Colin Bartlett gives a thumbnail sketch of another Edinburgh Fringe production by Modl Theatre, from Korea: A delightful well-crafted show for children and adults I’m much older than a child, but I liked it a lot, and the others in the audience, both children and adults, seemed to be enjoying it as well. The production … [Read More]
Year: 2009 (page 15)
An oriental experience in Lancaster Gate
Not an organisation I’ve heard of before, because it’s new. The World Culture Association will be holding its inaugural event on 22 August. The association’s aims are To connect individuals, groups and associations interested in sharing their cultures and networking with others To show the best of the World’s culture through performance, speech and film … [Read More]
Oasis (오아시스, 2002) review: forcing us to face our own prejudices
Lee Chang-dong has created a confrontational, moving masterpiece that explores the illicit bond between a social misfit and a woman with cerebral palsy. It is both a love story and a story about the human condition and the mirror it holds up for viewers to look at themselves in stays long after the credits roll. [Read More]
Concert Review: Unsuk Chin at the BBC Proms — A new work enters the Cello repertoire
Last Thursday (13 August) saw the world premiere of the cello concerto by Unsuk Chin, a BBC commission. Chin, who was born in Korea in 1961, has been composer-in-residence for both the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. She is a careful worker: the new work was originally scheduled for the 2007 Prom … [Read More]
Summer cooking with Kiejo
Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went to Korea and Learned to Love Kimchi, learns to cook traditional Korean food… Kiejo Sarsfield stands in her Cath Kidston apron in a kitchen stuffed with cookery books in leafy Chalfont St Giles. Having left South Korea thirty years ago and lived all over … [Read More]
RIP Kim Dae-jung
RIP Kim Dae-jung, 3 December 1925 – 18 August 2009, who pioneered his country’s “Sunshine Policy” of engagement with North Korea. Kim, known as DJ, who was being treated for pneumonia, was reported to have died after suffering heart failure. The former leader had spent his life pursuing democracy and reunification with the North. The … [Read More]
Learning Korean with Alud: part 1
So I walked into a restaurant and this ajumma put her arm around me all smiles and started talking to me like we had known each other forever. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a bit, and picked up bits of languages here and there and always, always tried to pick up the basics of … [Read More]
The Western Korean War PoWs who chose to stay in China
A fascinating documentary about twenty-four American and one British Korean War prisoners of war who chose to remain in China after the war: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 #. Part 1 is below [Read More]
BoA’s US album disappoints
Oh dear. I thought BoA’s US album was going to be a bit better than that. If you have to use a vocoder to make it in America, stay in Asia. #. I suppose the sound production is geared towards a US market. Shame. [Read More]
The British fighter pilot buried near Pyongyang
Michael Rank in the Asia Times on the British fighter pilot buried near Pyongyang. Well worth a read. http://bit.ly/1Os32 # There can be no lonelier grave anywhere on Earth. Amid fields close to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, lie the remains of Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton, a British fighter pilot who flew for the United … [Read More]
Korean heritage at UNESCO
Korea is rightly proud of some of its heritage, much of which has been given official recognition by UNESCO. For those of you who like lists, here are the various items of Korea’s tangible and intangible heritage which have been so listed. Also included below are links to any LKL articles on these treasures. (1) … [Read More]
Korea Yearbook 2010 Call for Papers
Korea Yearbook 2010: Politics, Economy and Society Call for Papers The editors of the Korea Yearbook – Politics, Economy, Society, published since 2007 by Brill (Leiden and Boston), are now calling for papers for the 2010 edition of the yearbook. The Korea Yearbook consists, on the one hand, of four concise overviews of domestic and … [Read More]
Han Style in a necktie
We’ve all seen modern reinventions of the hanbok, maybe worn by a western celebrity. We’ve seen t-shirts and other items of female clothing and accessories adorned with hangeul, Korea’s script. But, short of wearing hanbok – which maybe is not the thing to wear at chic cocktail parties in Primrose Hill – what is a … [Read More]
A Love in Dream: Edinburgh’s must-see production
Every year Colin Bartlett goes to Edinburgh to sample the various productions at the Fringe, and makes a point of seeing the Korean talent. Each year I hope he’s going to write a survey of the various shows for LKL. This year, I’ve managed to intercept an email he wrote to a friend recommending Modl … [Read More]
The Korean War: the Korean version
General Paik Sun Yup: From Pusan to Panmunjom Potomac Memories of War, 2007 (original English version pub 1992) Your typical book on the Korean War centres on Generals MacArthur and Ridgeway, on the landing at Incheon and maybe (if it’s a British account) the battle at the Imjin. It’s a war fought by Americans, with … [Read More]
Beethoven in a bin bag
Tonight’s Storm and Stress evening at Goldsmiths: if I’d been playing Beethoven in a bin bag on such a hot and sweaty evening, I’d have been a bit stressed too http://bit.ly/jyQ9i #. But it was different, and unexpected. [Read More]