Screenings This month’s director at the KCC is Kim Tae-yong. Family Ties (2006) screens on 11 June and Memento Mori / Whispering Corridors 2 (1999) on 25 June. The TV drama pilot episode screenings this month, on 4 June, are Mama and Big Man Hong Sang-soo’s The Day a Pig Fell in the Well screens … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 63)
2015 Travel Diary day 3: Park Soo-keun, King Sejong’s tomb and the journey to Gangneung
Myeongdong, Seoul, Sunday 31 May. Most of the morning I’m faffing around with my bags, working out what I can leave at the hotel in Seoul so that I can travel slightly lighter on the bus down South. For the first time I’ve brought an SLR to Korea with me to get some slightly better … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 2: The Drawing hand | Seooreung | Tea Museum | Makgeolli at Kim Sakkat
Myeongdong, Seoul, 30 May. Two hours sleep on the plane, and only another two on my first night in Seoul, means that I’m groggy on Saturday morning. A quick session in the hotel gym doesn’t do much to remedy that. Coffee with The Drawing Hand My brain is gently kick-started by a coffee in the hotel lobby, … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 1: Arrivals — an evening in Hongdae
Myeongdong, Seoul, 29 May. One flight is much like the next, the only differences being the food and in-flight entertainment. Asiana did a very acceptable bibimbap on the way out and, more ambitiously, a ssambap on the way back. Their tinned makgeolli, which I sampled on the return leg, is not to be recommended. Maybe … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Korean artists at Art 15
No matter how prepared you think you are when you go to an art fair, you’ll always be caught unawares by a gallery who is showing an artist you weren’t expecting, or by a new side to an artist you thought you knew. In the most unlikely corner of the hall you can come across … [Read More]
Brief exhibition visit: Ben Nathan: [K-reɪ-t] — at 43 Inverness Street
![Thumbnail for post: Brief exhibition visit: Ben Nathan: [K-reɪ-t] — at 43 Inverness Street](https://londonkoreanlinks.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ben-Nathan-BRICK-DAY-2014-hero-120x120.jpg)
Ben Nathan’s current show at 43 Inverness Street ends on Thursday (access by prior appointment with the gallery). LKL paid a brief visit this weekend. On the ground floor is a 4’17” video showing the installation of the work Brick, as the artist tows it along a cycle path before hauling it onto a concrete … [Read More]
Farewell Old Justice, hello K Place
As 앤서방 reported a few days ago, the Old Justice Korean pub in Bermondsey closed last month. But the owner, Chef Kim Jin-wook, has taken the bold step of opening up in the City. His new Korean BBQ restaurant, in a downstairs venue that until recently was the Indian restaurant Jamdani, has the name K … [Read More]
V&A invites applicants for digital residency
An exciting time for the V&A as they prepare to host their first Korean artist in residence this October for a period of 6 months: V&A Samsung Korean Digital Art Residency 1 October 2015 – 31 March 2016 Bursary: £10,000 for six months (subject to tax and national insurance) Plus one standard return flight to … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Korean crafts at Collect 2015
Once again one of the featured craftsmen at the Korea Craft and Design Foundation stall at Collect 2015 was lacquerware artist Chung Haecho, who on his first appearance in 2013 had work collected by the Victoria & Albert Museum, and whose work greeted you first as you approached the stall. But this year it was … [Read More]
So long, Ms Jeon, and thanks for everything
Those of you who have read your May / June KCC newsletter diligently will already know this: Ms Jeon has decided to move on from the KCCUK. Her last day there was 24 April. Ms Jeon has been working for the promotion of Korean culture in the UK since 2006. This was two years before the … [Read More]
BoA’s 8th – a nicely comforting comeback
I’m rather enjoying BoA’s 8th Korean album (Kiss My Lips, released a couple of days ago). There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering musically, but it’s all kind of comforting. And I hope she doesn’t get into trouble for the 4th track, Shattered, which at 2’52” is very close to the chorus of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. On … [Read More]
Hwang Sok-yong returns to London
A little over a year after the London Book Fair, at which his Vietnam war novel The Shadow of Arms was launched, Hwang Sok-yong returned to London to launch Sora Kim-Russell’s translation of his 2007 novel Princess Bari. Hwang appeared at Asia House today for a book-signing and conversation with Guardian literary critic Maya Jaggi, … [Read More]
Seahyun Lee in Ferragamo collaboration
Congratulations to Seahyun Lee, who has regularly exhibited in the UK, on his collaboration with fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo, which was launched today. His trademark Between Red series is appearing on silk squares, scarves and other designer items – also available in colours other than red. But they’re only available in Korea. [Read More]
Paul McCartney in Seoul
Sounds like Paul McCartney’s gig in Seoul went down well: “Fantastic climax to the Asian leg. Korean fans gave us the best welcome ever. We love them!” he posted on his Facebook page along with this picture: “Paul has so much aegyo and said things in Korean as much as he could” commented one Korean … [Read More]
Donguibogam to be upgraded to National Treasure status
To be honest, I’ve always wondered why an item listed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register was only rated a “Treasure” (no 1085) rather than a “National Treasure”. The three sets of the encyclopaedia’s first edition are currently held by the National Library of Korea, the Kyujanggak Institute For Korean Studies and the Academy … [Read More]
May events 2015
Conversations and seminars Hwang Sok-yong will be launching the English translation of Princess Bari at Asia House on 13 May as part of the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival 2015 (discount available for LKL readers) Two seminars at SOAS: Producing Political Landscape on the Korean Peninsula (Robert Winstanley-Chesters and Sherri Ter Molen, 1 May) and Female Same-Sex Marriage … [Read More]