Plenty for everyone this month:
Music
- Five indie / rock bands are visiting the UK from Korea, and are joined by a London-based Korean singer-songwriter, in a series of gigs around the country, especially Liverpool. The wonderful Indieful ROK has the full schedule (nice to have you back, Anna).
- The London dates are 6 May at the KCC, 9 May at AAA, 10 May in Peckham and 12 May in Aldgate East.
- Baek Ju-young plays the Sibelius Violin Concerto at the Cadogan Hall on 7 May
Film
- The Jeong Jeong-hoon season continues at the KCC, with I’m a Cyborg on 15 May and Stoker on 29 May. Although he’s scheduled to be in London for Q&A on the 29th, I understand that is subject to confirmation.
- The Terracotta Far East Film Festival has Kim Ki-duk’s Moebius (30 May), Park Hong-soo’s Commitment (31 May) and HAN Jae-rim’s Face Reader (1 June)
Food and social
- I’m beginning to lose track of all the pop-up street food events, but you can catch all the London-based providers in Shoreditch on 3 May at the Urban Food Fest
- Busan BBQ has a residency at Hoxton’s Dead Dolls House on 16 and 17 May
- Kiejo Sarsfield will be running her classes every Saturday in May, with 10th being focused on vegan food
- The British Korean Society has a members’ networking event on 29 May near Hoxton
Exhibitions
- High-end jeweller Ye Myungji has an exhibition in the Burlington Arcade for just two days, 1 and 2 May.
- The Korean Craft Design Foundation, Gallery LVS and two London-based Korean designers will be at Collect 2014 in the Saatchi Gallery, 9-12 May
- The KCC’s exhibition of the history of Korean printing is on all month.
- Lovely woodblock prints from Jeung Hyun are at Mokspace until 7th May; their next exhibition, of work in hanji by Lee Woo-bok, starts on 12th May
- HADA has a solo show by Lee Jaehyo, starting 1 May
- Hanmi has a solo show by Park Bongsu, starting 9 May
- Above the Line, an exhibition of North Korean photos by photojournalist Nick Danziger, opens at the British Council on 14 May
- Much further afield, the Whanki Museum in Buam-dong has a group Hommage à Whanki which includes new work by former London-based artists Francesca Cho; and MOCA Taipei has a big exhibition of Korean contemporary art. Philadelphia’s exhibition of Treasures from Korea closes on 26 May.
Talks, seminars (and comedy)
- SOAS’s Friday evening seminars start on 2 May with a linguistics-focused seminar; others tba, and for some reason I currently have a literature one pencilled in the diary for 27 May.
- The 10th Gwangju Biennale will be introduced at the ICA on 1 May
- Asia House hosts Paul French, John Sweeney and Charles Scanlon on North Korea – Threat or Bluster? on 7 May
- The Houses of Parliament host former DPRK poet laureate Jang Jin-sung on 7 May. His memoirs, Dear Leader, are published the next day.
- Comedian Kim Je-dong has a show in Goldsmiths on 10 May
- A symposium on East Asian Screen Studies will be held at Kings College London on 16 May.
- The Swedenborg Society hosts John Swenson-Wright on Competing Identities: Japan, the Koreas, and Missed Opportunities on 19 May
- The KCC’s literature night on 28 May discusses Kim Young-ha’s I have the Right to Destroy Myself
- The V&A’s Friday Night Late on 30 May celebrates Korean culture from K-pop to Ko Un.