Hmmm, well I think probably not much will be happening this month out in the public spaces. So your home entertainment and researches can include any of the following:
On screen
- Catch up on all those classic Korean films that you’ve been meaning to watch for ages. I’ve compiled an index of the free-to-view Korean Film Archive YouTube Channel, as I couldn’t find one anywhere else.
- Watch the second season of Joseon dynasty zombie drama Kingdom on Netflix.
Visual arts
- Check out the YouTube Channel of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. For example, take a guided tour round last year’s exhibition with its curator.
Music and performance
- Explore the latest in laid-back indie and gugak fusion music on Naver’s Onstage YouTube channel. A sample is below: Leenalchi’s Tiger Is Coming, with The Ambiguous Dance Company.
- Separately, check out Sinnoi’s recent appearance on the show. I bought their debut EP The New Path from iTunes a week or so ago, and it’s good to see them getting some coverage.
- Planning ahead, one can hope against hope that the Festival of Korean Dance will go ahead at the end of May. There’s an early bird discount in place until 13 April.
Reading
- Explore Korean translated literature on your e-reader or in hard copy. A longlist of suggestions here, with a shortlist here.
- Browse the archives of The Korea Magazine (1917-1919) and other early journals.
- Recent non-fiction publications include Geoffrey Cain’s Samsung Rising (reviewed by Andy Salmon in the Asia Times here), Queer Korea (ed Todd A Henry), Phaidon’s collection of essays entitled Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction, Christina Klein’s Cold War Cosmopolitanism: Period Style in 1950s Korean Cinema (a free eBook – and quite readable as far as I’ve got) and Christopher Lovins’s King Chongjo, an Enlightened Despot in Early Modern Korea (interesting stuff – currently half way through it)
Talks and seminars
- Join Geoffrey Cain on 7 April as he talks about his new book, Samsung Rising, courtesy of the RASKB. Be sure to join the RASKB for regular news of their Zoom meetings.
- Listen to some of the RASKB’s podcasts on the Korea File on Spreaker: “a monthly podcast exploring Korean society, culture and politics and highlighting critical, independent voices you won’t find anywhere else.”
- Watch some past RASKB lectures on their YouTube channel.
Keep fingers crossed that by this time next month we can be more certain about when the lockdown might end. Meanwhile, I’d be happy to hear of any other resources to keep people entertained at home.