May is always a busy month for music, as various indie bands tour the festivals. This year, we have literature and dance to look forward to as well. For me, the highlight of the month is likely to be Cha Jin-yeob and others in the festival of dance at the Place.
And block your diaries for the first weekend in June, when the National Changgeuk Company will be performing at the South Bank.
Literature, current affairs, discussion
- Krys Lee, Mary Lynn Bracht and others will be appearing in the Litro Live festival at SOAS, 24 – 27 May
- The KCC’s literature night on 30 May features Hwang Sok-yong’s The Old Garden.
- The BKS is hosting its annual presentation by our two ambassadors to the Koreas at SOAS on 22 May
- Wookwan Sunim demonstrates temple food and launches her book at the KCC on 2 May
- There’s a talk on Japan’s WW2 Military Sexual Slavery at SOAS on 2 May
- There’s a workshop associated with the KCC’s exhibition of scholars’ crafts on 12 May.
Film
- This month’s LKFF Teaser is Won Shin-yeon’s adaptation of Kim Young-ha’s Memoir of a Murderer on 21 May (LKL review here)
- The Korean novels on screen continues with Jang Sun-woo’s adaptation of Ch’oe Yun’s There a Petal Silently Falls (10 May), and Im Sang-soo’s version of Hwang Sok-yong’s The Old Garden (24 May).
- Petal gets a repeat screening in Deptford on 22 May
- The Longest Tomb, a documentary on the Daejeon massacre gets its UK premier at SOAS on 29 May
Music, Dance and Performance
- In-sook Chappell’s The Dreams of Lily Kwok is on tour in Peterborough, Margate, Derby, Watford, Sheffield, Hexham and Coventry. Recommended. You can hear her on last Saturday’s Loose Ends.
- The festival of Korean Dance at The Place features
- The KCC’s House Concert on 22 May features a piano quintet
- Korean indie bands feature in showcases at Constellations Garden in Liverpool on 5 May at the Rich Mix in London on 10 May, at TŶ PAWB in Wrexham also on 10 May and at Patterns in Brighton on 19 May. Liverpool and Brighton will also feature separate gigs by the same bands.
- Say Sue Me and Endless Zanhyang busy UK tours which in the case of the former includes the Windmill Brixton on 16 May with Billy Carter, while Endless Zanhyang play near Highbury Corner on 15 May.
- There’s hip-hop from Penomeco, Punchnello and Millic on 13 May
- We are promised some live K-pop as part of the Litro Live festival, details to be announced.
Exhibitions
- 4482 – Butterfly Effect – opens on 3 May and finishes on 6 May
- Munbangsau, the KCC’s exhibition on the crafts that support the scholarly life continues all month
- Lee Seung-taek’s solo show at White Cube opens on 25 May
- Lee Bul’s mid-career retrospective, Crashing, opens at the Hayward Gallery on 30 May
- Han Collection’s jogakpo exhibition closes on 5 May, to be succeeded by a trio of Korean Crafts 9 – 13 May for London Craft Week
- Lee Ufan’s installation is outside the Serpentine until the end of July (LKL review here)
- Made in North Korea, Nick Bonner’s collection of graphic design, continues at the House of Illustration until 13 May
- The Hills are High continues at Durham’s Oriental Museum
- Joonhong Min’s solo show Future’s Present continues at SPACE Mare Street all month
- Jukhee Kwon’s work will be on show in York Art Gallery as part of the Aesthetica Art Prize show from 18 May.
- Hwang Hay-joung returns to the Chelsea Flower Show with her design for the LG Eco-City Garden