How often do you read the learned essay that accompanies a new art exhibition and find yourself not understanding a word of it? For me, more often than I would like. I am never sure how to tell whether the essay is unclear because the writer is being deliberately obscure (to cover up the fact … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 34)
Connect: North Korea launches community centre crowdfunding campaign
LKL is happy to pass on this press release from Connect: North Korea: In 2003, the first North Korean refugee arrived in the UK. Today, nearly 700 North Korean refugees live in New Malden, Surrey. Upon arriving in the UK, North Korean refugees are ill-equipped to integrate and settle into British society and few services … [Read More]
K Hip-hop: Penomeco, Punchnello, Millic in London
An evening of Korean hip-hop at Scala: Cult of Ya presents Penomeco + Punchnello + Millic Sunday 13 May 2018 | 7PM: Doors | 8-10PM: Show | £30 + | Book tickets Scala | 275 Pentonville Road | Kings Cross | London N1 9NL Cult of Ya is proud to present a unique showcase of … [Read More]
Peggy Gou at the Village Underground – the headline set
For those who couldn’t secure tickets – or who didn’t have the energy – to go to Peggy Gou’s appearance at the Village Undergroud for Mixmag Live earlier this month, here’s the complete set, from Mixmag’s YouTube Channel: [Read More]
Book Review: Ahn Jung-hyo – White Badge
Ahn Jung-hyo: White Badge Soho Press, NY, 1989, 337pp Originally published as 하얀전쟁, 1983 Translated by the author If I saw Jeong Ji-young’s White Badge (1992) when it screened in London eight years ago, I do not remember it. I cannot imagine having a similar lapse of memory concerning Ahn Jung-hyo’s Vietnam war novel on … [Read More]
Film review: Yu Hyun-mok’s Descendants of Cain
I had looked forward to the first movie in the KCC’s Korean Novels on Screen series – Kim Ki-young’s adaptation of Yi Kwang-su’s The Soil – and had been disappointed. Conversely, not being a particular fan of Yu Hyun-mok’s depressing movies, I was regarding the second in the series – his adaptation of Hwang Sun-won’s 1954 … [Read More]
Lee Geonyong receives Thomas Cranmer Award
Congratulations to Dr Lee Geonyong, director of music at Seoul’s Anglican Cathedral, granted the Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 6 April 2018. The Cranmer Award for Worship was first awarded by Archbishop Justin Welby in March 2016. It is named after Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533 to … [Read More]
27 years of translation: Brother Anthony’s poetry talks in London
Brother Anthony’s brief pre-Easter trip to the UK included four talks – in St Andrews, London and Oxford – on themes of poetry translation. Of the two London appearances, one was a detailed hands-on workshop wrestling with a poem by Kim Seung-hee; and the other a wide-ranging talk encompassing the history of the translation of … [Read More]
Film review: The Propaganda Game
The SOAS North Korea Society recently hosted a screening of Álvaro Longoria’s The Propaganda Game. The documentary is not going to tell you anything new about North Korea, its on-location original footage being the product of a fully-chaperoned three-day tour in Pyongyang and the DMZ. What it does do, however, is hinted at in its … [Read More]
Brief review: Kim Ki-young – The Soil
I’m not sure quite how to assess Kim Ki-young’s adaptation of Yi Kwang-su’s 500-page serial novel The Soil (흙, 1932-3). At 125 minutes, it doesn’t sound particularly long. But as we got up from our seats at the KCC last Thursday at around 9:15pm, it felt much later – maybe around 10:30pm. And that wasn’t … [Read More]
April events 2018
Exhibitions In Exeter, Young In Hong’s The Moon’s Trick continues until 22 April; In Nottingham, The Real DMZ closes on 15 April; Han Collection’s exhibition of crafts from the boudoir, Gyubang, continues all month; In Durham, the photography exhibition entitled The Hills are High continues all month; Made in North Korea: Everyday Graphics from the … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Juree Kim in Exhibit A, at Anise Gallery
Kim Juree’s latest work, London Terraced House, was unveiled at the opening of the current exhibition, Exhibit A, at Anise gallery in Shad Thames. As for her 2017 participation in the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke, Kim chose a subject relevant to the location of the exhibition: this time a group of typical early Victorian … [Read More]
Haemin Sunim shortlisted for British Book Award
The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim (tr. Chi-Young Kim) has been shortlisted for The British Book Awards in Non-Fiction: Lifestyle category. The full shortlist in the category is as follows: 5 Ingredients by Jamie Oliver (Michael Jospeh) The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down: How … [Read More]
Book review: Yi Kwang-su — The Soil
Yi Kwang-su’s The Soil, at over 500 pages long, is not a book that immediately entices you to read it. But with a screening of Kim Ki-young’s adaptation of the novel coming up shortly at the KCC, the incentive was there to pick it up out of the reading pile where it had languished since … [Read More]
On the Bab brings you On the Dak
Walking from SOAS to the KCC yesterday to mark the book launch of Lee Yil’s selected writings I came across a new venture from the Korean street food chain On the Bab. At 1 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, is their new foray into KFC, On the Dak, bringing different flavours of fried chicken with kimchi … [Read More]
Ceramic Art London at Central St Martins
As I was paying a second visit to Nick Bonner’s exhibition at the House of Illustration yesterday I happened almost to trip over a sign pointing to the Ceramic Art London fair, next door at Central St Martins. Needless to say, there were plenty of Koreans exhibiting. This weekend only. Ceramic Art London 23–25 March … [Read More]