The autumnal calendar cornucopia, wastefully overflowing, continues into this month. Even the most assiduous devotees of Korean culture will only be able to attend around half of the screenings, performances and other events that clamour for your attention in the first full week of the month. Thanks to similar diary clashes and inconvenient screening times and locations I sadly managed to miss every single LEAFF screening this year. Thankfully, once we get to the end of the LKFF and the K-music festival the diary begins to relax into the pre-Christmas wind-down. Phew! But before we get there, here’s what the diary for the first full week of the month looks like:
This month, K-pop fans can pick between VAV and The Rose. Other highlights of the month are likely to be Black String at the Purcell Room, the Bongsu Park x haihm collaboration, the Kimjang Festival in New Malden … and take your pick from the line-up of screenings and director appearances at the LKFF.
Film
- Korean screenings at the London East Asia Film Festival continue until 3 November.
- The London Korean Film Festival runs from 1 November to 14 November in London, and then tours to Bristol, Nottingham, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester
- A Japanese film on the comfort women issue, Shusenjo, screens at SOAS on 8 November. This is the film whose screening was recently cancelled by organisers of a film festival in Japan, fearing “incidents that could occur during the screening”. Subsequent screenings take place at the Universities of Essex, Lancaster, Leeds and Edinburgh on 11 / 12 /13 /14 Nov respectively.
Visual arts & Exhibitions
- Coinciding with Asian Art in London, Asia House hosts an exhibition of Korean mother-of-pearl and lacquer work, Najeon and Ottchil, 5 – 14 November
- Suh Do-ho’s work is still in the City, and the Nam June Paik exhibition enters its first full month at Tate Modern
- haihm and Bongsu Park collaborate in the next phase of the Dream Auction / Dream Ritual project at Café OTO on 14 Nov and Rosenfeld Porcini on 15 November.
- The exhibition of Choi Soowhan and Do Sungwook at Pontone Gallery closes on 3 November.
- Geumhyung Jeong’s solo show continues until 7 November
- The exhibition of Ji Sun-tak’s ceramics continues at Han Collection until 13 November. It will be followed by an exhibition of Oh Man-chul’s work from 14 November.
- The KCC’s group show Real DMZ – Negotiating Borders continues until 23 November, as does Shin Meekyoung’s solo show at Barakat Gallery. The latter is listed by FAD Magazine as one of the Top 7 Art Exhibitions to see in London in November
- In Glasgow, the exhibition of Onggi Hangari continues until 16 November
Music and performance
- Hyelim Kim is at the Vortex with Simon Barker and Peter Knight on 2 November
- Gonne Choi appears at Pizza Express Holborn on 11 November
- Black String round off K-music 2019 at the Purcell Room on 18 November
- haihm and Bongsu Park collaborate in the next phase of the Dream Auction / Dream Ritual project at Café OTO on 14 Nov and Rosenfeld Porcini on 15 November.
- The Rose’s “We Rose You Live” Tour comes to the Scala on 24 and 25 November, and Manchester on 27 November.
- VAV play the Islington Academy on 24 November
- The KCC’s monthly house concert on 26 November features a trio of flute, guitar and piano
- Joo Yeon Sir performs Prokofiev’s 2nd violin concerto in Folkestone on 9 November and the Mendelssohn concerto in Guildford on 16 November.
- Club Inegales starts its winter season of events on 21 November. As usual, Hyelim Kim will be in the band.
Special events
- The 2019 Kimjang Festival celebrates everything kimchi-related in New Malden, 23 November
Classes, talks and workshops
- The Korean Social Sciences Workshop is at UCLan, 1 – 2 November
- There’s a Najeon and Ottchil workshop at Asia House, 5 November, a hand embroidery workshop at the KCC on 6 November, and a traditional dance workshop on 7 and 8 November, also at the KCC.
- Curators of the KCC’s current Real DMZ exhibition hold a discussion at the Courtauld (Vernon Square campus) on 7 November
- The London Korean Film Festival has a number of panel sessions / discussions in addition to Q&As. Highlights are
- 5 November 10am: Working with the Archive
- 6 November 7pm: Kim Sol in conversation
- 7 November 7pm: Special Focus Forum – A Century of Korean Cinema
- 9 November 1:30pm: Revisiting the 1980s Korean Film Collectives
- The British Korean Society co-hosts with the Henry Jackson Society a members-only seminar on economic development in North Korea, 11 November
- The KCC’s monthly literature night features a discussion with author Kang Young-sook on 27 November.
The Remembering Sewol event this month is in New Malden, 16 November. Parties and dance workshops are included in LKL’s Facebook Events listing.