Note: This article was written in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Since then, particularly in 2021, some fantastic translated fiction titles have appeared. We give a round-up of them here. Nevertheless, as of end December 2022 the top ten recommendations below still stand. I do, however, need to edit the choices for … [Read More]
Year: 2020 (page 11)
A Festival of Korean Dance 2020
Here’s hoping that I’m not tempting fate by posting this press release. I really hope that the health emergency is over by the end of May. Keep your fingers crossed, because this festival gets better each year. As last year, there are three performances and one pre-performance discussion: Fri 29 May: Collective A | MIIN: … [Read More]
Book review: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
Cho Nam-joo: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Translated by Jamie Chang Scribner, 2020, 163pp Originally published as 82년생 김지영, Minumsa, 2016. Kim Jiyoung, as the blurb on the back cover of this translated novel tells us, is every woman. Her given name is unremarkable, familiar, and of course her family name is the most common in … [Read More]
Screening: Shin Sang-ok’s To The Last Day CANCELLED
This screening is now cancelled as the KCC has closed, in common with many cultural venues, as a result of the health situation. The second screening in the KCC’s On the Front Line season: To The Last Day (이 생명 다하도록) Dir Shing Sang-ok (1960, 109 mins) Cast: Choi Eun-hee, Kim Jin-kyu, Nam Koong Won, … [Read More]
Book review: Jeon Sungtae – Wolves
Jeon Sungtae: Wolves Translated by Sora Kim-Russell White Pine Press, 2017, 196pp Originally published as 늑대, Changbi Publishers, 2009 Jeon Sungtae’s Wolves takes us to another world – the world of Mongolia in the early years of this century, a decade after the adoption of capitalism. The country is modernising rapidly, but out on the … [Read More]
K-Art Now: Artist Talk with Yva Jung CANCELLED
Another cancellation because of Covid-19 Sasapari’s K-Art Now series resumes: K-Art Now: Artist Talk with Yva Jung Sotheby’s Institute of Art | 30 Bedford Square | London WC1B 3EE Monday 30 March 2020, 18:30 – 20:00 BST Register on Eventbrite K-Art Now presents Yva Jung, a Korean artist based in London, to talk about her … [Read More]
A round-up of the Korean crafts at Collect 2020
Collect this year moved from the Saatchi Gallery to Somerset House. The move had both advantages and disadvantages. At Saatchi there is greater openness of space and there is the added benefit of the lively environs of Sloane Square for coffee and snacks. Somerset House, on the other hand feels like a bit of a … [Read More]
Hyelim Kim in Résonances, at the Vortex
Daegeum player Hyelim Kim will be among the musicians collaborating with dancer Petra Haller at the Vortex this Thursday, early evening: Résonances Thursday 12 March 2020, 5.30pm Vortex Jazz Club | 11 Gillett Square | London N16 8AZ | www.vortexjazz.co.uk Admission free After Slovenia, Poland, Finland and Ireland we are bringing Jazz Connective to the … [Read More]
Han-Earl Park in improv session at waterintobeer
Guitarist Han-Earl Park will be joining an improvisation session at a homebrew venue in SE London later this month: BRÅK #25 – A Series of Improv Nights at waterintobeer waterintobeer | 209-211 Mantle Road | Brockley | London SE4 2EW | waterintobeer.co.uk Saturday, 21 March 2020, 18:30-21:30 Book tickets | Check for update on event’s … [Read More]
Review: Bae Suah — Untold Night and Day
Bae Suah: Untold Night and Day Translated by Deborah Smith Jonathan Cape 2020, 152pp Originally published as 알려지지 않은 밤과 하루, Jaeumgwa Moeum, 2013 Let me say up-front that I have never regarded myself as a Bae Suah fan. My first encounter with her – Highway with Green Apples – registers in my memory as … [Read More]
Bong Joon-ho’s and Tilda Swinton’s Q+A after Snowpiercer
After the success of Parasite, BFI held the first major UK public screening of Snowpiercer on 1 March. Here is the BFI’s video of the Q+A that followed the screening. [Read More]
March events 2020
It’s LKL’s 14th birthday today. What’s in store as we start our 15th year online? Thankfully it’s a bit of a quiet month, though there’s plenty of music going on, and look out for conferences at Wolfson College and the LSE. My own highlight to brighten up these miserable days is Igudesman and Joo at … [Read More]
Screening: The Marines Who Never Returned CANCELLED
This screening is now cancelled as the KCC has closed, in common with many cultural venues, as a result of the health situation. The KCC’s first season of in-house screenings this year commemorates the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The Marines Who Never Returned Director: Lee Man-hee (1963, 110 mins) Cast: … [Read More]
Wolfson College workshop: Korea’s Strategy – Economic Success, Popular Culture, and Global Art CANCELLED
Another Covid-19 casualty. This conference is postponed and will hopefully be reconvened at a later date. Wolfson College Oxford is hosting an afternoon workshop on topical themes related to South Korea. Korea’s Strategy: Economic Success, Popular Culture, and Global Art Friday 20 March 2020, 1pm – 4pm Wolfson Auditorium | Wolfson College | Linton Road … [Read More]
2020 LSE East Asia Forum: Youth in the East Asia – Pioneers of Change CANCELLED
Another Coronavirus casualty The LSE hosts its second big conference of the year: 2020 LSE East Asia Forum: “Youth in the East Asia: Pioneers of Change” Saturday 28 March 2020, 10am – 5pm Old Theatre | Old Building | London School of Economics | London WC2R 1DH Tickets | £15.00 (Early Bird Student) | £30.00 … [Read More]
KCC March House Concert: Trio Rouge CANCELLED
This concert is now cancelled as the KCC has closed, in common with many cultural venues, as a result of the health situation. A really apealing programme awaits in the KCC’s House Concert this month: Trio Rouge Tuesday 31 March 2020, 7pm @ KCCUK Nurry Lee (Piano), Sophie Louise Phillips (Violin), and Meera Priyanka Raja … [Read More]