News of Hanmi Gallery’s December exhibition. If like me you missed Choi Eun-sook’s exhibition at Mokspace recently, here’s another chance to see her work. Slice EXHIBITION 7 – 14 DEC PREVIEW 6 DEC, 6-9PM Hanmi Gallery | 30 Maple Street London W1T 6HA | www.hanmigallery.co.uk Hanmi Gallery is pleased to announce its 27th Interim Exhibition, … [Read More]
Month: November 2013
Lee Joon-ik interview: clowns, kings and wounded souls
A group conversation with The King and the Clown director Lee Joon-ik on filmmaking without formal training, the role of history and humour in Korean cinema, artistic risk, and why healing human wounds lies at the heart of his work. [Read More]
Lee Joon-ik interview: Hope, humanity and the weight of filmmaking
Director Lee Joon-ik explains why Hope/소원 drew him back to filmmaking, outlining its aims to address crimes against children, strengthen legal punishment, and highlight victim support. He discusses reshaping the script, working sensitively with child actor Lee Re, and portraying trauma through shared family and community perspectives. [Read More]
Exhibition visit: The Others, at Hanmi Gallery
The current group show at Hanmi Gallery, entitled The Others, features artists who “question the nature of individuality, solitude and the unreal in a group setting. Rather than work to a strict theme, these ʻOthersʼ present what is individual and personal to them, from dreams to questions of ontology and the fear of death.” Movie … [Read More]
MMCA Seoul’s opening show mired in controversy
It’s a shame that the opening of the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art had to be bogged down in controversy. What should have been an interesting show, Zeitgeist Korea, one of the museum’s five concurrent exhibitions, is tainted with nepotism, as 32 out of the 39 artists featured are … [Read More]
Moebius (뫼비우스, 2013) review: fate, family, violence, and endless loops of desire
Originally given a Restricted rating by the Korean Media Ratings Board, Kim Ki-duk’s twisted tale of sex, religion, castration and incest subsequently underwent a number of cuts to gain a mainstream domestic cinema release. ‘Moebius’ is no less shocking as a result of those cuts. [Read More]
HADA’s seasonal group show: Homo Utopicus
HADA Contemporary takes us into the festive season with a celebratory group show featuring works by Min Jungyeon, Jeong Yunkyung, Kim Younghun, Han Jisoc, Park Seungmo and Kim Jiseon. Homo Utopicus Group Exhibition 5 December 2013 – 31 January 2014 www.hadacontemporary.com, 21 VYNER STREET | LONDON | E2 9DG Wednesday – Friday: 11am – 6pm, … [Read More]
LSESU Korea Political and Economic Forum 2013
Coming up this Saturday at LSE’s Hong Kong theatre: the LSE’s third Korean Political and Economic forum, focusing on the hallyu and mobile contents. Of special interest will be the talk by Yun Sukho, director of the famous TV drama Winter Sonata, one of the first big hallyu hits in Japan. The first, political, session … [Read More]
Conference report: ROK-UK Forum on Peaceful Unification of Korea and Human Rights in North Korea
Thanks to guest contributor Sinae Hong for this report from the conference earlier this week. The ROK-UK Forum on Peaceful Unification of Korea and Human Rights in North Korea was held at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel on Friday 19th November, 2013. The Cromwell Suite was full with well over 150 people, from British Veterans of … [Read More]
The Flavours of Korea at the Intercontinental
The Intercontinental in Park Lane has shipped over Executive Chef Bae from its sister hotel in Seoul for a week of showcasing Korean food in its Cookbook Cafe: Flavours of Korea 22nd – 30th November 2013 While many Londoners are discovering the delights of Kimchee and BBQ, Executive Chef Bae of Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, … [Read More]
Cold Eyes (감시자들, 2013) review: a high-octane remake of a Hong Kong surveillance thriller
A remake/reworking of 2007 Hong Kong thriller ‘Eye in the Sky’, ‘Cold Eyes’ steps up scale, pace and warmth to stand on its own as a wholly engaging and thoroughly entertaining blockbuster that even largely manages to feel specifically Korean in nature, in spite of never straying too far from the original. [Read More]
The Peach Tree (복숭아나무, 2012) review: a gentle, nuanced melodrama of conjoined brotherhood
Any Korean film detailing themes of acceptance within a narrative centred on disability cannot fail to bring with it mention of Lee Chang-dong’s masterful ‘Oasis’, but ‘The Peach Tree’ largely manages to hold its own fairly well in the face of such illustrious company; albeit with one or two minor caveats. [Read More]
Jieun Kim and the three Ws
Jason Verney of Native Nomad Pictures and miniminimovie.com has done a nice mini-documentary of Jieun Kim’s Serendipity exhibition and workshop at Mokspace in the early part of September this year: Check out Jason’s Vimeo channel here: http://vimeo.com/channels/jasonverney/ [Read More]
Hyelim Kim with Byron Wallen at the London Jazz Festival
Hyelim Kim continues to push the boundaries of the daegeum, this time in a jazz direction: Byron Wallen & Hyelim Kim Thursday 21 November | 8:00PM LONDON Club Inégales | 180 North Gower Street | London | NW1 2NB We are proud to be part of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival! We welcome back … [Read More]
In pictures: the KAA’s 합 Collaboration exhibition at the KCC
The KAA’s excellent 합, 合, Collaboration exhibition has now been reviewed over on koreanartists.co.uk. Here are some photos from the exhibition, with text from the exhibition catalogue. Photos by LKL, except where credited otherwise. Click on the thumbnails for a bigger version of the image. Kang Soon-yul My entry for this exhibition is based on … [Read More]
NLCS Jeju featured in the Telegraph
This week the Daily Telegraph featured the Jeju campus of North London Collegiate School: a piece of Stanmore in Seogwipo. The boarding school has now been running for two years. You can’t help but be inspired by the enjoyment, enthusiasm and confidence of the students, even though they are being taught in what, to them, … [Read More]