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]
Month: November 2020
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]
SOAS online seminar: One Left, by Kim Soom
It’s been a while since we last had a SOAS Friday evening seminar, but this should be worth the wait. One Left: A powerful tale of trauma and endurance that transformed a nation’s understanding of Korean comfort women Bruce Fulton and Ju-Chan Fulton (Translators) Friday 4 December 2020, 5 – 7pm Online. Register via Zoom … [Read More]
Moving On (남매의 여름밤, 2019) review: family, abandonment, and the quiet weight of letting go
Set within a multigenerational household, gentle, nuanced and heartfelt, Yoon Dan-bi’s Moving On deftly uses the minutiae of everyday life to tell an easily relatable, poignant tale that will feel wholly personal to viewers, especially those who have watched elderly relatives becoming increasingly frail as they wearily move through their twilight years. [Read More]
Online exhibition: Hyojin Park – Spiritual Garden Awakening
After their high-impact display of Ceviga’s work in a huge room at the Saatchi Gallery, Skipwiths move online for their end-of year exhibition. Spiritual Garden Awakening 25 November 2020 – 10 January 2021 SKIPWITHS | 17 Clifford Street | London W1S 3RQ | skipwiths.com Viewable on Artsy Park likens her Spiritual Garden series to “a … [Read More]
The 2020 (online) Kimjang Festival
Did you think that the second lockdown would get in the way of the second Kimjang Festival? Think again. The organisers have been working hard to create an online programme of events looking at how people are making kimchi at home in the UK. There are also spotlights on some innovative restaurants and chefs in … [Read More]
Bori (나는보리, 2018) review: the girl who yearns to be deaf
Always quietly spoken but nonetheless screaming of candour throughout, Kim Jin-yu’s Bori deftly inverts common disability tropes seen in Korean cinema by centering on an able-bodied child’s perspective to underline their all-important message all the more in an original, sweetly engaging and ultimately uplifting way. [Read More]
Shin Seung-tae’s new Trot persona
When Lee Hee Moon announced the disbandment of his glam rock minyo outfit Ssing Ssing last year, I forewent gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, prophesying instead that an abundance of interesting projects must surely follow. And Lo, it did come to pass. Female vocalist Chu Da-hye started her band, Chudahye and The Chagis … [Read More]
Review: City of Ash and Red
City of Ash and Red is a novel for 2020, even though it was originally published in 2010. Inspired no doubt in part by the SARS outbreak of 2002-3, Pyun Hye-young imagines a world where a virus has the potential to shut down whole countries, in which visitors are tested for infection on arrival at … [Read More]
Ahn Eun-me talks about Dancing Grandmothers in Dance Umbrella
Star dancer and choreographer Ahn Eun-me gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the choreographic process as part of Dance Umbrella later this month. The festival is online-only, given the current Covid situation. Ahn’s free talk, which will focus on her Dancing Grandmothers project, will be at 1pm UK time on 25 November, at www.danceumbrella.co.uk [Read More]
A visit to Sollip
It is not ideal to open a new restaurant in the middle of a global pandemic, but that’s precisely what husband and wife team Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki did with their new venture. Sollip opened at the end of August, and brings together French techniques with Korean flavours. It has been getting some great … [Read More]
Gallery visit: Korean Eye 2020 – Creativity and Daydream
Korean Eye always brings together a mixture of the familiar and the not so familiar. In 2020, a show which started in St Petersburg and will end in Seoul, we were treated to works from UK-based Korean artists as well as from emerging and established artists based in Korea. This year, we’ve chosen to do … [Read More]