Here’s what we know of so far for this month, though experience tells us that more events will spring up without much prior notice…
Live performance
- Kim’s Convenience continues until 10 Feb. They’ve squeezed in an additional performance on 9 Feb due to popular demand, but it’s now returns only. LKL review here
- Dancer / Choreographer Jiwon Oh performs as part of a Resolution triple bill at The Place on 7 Feb
- Conductor Shiyeon Sung tours with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Hull, Warwick, Guildford and Northampton, 21-25 Feb
- Rising opera diva Hera Hyesang Park has a residency with two recitals at Wells Cathedral School, 23-25 Feb. Look out for her London recital on 1 March, and also keep an eye out for her new release on Deutsche Grammophon
- 0WAVE play the Garage on 12 Feb
- Corbyn and LXX play the Lower Third,18 Feb
- Dreamcatcher’s Luck Inside 7 Doors tour is at the Troxy, 21 Feb
Screenings
- The KCC has a fully subscribed screening (A Tour Guide) on 1 Feb. We’re not sure whether there will be another screening later in the month. It would be nice if for future screenings they were to think about giving us more notice and moving the screenings to a bigger venue. There’s clearly an appetite
- Jieun Banpark’s documentary Life Unrehearsed screens at the Garden Cinema on 4 Feb
- You can find Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave and Madeleine Gavin’s documentary Beyond Utopia on BBC iPlayer
Exhibitions
- In Manchester, Jane Jin Kaisen’s Halmang is at esea contemporary all month. Allow at least 90 mins if you want to see everything, though the eponymous work is around 10 mins.
- In Bristol, Young In Hong’s Five Acts opens on Spike Island on 3 Feb
- In London, Choi Jeong Hwa participates in the Hayward Gallery’s new show, When Forms Come Alive, opening on 7 May
- Within and Beyond – Looking into the Infinite, gallery rosenfeld’s group show which includes work by Min Woo Nam, continues until 16 Feb
- The Delight media art experience has extended its run in Borough Market until mid April
Talks and social
- Ambassador Martin Uden talks about the stories of the British servicemen buried in the Busan UN War Cemetery Honouring Our Fallen: British Servicemen in the Korean War, on 2 Feb at the National Army Museum and online.
- Connect North Korea hosts a Seollal event featuring North Korean guitarist Emily Yeyoung, at Kingston’s Rose Theatre on 9 Feb
- You can search Eventbrite with an appropriate keyword and find plenty of kimchi classes, skin care demonstrations, language exchange opportunities and K-pop parties.and dance classes.
Books
- We almost can’t believe it, but after a few years of the publication date constantly slipping, both Amazon and the publisher seem to agree that the translation of Song of Arirang: The Story of a Korean Rebel Revolutionary in China will be out this month
- On the same day and from the same press, Kaya, we should be getting Adrian Thieret’s translation of Djuna’s Everything Good Dies Here: Tales from the Linker Universe and Beyond
- In fact, this is a good month for speculative fiction, because we’re also getting Anton Hur’s translation of Bora Chung’s Your Utopia and Joungmin Lee Comfort’s translation of Soyoung Park’s Snow Globe.
- Apologies to Andrew David Jackson for missing his Late and Post-Dictatorship Cinephilia Boom and Art Houses in South Korea, published on the last day of 2023. He talks about it on a New Books Network podcast episode that dropped earlier this week
Let me know what books or events I’ve missed.