The somewhat spartan surroundings of the main performance space in Shoreditch’s Rich Mix was an ideal place in which to enjoy one of the most interesting fusion bands to have come out of Korea. For LKL, it was the highlight of the K-Music festival so far, and it more than lived up to my extremely high … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 60)
Embeddedness: synopses of the films shown
The following is the text from the programme for the series of three screenings of Korean artists’ films which took place at Tate Modern’s Starr Auditorium, 18-19 September 2015. Embeddednes: Artist Films and Videos from Korea, 1960s to Now 18 — 19 September 2015 Tate Modern, Starr Auditorium £5 / £4 per screening The first … [Read More]
Yeonmi Park’s DPRK refugee memoir out next week
Yeonmi Park’s defector memoir In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom comes out in a couple of days. It is trailed in this weekend’s Telegraph and her testimony has also been examined in The Diplomat. Italian and German editions will be coming out later this year. According to Aidan Foster Carter, … [Read More]
Book review: Giacomo Lee — Funereal
Giacomo Lee: Funereal Signal 8 Press, 2015, 230pp Giacomo Lee’s debut Funereal is fast-moving novel set very much in contemporary Seoul, and referencing so many contemporary issues in South Korea’s high-pressure society. Soobin, a marketing graduate whose genuine smile endears her to her customers in the doughnut takeaway store which is the only place she … [Read More]
In Korea, historical grievances last down the generations
Today’s Korea Times article, Man fined for obstructing ancestral rite, is nicely timed to ensure good behaviour over the Chuseok period. But the ancestral rite Mr Kim disrupted was not any old rite. This is a family grievance that goes back to 1453 and the reign of King Sejo: The court said Kim got into … [Read More]
Free short story by Heinz Insu Fenkl
Five Arrows, a short story by writer and translator Heinz Insu Fenkl is available in the August issue of New Yorker magazine. If you’re lazy there’s an audio version on Soundcloud available here. And at the bottom of the New Yorker webpage you’ll find a link to his translation of the Yi Mun-yol story which … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2015 – the press release
Here’s the initial press release of the tenth London Korean Film Festival organised by the KCCUK. Looking forward to it already. Visit the official website, koreanfilm.co.uk for the latest details. The 10th London Korean Film Festival Announces 2015 Programme 21 September 2015. The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF), which runs from 2-14 November and this … [Read More]
Yi Mun-yol on plagiarism and the publishing industry
A good interview with Yi Mun-yol in the Korea JoongAng Daily. A couple of quotes. On recovering from an operation to remove a kidney cancer: It would be so unfortunate to not be able to drink for the rest of my life. I remember how he enjoyed a drink at the London Book Fair… A … [Read More]
Concert notes: The Barberettes at the Forge, Camden
The three Barberettes, together with backing band of keyboard, drum and bass, received an enthusiastic welcome at The Forge in Camden for their two-night residency. They also did well to get coverage on London and national radio and national TV. Lola Kothari on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction pronounced them ‘wonderful’, and one member of … [Read More]
Concert notes: SU:M at the Purcell Room in K-Music 2015
Kmusic 2015 got off to a haunting start at the Purcell Room on 1 September with the unusual fusion duo SU:M. I have to confess that, based on the one or two YouTube videos I had watched prior to the evening, I was expecting to be lukewarm. And having an English pianist playing some of … [Read More]
Review: Kingston Welcomes Korea performances at the Rose Theatre
Kingston Welcomes Korea is hopefully the first of several annual events at which Kingston will seek to welcome various foreign communities in a festival that combines cultural and business interaction. Korea was the obvious first choice to be welcomed in this way, given that ethnic Koreans represent around 10% of the borough’s population, and also given … [Read More]
Be part of the Sora Kim’s Artist of the Year work: 2, 3
Tonight at 11pm London time, and wherever in the world you happen to be at that time, you can experience a performance of Sora Kim’s work 2, 3 that will be at the centre of the KCCUK’s Artist of the Year exhibition from 12 October this year. As the KCC says in their press release … [Read More]
BBC to start broadcasts to DPRK?
Fiona Bruce MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, today welcomed the announcement by the BBC to set up a daily broadcasting programme into North Korea: This is a hugely positive development, and follows lengthy campaigning by Members of Parliament and others, and it is heartening that the BBC has listened to … [Read More]
Chloe Mun wins 2015 Busoni Competition
Congratulations to Chloe Mun for winning the 2015 Ferrucio Busoni International Piano Competition, held in Bolzano. The Grand Final was held on 4 September. Minsoo Hong won fourth prize in the competition, while Kim Jong-yun was awarded a special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Ferruccio Busoni. The overall winner of the … [Read More]
Choi Jeong-hwa in Paris
If you can’t wait for the start of L’Année France-Corée later this month, you can catch an installation of one of Choi Jeong-hwa’s inflatable Lotus Flowers in La Villette Park in Paris until 13 September. Source: Korea Joongang Daily [Read More]
September events 2015
This month is music month. And Chuseok. Music The K-music Festival is a month-long event with seven groups performing: SU:M at the Purcell Room on 1 September The Barberettes at the Forge, Camden, on 4 and 5 September No Brain at the Scala, 11 September Jambinai at the Rich Mix, 16 September Noreum Machi at … [Read More]