The Korean cultural diary is now back to its customary autumnal chaos: too much packed in with too many events clashing with each other. We’ve got used to the Korean Film Festival scheduling its films so you can’t go to all of them. K-music has now joined the party by scheduling gigs that clash with screenings in the film festival, while the only chance to see the KCC’s winter exhibition outside of office hours also clashes with some film screenings. On 20 November you have to choose between the Kimjang Festival in New Malden, an event linked to the film festival’s artist video stand, and Bongsu Park’s long-anticipated Korean Dream Auction. And that’s just the events we know about at the time of writing. Plenty to choose from then.
Talks, workshops and other educational events
- The weekly seminar series Translating Squid Game continues until 13 November
- The 2021 Yun Posun Memorial Symposium, 2-3 Nov, is on the theme of South Korea-UK Cooperation in the COVID19 Era
- The Peaceful Unification Advisory Council hosts a talk entitled North and South Korean women in the UK speak of peace, 11 Nov
- Bongsu Park’s Dream Auction project comes to its conclusion with the three Social Dreaming Matrix sessions (1, 4, 8 Nov), a symposium (19 Nov) and the Auction itself (20 Nov)
- LUX hosts a botanical lecture and artistic exploration linked with Ellie Kyungran Heo’s work Plantarians, 20 Nov
- King’s College London hosts the Korean Peninsula Peace Forum on 17 Nov
- The British Korean Society hosts a talk on the Korean origins of dragon mythology, 23 November (more details on the BKS website soon)
- The KCC’s literature event this month features Sang Young Park’s Love in the Big City, 24 November
Live music and theatre
- Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men is at the Southwark Playhouse, 10 Nov – 4 Dec
- The KCC’s House Concert moves to St James’s Piccadilly on 5 Nov
- The final K-music concerts are:
- Dal:um (6 Nov London | 8 Nov Norwich)
- Soojin Suh Coloris Trio & Camilla George (17 Nov)
Exhibitions
- Ilhwa Kim’s Seed Unfolding at HOFA Gallery lasts until 4 November
- The KCC’s winter exhibition Nothing is – everything just has been or will be opens with a PV on 11 November
- Ellie Kyungran Heo’s Plantarians is at Lux from 6 Nov
- We think Bongsu Park has a solo show at Rosenfeld Gallery from 18 Nov. Details tbc
- The group show A New Wave of Contemporary Art (including work by Je Baak and a’strict is at 180 The Strand until mid-December
- Anicka Yi’s In Love With The World is in Tate Modern’s turbine hall until January
Screenings
- The London Korean Film Festival runs from 4 November to 19 November
Social and special events
The British Korean Society’s annual dinner in the Houses of Parliament is on 4 Novembercancelled for covid reasons- New Malden’s third Kimjang Festival is on 20 November
- Seoul Private 프라이빗 presents DJ/Producer ROOTS in an evening of Korean Hip-Hop/Trap on 12 Nov
Books expected this month
- Carving Status at Kŭmgangsan: Elite Graffiti in Premodern Korea (Maya K. H. Stiller)
- Hegemonic Mimicry: Korean Popular Culture of the Twenty-First Century (Kyung Hyun Kim)
- Invented Traditions in North and South Korea (ed Andrew David Jackson, Codruța Sîntionean, Remco Breuker, and CedarBough Saeji)
Let me know of events that aren’t in the events list, or upcoming publications which aren’t in the book list.
Note that this post may not be updated for events that we only hear about after the date of posting. Check the upcoming events list for the latest state of play.