Think Korea 2006 was an ambitious programme of cultural and other events organised by the Korean Embassy as part of the “Korea-UK Mutual Visit Year”. There was, I believe, a reciprocal series of UK-related events organised in Korea, but I never saw any publicity about it. One event I do know of: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 41)
London Korean Festival 2006 – an introduction
The London Korean Festival 2006 was the last of the festivals organised by Oh Tae-min and his team, which included Stephanie Seung-min Kim who would go on to be the first curator at the Korean Cultural Centre before moving into the art curatorial world on her own. Previously working from within the Korean Anglican Community … [Read More]
Kim Jong-nam assassination examined in BBC documentary
Tonight’s documentary on the assassination of Kim Jong-nam is well worth a watch. In its 59 minutes there was hardly any padding and I didn’t notice any of the usual platitudes. It was full of content, and while I would have liked a bit more time on the China angle, that would have pushed it … [Read More]
August events 2017
The main focus is on Edinburgh this month, with twenty Korean acts performing at the Fringe throughout the month and Hwang Sok-yong appearing at the book festival on 16 August. In London: Exhibitions The KCC’s exhibition Rehearsals from the Korean Avant-Garde Performance Archive lasts until 19 August; Through their eyes: depicting Korea and UK then … [Read More]
Reports from the London Korean Festival 2017
LKL didn’t make it to this year’s London Korean Festival at Olympia. Saturdays are precious, and I needed to spend this particular Saturday at the KCC doing background research on the current exhibition and upcoming film series which hopefully will inform my write-ups. In-depth reports of the Festival are now available on a couple of … [Read More]
Korean culture gets more mainstream (and what it means for LKL)
A week or so ago Time Out, London’s leading event listings magazine, asked its readers to recommend their favourite Korean places in London and New Malden. I passed it on to the LKL Facebook Group without giving it much further thought, vaguely interested that the survey was in progress, interested also in the knowledgeable responses … [Read More]
Fringe 2017: two early recommendations
To help give a taste of the range of Korean talent at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, the KCC hosted a showcase of four of the acts, at the Lilian Baylis Studio. Of these, the stand-out performances were Behind the Mirror and Black and White Tea Room — Counsellor. LKL went along to the event hoping … [Read More]
K-music 2017 – an introduction to this year’s programme
This year’s K-music festival is the biggest yet, with nine concerts lined up for the series, and with only one act which could be described as from the mainstream indie world, the programme promises to be the most interesting yet. As is fitting in the year of UK-Korea cultural collaboration, many of the concerts this … [Read More]
An introduction to the July / August season of films at the KCC
Kim Hong-joon’s My Korean Cinema, which screened as part of the documentary strand of the 2016 London Korean Film Festival, provides the inspiration and structure for the July / August season of films at the KCC, curated by students from the MA Film Programming and Curating course at Birkbeck. They provide the background below: Patchworks … [Read More]
Film review: Hur Jin-ho’s Season of Good Rain
How reassuring it is, after the disappointment that was Bong Joon-ho’s Okja, to find that there are still directors out there who can serve up what you expect. Maybe that’s a bad thing: maybe you need to be surprised every now and then. On the other hand, there’s no shame in wanting a dose of … [Read More]
Through Their Eyes exhibition opens in Kingston Museum
Kingston Museum’s exhibition devoted to Korean viewpoints on the UK and foreigner’s views on Korea opened last night with speeches from the Mayor, the Ambassador and the curator Seoyoung Kim (who bravely hosted the event despite being on crutches from a recent injury). Hyelim Kim endured the intense heat in the upstairs exhibition space to … [Read More]
Film review: Okja — It’s really rather disappointing
“Our super-pigs will not only be big and beautiful; they will also leave a minimal footprint on the environment, consume less feed, and produce less [sic] excretions.” Don’t you just hate it when you’re really looking forward to a movie, really hoping and expecting to enjoy it, and it turns out to be a big … [Read More]
July events 2017
The headline event this month is the London Korean Festival at Olympia, featuring four K-pop groups and some more traditional fare too. And there’s plenty else happening throughout the month, of which for me the highlights are Han Yujoo talking about her Impossible Fairy Tale, and a new performance art work from Park Bong-su. Film … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Contemporary Korean Ceramics at the V+A
This year-long exhibition as part of the Korea/UK 2017-18 cultural collaboration brings together a range of approaches and responses to Korean ceramics. From work that is purely functional to work that is purely decorative, via work that seeks to critique contemporary Korean society, the unifying element is the quality of the craftsmanship and execution. Yoon … [Read More]
Hurricane Kimchi appears on BBC World News
Heezy Yang, the South Korean artist, performer and activist, is also known for his fabulous alter-ego, the drag queen Hurricane Kimchi. Currently in London for the Queer Asia conference at SOAS where he is performing alongside Chinese feminist and LGBTQ activist Whiskey Chow, he appeared on BBC World News yesterday: Yang has illustrated several LGBT … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Haenyeo, Women of the Sea, at National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Maritime Greenwich, played host to an exhibition featuring South Korea’s latest inclusion in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Life-size photographs of Jeju’s famous diving women were dotted around a building which began life in 1807 as a school for the children of British seafarers. … [Read More]