Here are the events I know about for June. And please note that the London Korean Film Festival which normally takes place at the Prince Charles Cinema at about this time of year is not happening this year. There will however be a film festival later this year, organised by the Korean Cultural Centre.
Academia, conferences, meetings
- 1 June: Conference on peace and security on the Korean peninsula, at Swansea.
- 1-2 June: Conference on Korean linguistics at SOAS.
- 11 June: Korea Discussion Group at Chatham House.
- 19 June: Evidence session held by British-North Korea Parliamentary Action Group
- 25 June: Centre for Korean studes conference at SOAS – details to be confirmed.
Arts and music
- There’s an exhibition of Korean art and ceramics at ArtSpace in Mayfair, possibly 11-17 June. At the time of writing I’m still trying to extract information from the organisers of this event.
- Choi Jeong-hwa’s solo exhibition opens in Wolverhampton on 23 June
- The International Sejong Soloists perform eight Seasons at the Cadogan Hall on 10 June, four of them Korean and none of them by Vivaldi. A cracking programme.
- Tune in to the BBC for Cardiff Singer of the World on Sunday evening June 10 and Tuesday afternoon 12 June to support Korean soprano Sae Kyung Rim in the heats. Finals are on 15th and 17th.
- Popera tenor Lim Hyung-joo performs at St Johns Smith Square on 7 June (Thanks to Kay for the tip).
Film & DVD
- City of Violence is on release from 8 June. London screens include Cineworld Shaftesbury Avenue. I think that’s the same as the Trocadero. (Thanks to Jase for this info)
- Browsing Play.com for upcoming DVD releases I see that the dire-looking Clementine is due for release on 4 June. Much better, Lee Chang-dong’s Green Fish is released the same day. Timely given his Cannes success. Red Shoes is released later in the month.
Festivals and other gatherings
- Dano Festival in Trafalgar Square, 17 June
- Open air Korean festival in Kingston, 30 June
- The London Korean language meetup will be gathering for both festivals
- Club Seoul apparently meets every Saturday at Walkers of Whitehall.
Apart from the above, don’t forget some longer-term dates for the diaries:
- The DPRK art exhibition and associated cultural events from 17 July to 3 September
- The SOAS Samulnori Summer School with Dulsori, 16-20 July. Last year was great fun.
- The Edinburgh Festival will have a revamped production of Break Out.
I’m not going to be able to make it to the Trafalgar Square or Kingston events, so if anyone has a digital camera and feels like writing an account of the goings-on, please get in touch.