Park Kwang-su month continues at the KCC with the story of Jeon Tae-il. We’re back on an upward trajectory after last week’s Uprising. A Single Spark (1995) 7pm, 12th March 2012 Director: Park Kwang-su Cast: Park Joong-hoon, Hong Kyoung-in, Kim Bo-kyeong Genre: Political drama Certificate: 15 Running Time: 96 min Venue: The Korean Cultural Centre … [Read More]
Month: March 2012 (page 2)
DPRK unveils new fusion technology on Paris concert platform
At least three things are of interest in relation to the 14 March Paris performance of the Unhasu (은하수) Orchestra from North Korea. First: that it happened at all; second: how it was reported back home; and third, what it was that the orchestra was playing. The funding First, then. How did it get to … [Read More]
Lines in Drawing at 43 Inverness Street
For me, Kim Chin-wook was one of the artists to watch at the recent Sasapari group show. He is joined by another Korean, Kim Ji-eun, at a group show in Camden. Lines in Drawing 16 March – 20 April, 2012 A group drawing exhibition in which lines are the featured element. Marc Hulson | Bryan … [Read More]
Shin Kyung-sook’s acceptance speech for the Man Asian Literary Prize
What could be more appropriate for Mother’s Day? Shin Kyung-sook’s acceptance speech on winning the Man Asian Literary prize for Please Look After Mother: (via Otherwhere) [Read More]
Re-encounter (혜화, 동, 2011) review: an adoption kept in shadow
Re-encounter explores the emotional aftermath of a couple reunited by the discovery that their supposedly deceased child was secretly adopted. A dark and beautifully bleak affair, Re-encounter is a dissection of grief, guilt and regret that ultimately asks if it really is darkest before the dawn. [Read More]
Tradition and Socialism: Art and Archaeology in North Korea
If you haven’t read Jane Portal’s Art Under Control, it should be on your reading list. But to give you a taster, she’s giving a talk at Asia House on 27 March. Tradition and Socialism: Art and Archaeology in North Korea Talk by Jane Portal Tuesday, 27 March, 18.45 Security issues and geopolitical controversy are … [Read More]
Lee Yoon-ki’s “Come Rain, Come Shine” at the Pan Asian Film Festival
Later this year Lee Yoon-ki will be one of the KCCUK’s featured directors. Lee is known for his quiet, slow-burn dramas since his debut This Charming Girl in 2004. Come Rain Come Shine (사랑한다, 사랑하지 않는다) is his latest, starring Hyun Bin (in one of his last roles before his national service) and Lim Soo-jung … [Read More]
Park Kwangsu at the KCC #2: The Uprising
The attractions of today’s second screening of Park Kwang-su month include Lee Jeong-jae in period costume and a brief glimpse of Shim Eun-ha dressed as one of Jeju Island’s famous diving women. But in general people find this particular movie as dull as ditchwater. The Uprising (1999) Director: Park Kwangsu Running Time: 110 mins Date: … [Read More]
Hur Shan in Bodhi, at Gazelli Art House
Hur Shan has a busy couple of months. Group exhibitions at the Bargehouse, in South-east London and Paris. And also in London’s prime gallery area off Piccadilly. In this particular group show, we will see Hur having a bit of fun with the audience: small bronze sculptures, painted to look like everyday objects, will be … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: the 5th Sasapari exhibition – Map the Korea – at the Bargehouse
Every year the big group exhibition by Korean artists in London seems to get bigger and more ambitious. After a first event in New Malden in 2007, its home for the four most recent shows has been the Bargehouse by the OXO Tower, a large and semi-derelict space with plenty of nooks and crannies to … [Read More]
Concert notes: A Little Nightmare Music – Igudesman and Joo
“His parents must be so disappointed” I overheard a Korean woman say, of Joo Hyung-ki. “They wanted him to be a concert pianist, and he’s doing comedy instead.” It was the sort of thing that Maureen Lipman would say, in character as the proud Jewish mother. Joo, one half of the hilarious musical duo Igudesman … [Read More]
Mee Hyun Oh at St Dunstan-in-the-West
News of a lunchtime violin recital in the City on Wednesday 21 March. St Dunstans-in-the-West survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but needed to be rebuilt in 1831. The Anglo Japanese Society of Wessex hosts a series of weekly concerts there, of which this is one. Mee Hyun Oh (violin) with Soojin Kim … [Read More]
Huffington Post on hip-hop’s 19th century origins
Interesting piece by John R Eperjesi in the Huffington Post: Korean Beat Attitudes: Rainhat Poet and Ko Un – a feature on Kim Sakkat (김삿갓) (real name, Kim Byeong-yeon 김병연), the character at the centre of Yi Mun-yol’s book The Poet. [Read More]
Exhibition visit: A New Space Around the Body – International Fashion Showcase at the KCC
The KCC’s last exhibition for a while, in February, was scheduled to contribute to London Fashion Week. It was also a participating event in the International Fashion Showcase, a joint project between the British Council and the British Fashion Council designed to mark the 2012 Olympics with a display of talent to honour Olympic ideals. … [Read More]
Daytime Drinking (낮술, 2008) review: a road movie of self-inflicted misadventure
Daytime Drinking is a low-budget independent film about Hyuk-jin, whose low self-esteem and alcohol overindulgence lead to a series of self-inflicted predicaments. It’s such a gently paced, deeply eccentric and genuinely funny road movie that once you’ve had even a tiny taste of it, you’ll want to drink it to the very last drop. [Read More]
Woochi: The Demon Slayer (전우치, 2009) review — witty wizardry across time
Numerous film genres blending seamlessly with top notch action, well-realised special effects and genuinely likeable characters add up to Woochi: The Demon Slayer being out and out spectacular entertainment from beginning to end. [Read More]