There’s a little bit of Jeollanamdo in the KCC at the moment. Although the exhibition is co-organised by the Asia Cultural Center in Gwangju, and by the Gwangju Museum of Art, the subject matter of the exhibition strays outside of the city limits into Damyang, Hwasun and further afield. The first work to engage you […]
Author: Philip Gowman
The Illusionists: we went to see the Korean Manipulator, and ended up being fans of all seven performers
The events that LKL covers often involve high culture: dance, visual arts, contemporary or experimental music. So a family entertainment show aimed at a mainstream audience is somewhat outside our usual area of coverage. But that’s not to say we don’t appreciate supreme talent and skill when we see it. Last week we went along […]
Mari Kim’s trip to London for “Immortal Beloved”
We’ve enjoyed seeing Mari Kim’s work on display in London galleries over the past few years, so it was a real treat to be able to meet her when she came over recently for the opening of her show at Pontone Gallery. The works on display this time showed a slightly different direction: still the […]
August events
It’s a bit quieter this month – except for Edinburgh of course. All events are in London except where stated otherwise. Film The KCC’s Love Beyond Boundaries season concludes with Wanee and Junah (1 August) and Oasis (8 August) The BTS Bring the Soul movie has screenings on 7 and 10 August The next Korean […]
Live music review: SaaWee at the Albany, Deptford
When anticipating Korea related events involving live performance, I generally try not to raise my expectations too high. That way, I don’t get disappointed. But sometimes I break that rule, usually based on past experience of one or more of the performers. Hence, when pulling together the events post for July I highlighted three events […]
Ko Jin-young wins the 2019 Evian Championship
Going into the final day, all of the top four players on the leaderboard of the LGPA Evian-les-Bains golf tournament were Korean. Kim Hyo-joo led, followed one shot behind by Park Sung-hyun. A further three shots behind were Park Inbee and Ko Jin-young. On the final day, today, things started to go wrong for Kim […]
Jambinai, Park Jiha and SB Circle – a roundup of reviews of three K-music performers
The line-up of K-music 2019 has been announced, and it’s nice to see some familiar faces returning to London so that we can get to know their music better. Jambinai, who open the festival, have become fairly regular visitors to the UK. They had the UK launch of their new album, Onda, at the Garage, […]
The 2019 K-Music festival: the official press release
The schedule for the 2019 K-Music festival was released last month, giving everyone the time to plan their diaries. Here, rather belatedly (it’s been a busy few weeks), is the official press release. Tickets are already on sale. K-Music 2019 London’s Festival of Korean Music Thurs 3 Oct: Jambinai, Purcell Room Sun 6 Oct: Celebrate […]
LG launches homebrew machine with Suffolk malt
Earlier this week the British Embassy in Seoul participated in the official launch in Korea of LG’s new home brewing appliance that takes the mess and faff out of making your own beer. A sleek, self contained unit takes two weeks to brew the beer, making around 5 litres, and sanitises itself afterwards to get […]
Photos from Birdsong and Borders concert at St Luke’s
While it’s a huge treat that there’s so much in the way of interesting performances involving UK-based Koreans nowadays, it’s a shame that sometimes they clash with each other. Hyelim Kim’s recent collaboration with Merit Ariane at LSO St Luke’s was something I’d definitely have gone to… if it hadn’t been for Jinyeob Cha’s performance […]
Review: Jinyeob Cha in Bongsu Park’s Dream Ritual
The stage is black, preparing you for sleep; the floor slightly mirrored. The space is empty apart from a curtain of transparent silvery organza fabric whose flowing folds represent the peaks and troughs of a typical sleep brainwave, and between which the dancer will move like a ghost. The dancer enters, pulling a another fabric […]
Nine Confucian academies listed at UNESCO
For visitors to Korea (such as myself) who like to try to get round all the UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, the list just got longer. On Saturday 6 July, the World Heritage Committee included nine Seowon, or Neo-Confucian Academies, in the list. The nine seowon are dotted around the central and southern parts of the […]
Review triple bill: the 2019 Festival of Korean Dance
When Kim Jae-Duk’s Modern Table last performed at The Place, it was to close the 2016 K-Music Festival. This year the eight-strong all-male troupe was selected to open the 2019 Festival of Korean Dance at the same venue. With a piece entitled Sok-do (Velocity) the audience perhaps had a hint of what to expect. And […]
Nayeong Jeong: Repeat after “The End of the World”
Nayeong Jeong celebrated the successful completion of her Slade PhD viva the day before with a performance at the opening of the group exhibition “A Dance of Scales”, at Assembly Point in Peckham. Jeong’s work often involves a performative element, and also often involves the use of clay not only as a creative medium but […]
July events 2019
The highlight of the month is the Dream Ritual performance at the Coronet Theatre. But two musical collaborations could run it close: Hyelim Kim at LSO St Luke’s and SaaWee at Albany Red Room. Continuing this year’s trend, there’s also plenty of K-pop and rock too at various venues – including Idiotape. The KCC’s film […]
Yu Ho-jin in The Illusionists – at Shaftesbury Theatre
A fun way to spend a summer evening. Afternoon and even morning performances are available on some days throughout the season. The Illusionists Shaftesbury Theatre | 210 Shaftesbury Avenue | London WC2H 8DP | www.shaftesburytheatre.com 6 July – 1 September 2019 | Buy tickets THIS MIND BLOWING SPECTACULAR SHOWCASES THE JAW DROPPING TALENTS OF SEVEN […]
Concert notes: Byron Wallen, Jihye Kim and Pouya Ehsaei at Redon
It was hard to believe that Byron Wallen, Jihye Kim and Pouya Ehsaei had not performed together as a trio before – there seemed be such respect and understanding between the musicians, as if they were totally familiar with each other’s ways of playing. The three had shared ideas with each other in advance – […]