The big series of events this month is the season of colonial era Korean film at the BFI Southbank and KCC. Also this month is the official launch of the Heritage Lottery Fund supported Kimjang project.
Seollal is on 5 February.
Art
- The KCC’s current exhibition, curated jointly with Delfina Foundation, and at both locations, is Power Play, featuring British and Korean artists who have benefited from residencies at Delfina.
- Bongsu Park’s Dream Auction is open for submissions. Donate to charity without touching your bank balance by harnessing the power of a Korean folk custom. Intrigued? Join the experiment!
- Jukhee Kwon is in the group show Present Moment, at October Gallery, till 13 Feb
- Hanna Moon is in the duo show English as a Second Language, at Somerset House till the end of April
- Terry Ryu Kim is in Touching Distance, at Exposed Arts Projects
- Soon Yul Kang’s dialogue is at the Menuhin Hall till 15 Feb
- Suh Doho’s installation is still near Liverpool Street Station, but Lee Ufan’s installation outside Serpentine Gallery should have been taken down by now.
- Yunchul Kim is in Broken Symmetries at FACT, Livepool
- Albermarle is having a celebratory exhibition in its new home, Pontone Gallery, from 7 Feb, including works by Bae Joonsung.
Film
- Lee Chang-dong’s Burning gets a theatrical release from 1 Feb. There’s a related critics’ forum at the BFI on 5 Feb.
- Kim Hong-joon presents two short essay films on Korean classic cinema on 14 Feb
- Sleepers in Venice screens on 19 Feb, a documentary about the eponymous Korean group show that was a collateral event to the 2015 Biennale.
- The season of colonial era Korean films opens on 7 Feb with Crossroads of Youth. Full details of the films and screening times and places here.
Music
- Sarah Chang plays the Cadogan Hall on 13 Feb
- Kim Hyelim plays in the Third Orchestra at the Barbican on 16 February
- Artists from Planetarium Records perform at ULU Live on 17 Feb
- Hyolyn has a solo concert at Camden’s Electric Ballroom on 23 Feb
- The KCC’s House Concert this month features Anna Lee, 26 Feb
Talks and literature
- At SOAS, the talks currently scheduled are
- Giuseppina De Nicola on an empire-period collection of photographs – 1 Feb
- Gary Byung-Seok Kam introduces a screening and discussion of his Sewol documentary, In the Absence – 6 Feb
- In Edinburgh, John Lee talks on the Joseon dynasty forestry system on 5 Feb
- In Oxford, Glyn Ford presents on Talking to North Korea on 11 Feb
- The BM’s Eleanor Hyun will be addressing the Oriental Ceramics Society at Burlington House on 12 Feb on the subject of Korean Munbangdo Paintings
- The Wasafiri Korean literature special edition is launched at the KCC on 21 Feb with Brother Anthony and Krys Lee
- The monthly KCC literature night on 27 Feb features Hwang Jungeun’s I’ll Go On.
Everything else
- There’s a silent protest at the Japanese Embassy to remember grandmother Kim Bok Dong on 5 Feb.
- An evening of cooking with North Korean exiles takes place on 7 Feb, in aid of Connect North Korea
- Kimjang: Making and Sharing Kimchi is launched as a project in New Malden on 9 Feb.
- There’s a K-beauty event with YouTubers Q2Han on 17 Feb
- Too many social / kpop related events in London and around the country this month to list here. You can find them on LKL’s Facebook Events page.
Also check the upcoming events list and the Google Calendar for updates, and let me know via the contact form if I’ve missed anything.