Bong Joon-ho is on the cover of this month’s Sight and Sound, marking the special season of his films at BFI and the theatrical release of his Mickey 17, and Park Jiha has a three concert tour to celebrate her new album. You probably didn’t manage to get tickets to Yunchan Lim’s Wigmore Hall recital, but there’s plenty of other high-quality classical music to entice you. This is the first month for a while that I haven’t spotted any K-pop performances.
Workshops, seminars and discussions
- The KCC hosts a Q&A with Director Jung Young-doo following a screening of his Lear production for the National Changgeuk Company on 5 April…
- …and also an introduction to the Korean folk game Yutnori, 18 April
- The British Museum hosts Horsehair weaving in Korean contemporary art with award-winning artist Dahye Jeong on 25 April
- The University of Sheffield hosts a conference, Reflections on the North — The Spaces and Subjects of the DPRK, 3 – 4 April
- In Durham, Simon Mills talks about Personal Patterns of Enlightenment: the chant styles of Buddhist monks on 24 April
- The British Korean Society has a guided tour of the Richard Rutt exhibition in Durham on 24 April
- UCLan hosts a workshop entitled North Korea, A Country Left Behind with the Cloaked Society, 24 April
- In Cambridge, Dr Park Jin talks on the ROK-UK Strategic Partnership for the Future, 25 April
Film, TV, Radio
- Listen to the BBC’s radio dramatisation of Thae Yong Ho’s defection on BBC Sounds
- Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is still in movie theatres. Great fun.
- BFI Southbank hosts Power and Paradox: A Bong Joon-ho season, until 29 April
Exhibitions
- Durham’s Oriental Museum hosts Knitted together: the Korean lives and legacies of Richard and Joan Rutt, finishing in early May
- K-Women: Celebrating Korean Female Artists 22 Nov – 19 Apr 2025
- Hyangmok Baik: Home, at Beers London 06 Mar – 12 Apr 2025
- The KCC’s new exhibition, Soundwaves of Science: Exploring the Science of Korean Music opens on 3 April
- UCLan hosts a North Korean exhibition The echo never stops 7 – 26 April
Live performance: music, theatre, dance
- Park Jiha’s spring tour takes in London, Bristol and Leeds 1 – 4 April, celebrating her latest album release
- Dancer Yong Min Cho performs to choral music by Dufay, Tallis and Byrd at St Anne’s Limehouse, 2 April
- Yunchan Lim plays Bach and Hanurij Lee at the Wigmore 7 and 8 April
- Cellist Hayoung Choi’s Wigmore Hall debut is on 10 April
- Sunwook Kim directs Beethoven from the keyboard at the Barbican, 12 April
- MinJung Baek opens the Cambridge International Piano Festival at Pembroke College, 22 April
- New Diorama Theatre presents Container by British-Korean theatremaker Alan Fielden, 2 – 12 April
- The Kim’s Convenience nationwide theatre tour takes in Southend (1-2 April), Brighton (3–5 April), Manchester (8–13 April), Peterborough (22–26 April) and Newcastle (29 April – 3 May)
Books expected
- The only Korea-related book we’re aware of coming this month is Umma: A Korean Mom’s Kitchen Wisdom by Nam Soon Ahn and Sarah Ahn. There must be more.