Jennifer Barclay meets Dulsori at their performance in Chichester’s Festival Theatre, 24 January 2009. I’m not sure the theatre staff were quite prepared when the drummer troupe led the audience dancing into the foyer, bashing gongs and drums in a frenzied finale to an energetic evening. Young and old, the Chichester crowd jumped, laughed and … [Read More]
Month: January 2009
Forge of Nature – a look at Lee Jae-hyo’s current exhibition at Albemarle Gallery
Lee Jaehyo was born in Hapchen, Korea, in 1965 and obtained his BFA in Plastic Arts from Hongik University, Seoul, in 1992. His first solo show was in 1996, but it is really in the last few years that his career has snowballed, with three solo exhibitions in 2007 and four in 2008 – including … [Read More]
In-sook Chappell: This isn’t Romance
Soho Theatre and Akbar Kurtha present This Isn’t Romance By In-Sook Chappell 12 February – 7 March, 7.30pm Soho Theatre | 21 Dean St | Soho | London W1D 3NE In-sook Chappell was born in Seoul and brought up in Essex. Now living in London, she worked as an actor and a model before turning … [Read More]
Celebs, Pit bulls and hairdos
As is customary at this time of year, I’ve been looking at the readership statistics. And, in general, the results are remarkably similar to last year. Yes, it’s the same old celebrities which generate the traffic. For those who know what they’re looking for it’s Super Junior which is the sure winner, while for those … [Read More]
A Moment to Remember (내 머리 속의 지우개, 2004) review: a manipulative melodrama rescued by the lead actress
While the plot of A Moment To Remember is contrived and manipulative, it still, somehow, manages to be affecting – with Son Ye-jin’s astounding performance selling every line – and as the credits roll, you’ll find yourself thinking that you should have known better, but a part of you will secretly be glad you didn’t listen. [Read More]
Credit crunch latest: LKL reports record deficit
LKL this week joined the ever-growing list of prestigious organisations reporting record losses. In an announcement made on Friday, LKL’s CEO confirmed the disappointing results. “We had record advertising revenues, but unfortunately investment in infrastructure more than outweighed this success. We could save on technology, but only at the expense of performance and innovation. We … [Read More]
A North Korean Feelgood Lecture
By Peter Corbishley The first of the Spring Term SOAS Lectures heard Nicolas Bonner (right) talking to extracts from his and Daniel Gordon’s three films on North Korea: The Game of their Lives (2002), A State of Mind (2004), Crossing the Line / 푸른 눈의 평양시민 / A Blue-Eyed Pyongyang Citizen (2006). The often almost … [Read More]
Shine a Light on KCC’s first birthday
It’s coming up to Seollal, the start of the year of the Ox, and it’s also the KCC’s first birthday. It is a Korean tradition for the babe to dress up in a birthday hanbok and select symbolic items from a table laden with food and symbolic objects – the object that the infant selects … [Read More]
Woven Horizon in Colchester
Some of the notable artworks at the DPRK art show in London in 2007 were works of embroidery. Similarly, in London, Kang Seunghee‘s work has involved some laborious needlework, albeit subcontracted to Chinese embroiderers. Now there’s the opportunity to enjoy some Korean needlework outside of London. Kang Soon Yul exhibits some of her textile artistry … [Read More]
Cooking Galbigui with Kie-jo
Kie-jo Sarsfield restarts her Korean cookery classes for two lessons in February. The lessons in the autumn of 2008 were fully subscribed, so get in with your applications soon. The plans are as follows: 1, 21st Feb, 11am — 2pm. Tteokbokggi (떡볶이: Rice cake and Beef with spicy sauce – right) Galbigui (갈비구이: Grilled Short … [Read More]
Donald Kirk on the late 90s financial crisis
Donald Kirk: Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (1999) The strength of this book is that is brings together in one place the reportage of one of the key foreign journalists based in Seoul during the 1990s. With access to politicians, press releases and Korean and foreign businessmen, … [Read More]
The Railroad (경의선, 2006) review: quiet encounters, hidden lives
Park Heung-shik’s The Railroad follows two emotionally closed strangers stranded near the North Korean border. Through restrained storytelling and gradual flashbacks, the film explores grief, guilt, self-deception, and social pressure. What risks melodrama becomes a nuanced, character-driven journey that builds empathy and resolves in understated, hard-earned hope. [Read More]
Oriental male, Western female
One of the most memorable images in the 4482 exhibition on the South Bank last October was a large, carefully staged, meticulously lit photo of a scene from a fairy tale. An elaborate coach looks as if it could turn into a pumpkin at any moment. It’s certainly not going anywhere, despite the alert coachman … [Read More]
Lee Jae-hyo: Force of Nature, at Albemarle Gallery
“I drive countless nails into wood, bend them, grind them and then burn the wood, making nails protrude and at the same time blackening its growth ring and natural colour. Glittering metallic nails on the black charcoal become ever more conspicuous. Through this process, I draw a picture on wood using nails” Jae Hyo Lee … [Read More]
Bae Chan-hyo: Existing in Costume, at Purdy Hicks
A notice of Bae Chan-hyo’s solo show at Purdy Hicks: This will be Chan-Hyo Bae’s first UK solo exhibition since his graduation with an MFA from the Slade in 2007. Bae’s work has already been shown in a number of international exhibitions including International Discoveries at Houston Fotofest (2007) and The Third Lianzhou Photo Festival … [Read More]
Yuasa Katsuei: a Japanese colonial novelist
Yuasa Katsuei: Two Japanese Colonial Novels Kannani (1934), Document of Flames (1935). Translated by Mark Driscoll, Duke University Press (2005) Yuasa Katsuei was born in Japan in 1910 and before his second birthday moved to Korea where his father worked in the colonial police force. He went to university in Tokyo from 1929, before returning … [Read More]