A father sacrifices his organs to fund his wife’ s crazed brain-altering attempt to create A FIRST CLASS DAUGHTER. Is this truly the route to perfection? The mother’s desperate efforts to make her daughter a first-class person are a pitiful sight. She has had her daughter’ s brain changed into that of a confirmed genius … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman
Wanted: K-Pop banners for V&A Hallyu exhibition
Help the Victoria and Albert Museum showcase K-Pop banners in their upcoming exhibition Hallyu! The Korean Wave – and your creation could end up in their permanent collection! The V&A are launching a public call-out for K-Pop banners, to help highlight the vital role that fandoms play in the phenomenon of K-Pop. The chosen banners … [Read More]
May events 2022
I’m beginning to feel that the volume of events is returning to pre-pandemic norms. Nevertheless, I’m sure there are things I’ve managed inadvertently to omit. Exhibitions The KCC’s group show Drifting Terrain continues until 21 May There’s a group show – 엄마, Mother – by UK-based Korean artsts, at Han Collection 20 – 28 May … [Read More]
4482|Sasapari group exhibition: ‘Hope’ Open Call
Good news that the association of Korean artists in the UK named after the international dialling codes of the two countries has come through the pandemic and has launched a drive for membership and partnership, along with an open call for their next show: 2022 ‘Hope’ Open Call Deadline: 30 April 2022 Exhibition Dates: 5th … [Read More]
Two doomed love affairs by Choi Eun-young and Shin Kyung-sook
A parallel review of Shin Kyung-sook’s The Place where the Harmonium Was and Choi Eun-young’s The Summer. Two vivid depictions of the joy and pain of relationships. The Summer is a straightforward and immediately appealing read; The Harmonium is more difficult but nevertheless rewarding. [Read More]
Congratulations to Bora Chung, Anton Hur and Honford Star
Congratulations to author Bora Chung, translator Anton Hur and publisher Honford Star for Cursed Bunny’s inclusion in the International Booker Prize shortlist. Anton Hur had the distinction of having two of his translations longlisted, the other one being Sang Young Park’s Love in the Big City. It was also nice to see one title from … [Read More]
April events 2022
It’s looking like a relatively quiet month this month… Film The KCC is screening a documentary double bill on 7 April. Hopefully a second double bill will follow later in the month. You might find Umma featuring Sandra Oh in a cinema somewhere, though screening times in the West and Southwest London area at least … [Read More]
And in other Apple news…
With all the excitement about the launch of the adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko on Apple TV, and Apple’s Oscar win, something that might once have been big news – the appearance of a free-to-view Park Chan-wook short film on YouTube – has not really had much airtime. Back in 2011, brothers Park Chan-wook … [Read More]
A Festival of Korean Dance 2022
The Festival of Korean Dance is back. The programme is pretty much what we were going to see in the 2020 festival, which of course got cancelled. I’m glad we haven’t missed out, and I’m really looking forward to this. So, here’s the official press release. A Festival of Korean Dance returns to The Place … [Read More]
Brief review: June Hur – The Silence of Bones
My reading diary so far this year has been getting me rather bogged down. In part that’s because there seems to be so little time for reading nowadays, and partly because my choice of reading material has been overly serious and lengthy. First was The Scorpion, a 400-plus page novel from the rather dour genre … [Read More]
Gallery visit: Jukhee Kwon in Expanding Horizons
October Gallery has represented Korean artist Jukhee Kwon for almost ten years now, and it was natural that when planning an exhibition in memory of their trustee Pamela Kember they should include work by the Korean artist as she exhibited in Asia House when Kember was director of Arts and Learning there. Somehow, during the … [Read More]
Soon Yul Kang’s recent and upcoming exhibitions
Congratulations to London-based artist Soon Yul Kang, who has had a nice write-up for her Washington duo show from the Washington Post: Striking a canny balance between the simple and the complex, Kang’s artworks can be grasped in a second yet reward minutes of close inspection. Kang’s exhibition at the Washington KCC closes on 23 … [Read More]
Book review: Kim Won-il – The Scorpion
Kim Won-il looks at 80 years of Korean modern history, presenting us with the less glamorous side of the story in a novel that spans three generations of a Milyang-based family who are swept along in the political and economic tides of the colonial period and Korea’s subsequent reconstruction. [Read More]
March events 2022
This month’s highlight in London is undoubtedly Park Jiha’s residency at Cafe OTO, timed to coincide with the release of her new album, The Gleam. Outside of the capital there’s a play at Bristol Old Vic focusing on Korean divided families; and in Sheffield look out for the return of the annual Korea Day. The … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: LUX — New Wave of Contemporary Art
The current video art exhibition in what I assume is a large disused car park underneath 180 Strand comes to an end in a week’s time. It’s well work a visit. In a vast space and in the absence of natural light, the curators have been able to display a range of large-scale video pieces … [Read More]
Non-fiction titles expected in 2022: LKL’s picks
In previous years this post has been, to a greater or lesser extent, a list of every non-fiction title I could find that was going to be hitting the bookshops in the coming year. As the LKL Korea Book Database has grown in size, including its stock of future publications, there are now far too … [Read More]