Earlier this year, my brain decided that sometime during 2019 it would rebuild the LKL website from the ground up. The rest of me didn’t have a choice in the matter. The decision was made. Then the brain took over completely and started work. I could not control it. Most of the day, and often […]
Author: Philip Gowman
Book notes: Hwang Jung-eun — I’ll Go On
Hwang Jungeun: I’ll Go On Translated by Emily Yae Won Tilted Axis Press, 2018 Serialised as 소라나나나기, 2012-2013, and published as 계속해보겠습니다, 2014, by Changbi After not really warming to Hwang Jungeun’s One Hundred Shadows, I nevertheless invested in the second translation of her work by Tilted Axis Press firstly because the press deserves our […]
Colette Balmain and Paul Quinn on women in the Korean film industry
For those of you who, like me, were unable to make it up to Harrow for the talk on Women in Korean film by Colette Balmain and Paul Quinn on 4 March, Colette has posted a recording of her talk on Korean female directors on Soundcloud, while Paul has uploaded the text of his talk, […]
Exhibition visit: Korean crafts at Collect 2019
Collect at the Saatchi Gallery can always be relied upon to bring together a wide range of high quality crafts, and is a fair where I spend as much time looking at the non-Korean objects as I do the Korean ones. And it’s always wise to keep an eye open, in the non-Korean galleries, because […]
Kingston School of Art and Royal School of Needlework collaborate with Hanbok Advancement Centre
The first stage of an innovative collaboration between the Hanbok Advancement Centre, Kingston School of Art and the Royal School of Needlework had its first public exhibition last week at Kingston University’s Stanley Picker Gallery. The collaboration was the brainchild of Justina Jang, who through Korean British Cultural Exchange shares Korean culture with London and […]
Zadie Xa: A Sojourn Through Saturn and Across the Southern Sea
Browsing the Kingston School of Art and Stanley Picker Gallery websites today for background on their recent exhibition of Korean-inspired fashion and embroidery, I came across something I wasn’t expecting. In a zone of Kingston University’s website called Cold Protein is a series of podcasts of artists’ sound works, conceived to be experienced in specific […]
Seungri’s shame makes it into the FT
It’s not often that you find a K-pop story in the pink pages of the Financial Times. In fact, if you search their site for “BTS” you will simply get a list of articles about the company formerly known as British Telecom. So what brings them to report the ins and outs of Lee Seung-hyun’s, […]
Brief review: In the Absence – a brief Sewol documentary that packs a punch
Some of the best things come in small sizes, and this documentary about the Sewol tragedy is one of them. In the Absence: in the absence of a serious rescue effort, in the absence of decent, serious reporting by the mainstream media, in the absence of many other things. The documentary is only 29 minutes […]
Y Dance at Resolution 2019 – a video of the full performance
For those who were unable to attend the triple bill at The Place in January as part of Resolution 2019, Y Dance have posted a full length video of their moving and slightly unsettling performance, which you can view below. “넋(NEOK): SOUL” is about suffering the mental anguish caused by society, family and even themselves. […]
Catch Bridging Home, London while you still can
Suh Do-ho’s installation at the east end of London Wall will be taken down soon: its planning permission runs out at the end of the month. So catch it while you can. Here’s a few photos I took this afternoon. Thanks to Hannah Giles and 앤서방, here are some images of the work in mid […]
Nick Bonner’s Made in North Korea arrives in Seoul
The Korea JoongAng Daily has a nice feature on Nick Bonner’s collection of North Korean everyday graphic design. His collection was on show in London’s House of Illustration last year, and arrived at the Hongik Daehangno Art Center (Hyehwa subway) in December, where it will remain until early April. It is well worth a visit. […]
March events
After the busiest February I can remember, March too is setting off at a cracking pace, and that’s even before we have sight of the KCC’s film schedule and upcoming exhibition. It’s a big month for music: Hyelim Kim at Club Inegales, two separate Donghoon Shin world premieres, Seong-jin Cho at the Barbican, plus concerts […]
Bae Chan-hyo’s new book of photography
I always find it strangely rewarding when things going on in London get featured in the Korean press. London-based photographer Bae Chan-hyo’s upcoming exhibition at Purdy Hicks, Jumping Into, gets a feature in yesterday’s Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper. Bae has been active on the London art scene at least since 2006, when he took part […]
Movie review: E J-Yong – My Brilliant Life
A feelgood Korean drama which the main character has a fatal and incurable disease, and who is writing an account for the benefit of loved ones when he is gone? Been there, done that. Well, not exactly: when the director is E J-Yong and the movie is an adaptation of a Kim Aeran novel, you […]
The Kimjang Project is officially launched
The Kimjang Project launched yesterday in New Malden with congratulatory messages from the Mayor of Kingston Thay Thayalan and the local MP Sir Ed Davey among others. The project celebrates the various aspects of kimjang, for example the communal character of kimchi-making and its health-giving properties. New Malden, sometimes known as New Mal-dong (뉴몰동), as […]
Byungchan Kim is runner-up in HIX Award 2018
Quite by chance last week I happened to be visiting the offices of one of the sponsors of the HIX Award – though I didn’t know this connection in advance. The HIX Award is open to current art students and graduates of the last two years and is aimed at helping with the transition between […]
It’s the Korean Music Awards time of year again…
This is the time of year that I realise how behind I am with the music scene in Korea. The Korean Music Awards make me guilty that I’ve missed out on so much great music, but also grateful that they bring it together in one place so that I know what it is that I […]