As Chuseok approaches, the cultural calendar starts to get busy again after the summer lull. Highlights this month are the return of the Ambiguous Dance Company to perform a site-specific piece at the Coronet Theatre, and the Dynamic Duo who celebrate 20 years in the business by making their first London appearance. Plus, if you didn’t get to see Kim’s Convenience in Finsbury Park earlier this year, make sure you come to Hammersmith this month: although performances run into October, that’s when your diary will fill up with K-music and the film festivals. And if your cultural interests extend beyond Korea, enjoy the legendary Frank Chickens performing live at the Kingston ESEA Culture Festival. Finally, the BBC K-pop reality show Made in Korea is making for entertaining family viewing.
Seasonal celebrations and other gatherings
- Korea British Cultural Exchange hosts the annual ESEA Culture Festival in Kingston on 7 September, celebrating Korean, Chinese and Japanese cultures.
- The British Korean Society have their annual members-only Chuseok reception on 16 September
- The North Korean community celebrate Chuseok in New Malden on 17 September
- Hallyu Con 2024 is at Samsung KX on 22 September
Music and performance
- Kim’s Convenience has its second London theatrical run from 5 September in Hammersmith, with an associated London family business photo exhibition
- The Ambiguous Dance Company perform their new work The Belt at the Coronet Theatre, 10 – 14 September. Don’t miss them.
- SuHo’s “Welcome to Su:Home” tour comes to indigo at the o2 on 10 September
- Dynamic Duo make their long-overdue UK debut in the City’s Steel Yard on 13 September
- The BOYZ Zeneration II tour lands in Wembley Arena on 15 September
- 2Z’s “A Crash Landing in Europe” tour, supported by Nam Dong Hyun should be well worth a trip to the New Cross Inn on 22 September
- There are late-night k-clubbing opportunities on 6 September, 14 September and 27 September
- Virtuoso vocal octet Voces8 include a Jung Jae-il track on their upcoming album, Nightfall, to be released on 27 September (but fear not: if you’ve already got Jung Jae-il’s Psalms album you already have the definitive performance)
Exhibitions
- The KCC’s first show of the Autumn is Digital Heritage, Now! AI With You, opening on 5 September.
- Jinhee Kim’s Drink Water is at Frieze, 9 Cork Street, 5 – 21 September
- Minsuk Cho’s Pavilion is in situ at the Serpentine Gallery all month
- Pulse: Beyond Delight is in Borough Market until the end of the month
- Kim Bohie’s “Beyond” is on show in Glasgow until 5 September
Art talks
- Woo Jin Joo talks about her work at the KCCUK on 24 September
- Kingsbury library hosts a talk about Elaine Ildan Choi’s practice on 30 September
Screen
- BBC1’s Made in Korea, following the travails of a would-be British K-pop boy band as they get a brief experience of the SM Entertainment training regime, airs on Saturday evenings and iPlayer.
- The programme of the BFI London Film Festival is announced on 4 September.
- We’re unaware of any film screenings at the KCC or in the movie theatres, so you’ll have to rely on streaming services to catch up on the back catalogue, or try the latest tv dramas.
Publications expected
- Buddhism, Digital Technology and New Media in Korea: Ŭisang’s Ocean Seal Diagram, ed Hyangsoon Yi and Dal Yong Jin pub Routledge
- The Korean Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes and Legends by Bella Dalton-Fenkl and Heinz Insu Fenkl pub Thames + Hudson
- Koryŏsa: The History of Koryŏ, the Annals of the Kings, 918–1095 ed Howard Kahm, John B. Duncan, Lee Junghoon, Park Jongki and Edward J. Shultz pub University of Hawai’i Press
- The Proposal by Bae Myung-hoon tr Stella Kim pub Honford Star
- The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin tr Clare Richards pub Viking – though in Kindle and audio format only: you’ll need to wait until January next year for a print copy