When going to a book talk, it is all too common to find that the moderator has little knowledge of the book or its subject matter, and asks the author embarrassingly shallow questions leaving the audience and author short-changed. No such risks last night at the KCC, where the British Korean Society’s Chris Hollands conversed … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 42)
Young In Hong’s 5100: Pentagon
Here are a few photos and a video from the two performances of Young In Hong’s work 5100: Pentagon on 4 June 2017 in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly. The performers were all volunteers, of whom fewer turned up than expected because of the terrorist incident in the London bridge … [Read More]
In pictures: Between Serenity and Dynamism – Korean ceramics at the KCC
Sometimes, words are unnecessary. The objects speak for themselves. So here are some of my photographs of the ceramics exhibition hosted by the KCC to coincide with London Craft Week 2017. The exhibition was organised by the Korea Craft and Design Foundation. A full catalogue of the exhibition can be downloaded here. [Read More]
June events 2017
A busy and varied month of events: Exhibitions The V&A’s exhibition of Contemporary Korean Ceramics lasts until 2018. Han Collection’s exhibition of buncheong ceramics lasts until 3 June. Their subsequent exhibition, Paper Man, opens on 6 June, lasting until 21 June. The KCCUK’s ceramics exhibition – Between Serenity and Dynamism – also closes on 3 … [Read More]
Lord Alton on North Korean human rights and more
Those of you attending one of the DPRK Youth Para-Ensemble performances, or planning to go to the seminar at SOAS tomorrow, may want to read Lord Alton’s hard-hitting op ed in the Korea JoongAng Daily from two weeks ago (18 May). Much as we would be heartened to see genuine progress in the treatment of … [Read More]
Hwang Jihae’s Shoes Tree project at Seoul Station
This year’s Chelsea Flower Show has just come to an end. No Korean participation this year, as far as I am aware. Last year Hwang Hay-joung won silver gilt for her Smart Garden sponsored by LG. But loyal readers will remember back to 2011 and 2012, when Hwang Jihae, without a big name corporate sponsor, … [Read More]
News of the visual arts programme as part of Korea/UK season 2017/18
Back in February, the British Council announced the various cultural events taking place in Korea as part of the UK/Korea season of cultural exchange. The first of the reciprocal events, the launch of the Korea/UK season, took place in the V&A last week with the launch of the Contemporary Korean Ceramics exhibition, with the upcoming … [Read More]
A Korea focus in this week’s TLS
This week’s Times Literary Supplement (26 May 2017) contains no fewer than four Korea-related article-reviews: Min Jin Lee on Bandi’s The Accusation (Serpent’s Tail) (LKL review here), JM Lee’s The Boy who Escaped Paradise (Norton), Yi Mun-yol’s Meeting with my Brother (Columbia) and Jieun Baek’s North Korea’s Hidden Revolution (Yale) Houman Barekat on Han Yujoo’s … [Read More]
2017 travel diary – reminiscences
Index Sat 29 April: Busan – Min Young-ki’s solo show Sun 30 April: Haman-gun – Gaya kingdom royal tombs Mon 1 May: Sancheong-gun – Hwangmaesan Royal Azalea festival Tue 2 May: Mungyeong-si – Tea bowl festival Wed 3 May: Buddha’s Birthday in Bongamsa | The Gyeongbokgung at night Thu 4 May: Jeonju Fri 5 May: … [Read More]
Love X Stereo at the Windmill – both intimate and euphoric
Many thanks to Annie Ko and Toby Hwang for a fantastic gig down in Brixton on Monday night. Featuring tracks from their recently-released album 37A – the first fruits of their crowdfunded project for 2017 in which they aim to release 37 songs during the course of the year – as well as earlier albums, … [Read More]
Look forward, not back: how best to work with North Korean exiles
If I had been given a fiver every time a journalist or PhD student asked to be put in touch with North Korean refugees in the London area I wouldn’t be exactly rich, but there would be a few more books overflowing from my already full bookcase. Whether it be for reaction to the latest … [Read More]
In pictures: Song Byeok’s exhibition at the Human Rights Action Centre
LKL paid a brief visit to Song Byeok’s exhibition at Amnesty International’s Shoreditch building on 9 May – a quick lunchtime hop from the day job in Canary Wharf. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the discussion evening at SOAS (we were flying back from our annual Korea visit at the time). But here are … [Read More]
2017 travel diary 10: A lazy weekend in Seoul
Insadong, Seoul, 6 May 2018. There is never a shortage of things to do in Seoul. For the final weekend of my 2017 Korea trip I had not scheduled anything other than a couple of dinner engagements. I could easily have done nothing apart from hanging out in my new favourite coffee shop. Their fresh salads … [Read More]
2017 travel diary 9: Sewol victims remembered at the Ansan Street Arts Festival
Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, 5 May 2017, 6:30pm. It is said that at the height of his efforts to build the Republic of Korea into an economic powerhouse, Park Chung-hee happened to be flying in a helicopter over western Gyeonggi-do. He looked out and saw what he considered to be a lot of under-utilised real estate, and decided … [Read More]
2017 travel diary 8: Taean-gun and Chollipo Arboretum
Mallipo beach, Taean-gun, Thursday 4 May 2018, 11:30pm. It was with a slight sense of adventure that I found myself unexpectedly on my own, in an unknown seaside town, at 11:30 at night. There was no way that I was going to settle down to sleep right then, so I left my pension room behind … [Read More]
2017 travel diary 7: A trip to Jeonju
Jeonju. Food capital of Korea. Slow City. Home to the famous Hanok Village. Ancestral seat of the Yi family, the royal house of the Joseon dynasty. Host of the Jeonju International Film Festival. Home to the hanji museum, the royal portrait museum… All this I knew about the capital of Jeonbuk province before my visit … [Read More]