(Lawrence King, 2005) A collection of articles, turned into a book. As I’m neither an art critic nor an art historian I’m going to restrict myself to a chapter-by-chapter summary of the ground covered. A useful overview of colonial period art. Highlights the difficulty of studying & researching the art history of the period, in … [Read More]
Month: July 2006
Dae Jang Geum campaign gathers momentum …
…but still needs your support. A couple of months ago I put up a notice on my old site encouraging you to visit Alice Bennell’s blog and join her campaign to get the BBC to buy Dae Jang Geum — Jewel in the Palace — for showing on British TV. Since then Alice has been … [Read More]
Bada and the birthrate
I wish I was in Seoul today. I recently posted about Anna Fifield’s article on Korean family planning, and in particular the government’s plan to spend $30 billion over the next 5 years to try to boost the birthrate. Here’s a story about how some of that $30 billion is going to be spent: a … [Read More]
Kingston Korean Festival 2006
The annual celebration of Independence Day (15 August) Kingston Korean Festival 2006 Saturday 12 August 2006, 10:00am – 6:30pm Fairfield Recreation Ground, Kingston Admission £1.00 (includes raffle ticket) More Information: Korean Residents Society 020 8605 0050 The event, which is open to everyone, is organised by the Korean Residents Association, which is committed to enriching … [Read More]
Countdown to London premiere of The Host
Tickets for Frightfest go on sale on Tuesday 1 August at 11 am. Make sure you get in early. There’s a very slim possibility that Bong Joon-ho himself might be there, but don’t get your hopes up. To whet your appetite, have a listen to the Metropolitician’s latest podcast: it’s a discussion with Darcy and … [Read More]
Update to events page
I’m still exploring how to get WordPress to do a sensible calendar / events list, and in the meantime I’m still maintaining my steam-driven listing on my Microsoft Publisher platform. Browsing the Korean Embassy’s Think Korea site just now I saw they’ve been updating their events page (including giving details of events which occurred before … [Read More]
London Korean Ensemble plays St Margaret’s Westminster
I just happened to spot this browsing Time Out yesterday. A drive-time concert of Mozart, Bizet and Piazzola at St Margaret’s Westminster today. I’m not sure what mix of instruments they are (presumably they include an accordionist given the Piazzola?). Go along and find out, at 6pm. Tickets £7 (concessions £5) from 020 7121 6604 … [Read More]
Cooking in the danger zone (2)
Not much to report on this programme. Nothing sensationalist. The most interesting thing was that the BBC crew was shadowed by a Korean TV crew who were interested in how the Beeb were going to portray the dogmeat industry. And there was a beef farm where although the cattle weren’t free range they seemed fairly … [Read More]
Korean books at the SOAS bookshop
Keith Howard of SOAS has just brough out a book on Korean popular music, 1920s to the present day. It covers the same period as Kim Chang-nam’s lecture of a few weeks ago, so obviously I’ve got to buy it. I tried to get my local bookshop to order it, but they said they couldn’t … [Read More]
Boryeong mud festival
What is it about the mud festival, which just finished this last Saturday in Boryeong? I see it mentioned in Seoul magazine as one of the highlights of the Korean cultural calendar, on the Seoul Selection website, and this week it’s been in the Chosun Ilbo and on the Yonhap site. Is it really a … [Read More]
Kia Cerato LX CRDi
Well, it’s not going to win any design awards, but it’s a perfectly OK car. It’s got one of those strange flaps on the boot, and a skirt below the radiator at the front. I think they’re meant to make the car go faster, but if you exit the petrol station too enthusiastically there’s a … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 5: the performance
If anything was going to go wrong, it was going to be the Hwimori. The others were easy: at most four lines, each one the same length, and played once before moving on to the next; and the cycle was repeated several times so that there was no way you were going to forget it. … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 4
I can touch my toes for the first time in ages. Such is the effect of sitting on the floor crouching over a drum for three hours solid, four days on the trot. Things were going swimmingly yesterday. We had all done our homework. We were remembering everything, doing the breathing, and actually laughing and … [Read More]
Come & support the SamulNori stars of tomorrow.
Or at least come and have a laugh at your blogmeister making a fool of himself. This week’s evening classes at SOAS culminate in an open-air concert at SOAS main entrance (NOT in Russell Square as previously advertised) at 7pm today, Friday 21 July. Our tutors, the wonderful Dulsori, will be doing some solo numbers, … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 3
Mainly consolidation yesterday. Lots of breathing (back-rolling) and reminders of the previous couple of evenings. We were struggling with the heat, and recognising this after a couple of recaps of the ground already covered we played some Korean games. This involved running around, making lots of noise, holding hands and making moves straight out of … [Read More]
DPRK E-bulletin: UN resolution
Received yesterday through the BAKS list: DPRK Foreign Ministry Refutes “Resolution of UN Security Council” Pyongyang, July 16 (KCNA) — The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea issued today the following statement vehemently denouncing and totally refuting the “resolution” of the UN Security Council against the DPRK, a product of the U.S. … [Read More]