Here are the events for May, so far. Let me know what I’ve missed out. Event of the month Hwang Jihae, last year’s Chelsea gold medal winner in the artisan garden category, returns to the Chelsea Flower Show with her Show Garden – “Quiet Time: DMZ Forbidden Garden“, 22 – 26 May Theatre The Yohangza … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 111)
Author of Escape from Camp 14 interviewed in the Standard
Interview with North Korean escapee Shin Dong-hyuk in the Evening Standard today. Shame they can’t spell his name right. http://bit.ly/IQgTFA. “When I saw the outside world for the first time, I thought it was paradise.” [Read More]
2012 Travel Diary 3: Bugaksan to Daehakro
Seoul, Saturday 24 March 2012. There’s time to kill before our evening appointment in Daehakro, so we go for a stroll in Samcheong-dong, along with most of the rest of Seoul. It’s 5pm on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, and young couples amble with an charming lack of purpose, getting in your way if you want to … [Read More]
Song Il-gon’s Always: a well-made melodrama and nothing more
If Always had been made by any other director I would not have minded. I would not have gone to see it either. But as it was made by Song Il-gon, I went along, and was sorely disappointed. It’s not that it’s a bad film of its genre. It’s well made and moving. The lead … [Read More]
Korean wins award from London Design Museum
Congratulations to Kim Ki-hyun, winner of a “Design Oscar” in the Designs of the Year 2012 award from the Design Museum for his 1.3 Chair made out of balsa wood – exhibited at 100% Design London last year [Read More]
2012 Travel Diary 2: Suh Do-ho “Home within Home” at the Leeum
Seoul, Saturday 24 March 2012. The Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, a short walk from Hangangjin subway station (Line 6), is currently hosting what is claimed to be their first ever solo show there by a living Korean artist. Suh Do-ho has been a prominent international artist for over 10 years – since appearing for … [Read More]
Leeum’s Suh Do-ho solo show in Wall Street Journal
Brief review of Suh Do-ho’s solo show at the Leeum, Home within Home, on the Wall Street Journal. Good collection of pictures too. http://on.wsj.com/I5QhNd. Read LKL’s own review here. [Read More]
Oh Kil-nam, double defector, on the BBC
Interesting interview with Oh Kil-nam on the BBC website. Oh defected from the South to the North with his family (partly at the persuasion of composer Yun Isang), realised his mistake and defected back – on his own. His wife and daughters (now known as the Daughters of Tongyeong) got sent to Yodok. You can … [Read More]
2012 Travel Diary 1: Dansaekhwa – Korean Monochrome Painting at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, Saturday 24 March 2012. Whenever I come to Seoul I always try to get to Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon to visit the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Even if there isn’t a particularly interesting special exhibition on (and that’s rare), their permanent collection is always worth a browse. This time, the special … [Read More]
KCC marks 100 days before the Olympics
Well done to the KCC for getting the Trafalgar Square Olympic photoshoot done. See the results in the Chosun Ilbo. We look forward to your 100 days of cultural events too. [Read More]
Song Il-gon’s Feathers in the Wind: delicate and moving
The second Song Il-gon screening this month lived up to my high expectations. Feathers in the Wind has many similarities Song Il-gon’s beautiful debut Flower Island but still contains plenty that provokes thought in its own right. Like Flower Island, the destination is a southern island – this time the real island of Udo off … [Read More]
From Local Monsters to BEAST: 1500 years of Korean music and dance at SOAS
Last weekend’s free seminar at SOAS ranged from Silla dynasty lion dances to last month’s tour of Taiwan by BEAST, and from ancient Confucian ceremonial music to Samulnori and hip-hop via Trot. Juhae Gu introduced us to the dying musical form of Akkeuk (악극) – a form of stage musical using Trot music. It is … [Read More]
Hallyu Museum to open near Incheon Airpot
According to bridge bloggers AllKpop, who have translated a Korean article on Nate, a Hallyu Museum will be opening in the second half of 2012 near Incheon Airport to enable travellers to get a quick fix of their current bias or favourite TV actor. An interesting way of catering to the hallyu tourists. [Read More]
The LKL 2012 Korea Trip – introduction
For the past couple of years my Korea trip has been scheduled for the beginning of May, to coincide with the Sancheong herbal medicine festival and the Jongmyo rituals. This year, I thought I’d try something different, and planned a visit to the Tongyeong International Music Festival. A trip to that port city, location for … [Read More]
The LKL 2012 Korea Trip – index
Here is the table of contents for the 2012 LKL Korea trip, subtitled Music, Mugwort and Monochrome: Contents Introduction 12: Yun Isang’s music at TIMF 2012 1: Dansaekhwa – Korean Monochrome Painting at the Museum of Contemporary Art 13: Jeon Hyuck-lim, Magician of Colours 2: Suh Do-ho “Home within Home” at the Leeum 14: Mugwort … [Read More]
April Events 2012
Sorry for the late posting – just returned from 10 days in Korea with no computer or time available for blogging. I’ll update this post with links and anything I’ve missed as I get more time. If you spot any obvious omissions (this list was prepared in great haste) do let me know. Music and … [Read More]