Continuing a summer tradition, the KCC’s film nights for late July and August focus on the documentay genre, in a season developed in collaboration with Birkbeck. Below is the official press release that tells you about the season. All of the films look well worth your time. We’ll be prioritising Im Heung-soon’s award-winning Factory Complex … [Read More]
Artist: Im Heung-soon
Documentary screening: Factory Complex
Drawing parallels across several decades, Factory Complex engages with the struggles and suffering of women workers in various industries across Korea and beyond. Beginning with Korean textile workers in the 1960s before taking us inside the textile industry in Cambodia today, the film confronts audiences, drawing on archival footage and testimonies of those who were present in … [Read More]
Asia Triennial Manchester 2018 opens on 5 October
Asia Triennial Manchester has come round again, with two weeks of contemporary art from around Asia. The event was last held in 2014, with a focus on China, which somewhat squeezed any Korean interest out of the programme. ATM18: Where are you from? No, where are you really from? 5 – 21 October 2018, Manchester www.atm.mmu.ac.uk … [Read More]
A look at the 2016 London Korean Film Festival programme
Oooh oooh oooh my favourite film of 2012, and in a shortlist for my film of the decade is being screened again. I thought it would never find its way back into a London theatre and that I’d never have the pleasure of seeing it again, because it’s not the sort of movie that they’re … [Read More]
Review: Embeddedness — The past, present and future of Korean experimental film
The series of three screenings of short experimental films at the Tate in September 2015 was a fascinating insight into an artform that is hardly mainstream. To someone not used to sitting in darkened rooms watching 16mm creations the experience was sometimes confusing, sometimes rewarding, but never less than interesting. And what brought the whole … [Read More]
Im Heung-soon: Jeju Prayer, Symptom and Sign
The most substantial work in the final session of experimental film screenings at the Tate in September 2015 was Im Heung-soon’s Sung Si (숭 시 – Jeju Symptom and Sign. 2011, HD Video, colour, sound, 24mins), a work which obliquely addresses the 4:3 incident and the Gangjeong naval base. The piece has been made into … [Read More]
A look back at the films and music of 2015
In the second of two articles (the first looked at the world of books) we look at some of the releases of 2015 that caught our eye. Film Two Kickstarter-funded films to which LKL contributed came to fruition: Twinsters, the story of twin sisters adopted in different continents who discover each other through Facebook; and … [Read More]
Looking back at 2015: Culture, sport and tourism
In the first of four articles looking back over 2015, we recall some of the culture, sports and heritage stories that made the news. Heritage The historic Baekje sites were listed by UNESCO as world heritage. UNESCO also listed in their Memory of the World register some Confucian woodblock texts and records of the family … [Read More]
Embeddedness: synopses of the films shown
The following is the text from the programme for the series of three screenings of Korean artists’ films which took place at Tate Modern’s Starr Auditorium, 18-19 September 2015. Embeddednes: Artist Films and Videos from Korea, 1960s to Now 18 — 19 September 2015 Tate Modern, Starr Auditorium £5 / £4 per screening The first … [Read More]
Embeddedness: Artist Films and Videos from Korea 1960s to Now
An interesting collaboration between the KCC, Tate Modern and EXiS (the 10th Experimental Film And Video Festival In Seoul 2015) brings you a collection of Korean artist videos in a series of three two-hour screenings. Embeddedness: Artist Films and Videos from Korea 1960s to Now Tate Modern Friday 18 – Saturday 19 September 2015 Adult … [Read More]
The Hidden Cost of Prosperity – a brave and rewarding exhibition at the KCC
Probably the bravest and among the most thought-provoking exhibitions that the KCC has hosted in its five year history is The Hidden Cost of Prosperity, a look at the darker side of the Miracle on the Han – the exploited underclass. The exhibition was one of the winners of the KCC’s Call for Curators, a … [Read More]
The Hidden Cost of Prosperity – a winning curatorial project at the KCC
In December last year Anna Miyoung Kim curated an evening of video art work investigating the darker side of Korea’s economic growth – and possibly of capitalism more widely – in an interesting project called The Shade of Prosperity. Apart from presenting a diverse range of short videos loosely based on a theme – rather … [Read More]