It would be an understatement to say that the cultural year 2020 has been markedly different from previous years. The pandemic has had a huge impact on the cultural scene, with most live events cancelled and event promoters falling back on the internet to provide us with our cultural fixes. Some of these attempts have … [Read More]
Year: 2020
A look back at our 2020 reading diary
Like many readers, we started the year with good intention of blitzing through the pile of new titles that were promised for the coming months, as well as making inroads into the backlog. And we genuinely got off to a good start with a string of fun K-thrillers, some of them new, some not: The … [Read More]
Season’s greetings to all our readers
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all of LKL’s readers, friends and contributors. Have a peaceful break with as many of your nearest and dearest as you are permitted to see, and whatever you do stay safe. When I wrote a similar post this time last year I expressed the wish that … [Read More]
Layers of paint, paintings of feelings: the abstract works of Sunyoung Hwang
Brush stroke after brush stroke, an artist can create a wonderland for the heart to explore feelings, emotions and, perhaps, also memories. The depth of life, the human emotional world and the experiences we go through can’t often be easily conveyed to others or even explained to oneself. Some argue that art is healing to … [Read More]
Review: Hong Sang-soo – The Woman who Ran
The time was right. Not having seen a Hong Sang-soo film for a few years – and he himself has had an unusual two-year break since his last one – I was perhaps ready to reacquaint myself with his work. It was a cold misty winter’s afternoon. I had just taken a rare day off … [Read More]
Hong Sang-soo theatrical release and online season
Over the past couple of days I’ve been noticing posts on social media about screenings of different Hong Sang-soo movies being available on the online platform MUBI. And now I hear the news that his latest movie, The Woman Who Ran, is getting a theatrical release tomorrow courtesy of CMC Pictures – the China / … [Read More]
New Creativity in the UK’s East Asian Music Scene: A Symposium
Tangram, a collective of artists and performers exploring Chinese and Western musics, collaborates with SOAS to present an event with a broader East Asian perspective. Kim Hyelim and Choi Youngsook participate for Korea. New Creativity in the UK’s East Asian Music Scene Thursday 10 December 2020, 7-8pm GMT | Friday 11 December 2020, 3-5pm GMT … [Read More]
NOBUDAM Week: Home
The NOBUDAM group, founded in 2018 by Garim Kim and Yae Jin Hong, announce their fourth event. The group, whose name comes from the words “no” and “budam”, which means “pressure” in Korean, is a platform that provides students an opportunity to reveal their artistic potential. NOBUDAM Week: Home 7 – 13 December 2020 www.nobudamspace.com … [Read More]
Open Call: K-Pop together! With Lunasolar
As part of A Festival of Korean Dance 2020 – Online Edition the KCCUK in partnership with The Place are launching an open call for young dancers and youth dance companies aged 12-19 in the UK and South Korea to learn K-pop dance moves with some of the industry’s top dancers and choreographers. K Pop … [Read More]
December events 2020
As we emerge from the lockdown: Exhibitions The KCC’s Artist of the Year exhibition featuring Jewyo Rhii lasts until the end of January. There’s a series of online talks associated with the exhibition. Han Collection has an exhibition of buncheong ceramics all month. Skipwiths have an online exhibition featuring Hyojin Park – Spiritual Garden Awakening … [Read More]
London East Asia Film Festival 2020
Fingers crossed: it looks like we might see some more great Korean movies in a real cinema in a Central London location before the year’s out, thanks to the London East Asia Film Festival. The festival also includes films from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. I’m particularly looking forward to Beauty Water: having caught … [Read More]
Korean short animations at LIAF
Once again we are grateful to LKL Facebook Group member Jordan for letting us know about some Korean (and one zainichi) animations that will be available online for a short while. We reproduce his post below for the benefit of those who don’t frequent the LKL FB group: London International Animation Festival The London International … [Read More]
Peace Forum on the Korean Peninsula
The below notice came, via a circuitous route, too late to publish in advance of the forum (what has happened to the Embassy’s PR function?). It is posted here for archival purposes. One thing of note: the flyer reveals the existence of an Embassy YouTube channel. The link is now included in LKL’s link library. … [Read More]
Love Your Depot – LocusX
A series of online talks associated with Jewyo Rhii’s Love Your Depot project at the KCCUK: Love Your Depot 30 November 2020 – 18 January 2021 Accessible at LoveYourDepot.com Jewyo Rhii’s ‘Love Your Depot’ has collaborated with the Newcastle’s Locus+. With the ongoing instability caused by Covid-19 restrictions what was initially planned to be a … [Read More]
Festival of Korean Dance 2020: Online Edition
The real-world Festival of Korean Dance at the end of May had to be cancelled, but we now have an online version, with one or two familiar faces represented. It’s great that as well as online performances, we’ve got some documentaries to let us hear more about the performers. And, for the first time, K-pop … [Read More]
Julie Park wins Sir Karl Jenkins Music Award
Belated congratulations to London based violist Julie Park for winning the prestigious Arts Club Sir Karl Jenkins Award in October. She follows violinists Songha Choi, who won second prize in 2019, and Joo Yeon Sir who won the prize in 2014. Julie Park performs tomorrow in Korean Cultural Centre UK’s ‘Home Theatre’ season of online … [Read More]