Based on the true story of Hoe-Young Lee, a Korean independence activist who fought against the Japanese colonial empire in the early 20th century, What Are You Going To Do With Your One And Only Youth is a rehearsed reading of a musical play. Performed by young English artists, British East and South East Asian … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman
Festival film review: The Apartment with Two Women | Gyeong-ah’s daughter
London audiences have been spoiled with some great films in the recent festivals, from the latest blockbusters to indie debut features. Both LEAFF and LKFF included in their programme a debut feature by a female director, focusing on mother-daughter relationships and headlining actors who have not had much screentime in the mainstream. LEAFF’s selection was … [Read More]
November events 2022
One last busy month before the year-end slow-down. The London Korean Film Festival and the second half of the K-music Festival dominate the calendar, and there are some major K-pop names including BlackPink coming to town. But along with Park Jiha’s meditative music the thing I’m most looking forward to this month is an intimate … [Read More]
Lee Hyemi shortlisted for Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation
Congratulations to poet Lee Hyemi, translator Soje and the pioneering Tilted Axis Press for being shortlisted for the 2022 Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation with the collection Unexpected Vanilla, published in 2020. Awarded every two years, the prize honours the best book of poetry by a living poet from Africa, Asia, Latin America … [Read More]
Festival film review: Hommage
In her first feature, Passerby #3 (2010), Shin Su-won looked at the life of a woman who left her job to try to become a film director. In her latest, she returns to a similar movie-making theme. Hommage is about a middle-aged movie director, Ji-wan, whose films have never been much of a success. She … [Read More]
Hwang Jihae returns to Chelsea in 2023 with her third garden
Korean garden designer and environmental artist Hwang Jihae will be returning to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023 with a show garden titled “Land of Healing: Korean Mountain Light”. The news was released at a press conference at RHS Linley Hall in central London today. Hwang won Gold Medal and Best Artisan Garden in 2011 … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2022 programme announcement
Here’s the main press release announcing the LKFF’s 2022 programme. We’ll be posting the detailed schedule in due course, but tickets are already on sale via the festival website. London Korean Film Festival announces its 2022 programme Special Presentation of Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Award Winning BROKER Critically Acclaimed RETURN TO SEOUL Closing Film: KIM Han-min’s HANSAN: … [Read More]
October events 2022
There’s no let-up in the schedule this month after last month’s hectic pace. This month sees the BFI London Film Festival, the London East Asia Film Festival – both of which have strong Korean showings – and the start of the K-music festival. Music and performance The 2022 K-music Festival opens with: Dal:um & ReMidas … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Silent Mind, at Cromwell Place
Lloyd Choi has a regular stable of artists whose body of work you can enjoy at her gallery’s exhibitions: as the work becomes more familiar, it somehow becomes more desirable. But she does not stand still. She gradually introduces new artists into her roster – as she did with the minhwa-decorated ceramics of Lee Geum-young … [Read More]
Andong remembers the Queen
The Korea Times has a nice article reminiscing about the Queen’s visit to Andong’s Hahoe Folk Village in 1999, where she celebrated her 73rd birthday. The village has set up a temporary memorial for the Queen for visitors to pay their respects in the period leading up to the state funeral on 19 September. The … [Read More]
Alienoid to open LKFF 2022
It’s nice to hear some early news of what to expect at the London Korean Film Festival this year. On Thursday the KCCUK announced details of the opening film. It’s one that people have been wanting to see for a while: the sci-fi fantasy genre-bender Alienoid (외계+인 1부) by master of the ensemble cast Choi … [Read More]
September events
The diary usually starts filling up around Chuseok time, but this month is exceptional. No question about it: the focus this month is on the Coronet Theatre and their stunning array of performances at their Tiger is Coming festival. Each one of the performances is a must-see, and Choi Jeong-hwa’s installations are self-recommending. Keep an … [Read More]
Review: JM Lee — Broken Summer
A seemingly ideal partnership between a successful artist and a doting wife who is also his manager suddenly dissolves when the wife walks out without warning, leaving behind a surprise which the artist knows will shortly destroy his reputation and career. The artist had clearly been living a lie, with his wife plotting his destruction … [Read More]
The Coronet Theatre’s “Tiger is Coming” festival: don’t miss any of it.
How long have we all been wanting Leenalchi and the Ambiguous Dance Company to come to London? Probably ever since their Naver Onstage performance went viral on social media. The piece they were performing was Tiger is Coming, which turned out to be the opening track of their subsequent album, Sugungga, a retelling of one … [Read More]
Soup and Ideology: Yang Yonghi’s exploration of the Jeju 4:3 incident through her own family history
It must be a nightmare living with Yang Yonghi: you are constantly being filmed. Yang’s work focuses on her family history, and she has been collecting footage of her daily life since the mid ’90s. When the individual scenes are filmed – conversations, family meals, seemingly unremarkable incidents – the filming must seem without purpose. … [Read More]
K-Music Festival 2022: the official press release
We’re excited at the line-up for this autumn’s K-Music Festival. Here are the full details, with links to the individual gig notices. K-MUSIC FESTIVAL 2022: Korea across London this autumn Wednesday 5 October – Thursday 24 November 2022 This autumn, as an exhibition ‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ opens at the V&A, the K-Music Festival, now … [Read More]