Here are the events I know of for May. It’s a good month.
Books, Books, Books
- Shin Kyung-sook appears at the Hay Literary Festival on 28 May (sold out)
- Agnita Tennant introduces her translation of Part 1 of The Land (T’oji) by Park Kyung-ni, with Margaret Drabble and Park Sowon, on 23 May at the KCCUK.
- Chris Springer introduces photographs from his book North Korea caught in time at SOAS on 13 May.
- Royal Ancestors and Ancient Remedies – a brief journey through Korea’s heritage gets its launch at the KCCUK on 17 May.
Film
- The Terracotta Far East Film Festival will be showing Man of Vendetta and Petty Romance, plus other Asian films, 5-8 May
- For those who want to waste two hours of their life, Kim Ji-woon’s I saw the Devil is at the ICA till 15 May
- The KCC will be announcing their screening schedule in due course.
- Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry gets a screening at the BFI South Bank, 26 May
- Poetry will also be screened at Cambridge’s Department of East Asian Studies on 19 May, with Bong Joon-ho’s Mother on 26 May.
Art
- Jeong Yun-kyung’s solo show Axonometric at 36 South Molton Lane opens on 11 May
- The KCC show Monologues continues until 28 May. I still don’t know what to make of it.
- Hur Shan and Kwon Soonhak collaborate at Kwak Heashin’s new gallery space near Warren Street towards the end of May. More details soon.
- The Victoria & Albert Museum is spotlighting contemporary Korean ceramics in an exhibition entitled Tradition Transformed, from 20 May.
Horticulture
- For the first time, a Korean garden will be featured at the Chelsea Flower show, 24-28 May
Music
- Ha Joon Chang (Double Bass) plays in the Elgar Room at the Albert Hall on Sunday morning, 1 May
- Okkyung Lee appears at Cafe Oto on 17 & 21 May, and at St Margaret’s Church in Manchester on 20 May
Talks, visits, educational, social
- A SOAS workshop on Korean Buddhists Arts of the Koryŏ and Chosŏn Kingdoms is on 19 May
- The Anglo-Korean Society has a members-only visit to the offices of Standard Chartered on 18 May
- The AKS diners meet on 3 May
- Kiejo Sarsfield’s cookery classes are on 14 / 21 / 28 May. Contact kiejosarsfield at hotmail dot co dot uk for more info.
- Master potter Park Kyoung-soon demonstrates his techniques at the V&A on 22 May.
- In addition to the North Korean photos at SOAS on 13 May (under “Books” above), Susan House-Wade will be talking about Representations of colonial Korea in print and in visual imagery on 4 May
- Two Korea-related talks at Cambridge’s Asian Studies Seminar Series: Anders Karlsson on Historiography and Notions of Territoriality in Late Choson Korea (2 May) and Heonik Kwon on Is Blood Thicker Than Ideology? on 13 May.