London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

I, Kid – the opening performance

I, Kid is now the seventh exhibition by the Korean Artists Association UK to be held at the KCC, and their 9th performance. This year’s performance and exhibition aimed to give expression to a feeling of nostalgia for one’s childhood – and for most artists participating in the event, this meant their childhood back in Korea. Previous themes for this event have also been relevant to the experience of Koreans living far from their native land.

Here is the video of the opening performance, courtesy of Jason Verney of Native Nomad Pictures, which took place on 16 January 2017.

The programme was as follows:

Poem: A white drawing paper (하얀 도화지)

Composed and recited by Hye Kyung Park and translated by Essy Hyun Joong Kim. The translation is read by Hannah Vale, who is in Year 5 of Notre Dame School in Cobham. Park says of her poem: “Returning to my childhood memories, I painted the beauty of the early morning’s sun in my mind.”

Flute & Piano: Nostalgic elements

R. Schumann Kinderszenen Op.15, No. 7: ‘Traumerei’ (daydreams)
P. Lewis Pictures of Childhood – I. Lullaby for Laura
Performed by Hyun Jeong Hwang (Piano) & Minhee Cho (Flute)

Paul Lewis’s Pictures of Childhood consists of four melodic pieces inspired by the infant children of friends of the composer. It is in an uncomplicatedly melodic style, evocative of the innocence of childhood, and is very pleasing to perform and to listen to. Lullaby for Laura did its job when, on hearing it for the first time, Laura fell asleep in her mother’s arms.

Dance performance: Gangbyeon

Jeunghyun Choi (vocal) and Haein Song (dancer)

Haein Song
Haein Song

This dance, choreographed and performed by Haein Song, interprets a brief poem by Kim Sowol entitled Gangbyeon. Kim is best known for his poem Azaleas. Gangbyeon was written in 1920 and uses the riverside both to evoke memories of childhood but also to imagine a place of refuge from the Japanese colonial masters.

엄마야 누나야 강변 살자.
뜰에는 반깍이는 금모래 빛.
뒷문 밖에는 갈잎의 노래.
엄마야 누나야 강변 살자.
Mother, sister, let’s live by the riverside.
Golden sand sparkling among the garden grass.
The song of reeds beyond the back door.
Mother, sister, let’s live by the riverside.

(translation from Left/Write Lit)

Cloud Play (구름노리)

Composed by Eunseog Lee
Performed by Cholong Sung (Gayageum) & Hyun Jeong Hwang (Piano)

Cholong Song
Cholong Song

This piece invites us to remember when we used to lie on the grass as a child, looking up at the clouds and seeing all sorts of shapes forming, fragmenting and re-forming afresh.

Nostalgia

‘Where I am’, ‘Way to old market’, ‘Naughty boy’
Performed by guest rock band, Rusty Filament, which was formed in 2016. The theme of the songs again looks back to childhood, aiming to capture a child’s “misty fears for the future” and picturing “My mom (when she was not that old)”.