translator Sung Ryu’s first book. She has two further titles coming out […]
The Drawing Hand: In Conversation With Illustrator Jieun Kim
The Christmas that just passed has been undoubtedly a quite different one. Many of us didn’t have a chance to spend the day with their loved ones and the joyful atmosphere that characterises one of the most loved and anticipated time of the year was dimmed by the still ongoing health emergency due to COVID-19. […]
February events 2021
As we approach the first anniversary of the UK lockdown, cultural organisations and academic institutions are getting into their stride with providing content online. While we still suffer from the lack of face-to-face communication and the ability to see works of art in the flesh, there seems to be an increasing range of other content […]