On 27 August, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra made its Proms debut, the first Korean orchestra to play at the famous music festival. At the Pre-Prom talk earlier that evening across the road at the Royal College of Music, Michael Fine and Hyunjin Park of the Seoul Philharmonic, and Dr Haekyung Eom of Liverpool University, talked … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 71)
Now, what’s that book by Salman Rushdie called?
North Korea’s rant about Channel 4’s planned TV series has now been translated into English on the KCNA Japanese website. Like most of their rants, it’s entertaining in small doses. I’ve often wondered why they invest in a translator that is only semi-competent. Here’s a select quote from the press release: The British authorities should … [Read More]
September events 2014
Summer’s over, Chuseok approaches. Exhibitions 100% Design is at Earls Court 17 – 20 September. I’m assuming there will be a Korean pavilion as in past years, as well as independent Korean designers. Tent London is at the Truman Brewery 18 – 21 September. As well as the independent designers, this year there is a … [Read More]
Kim Ji-eun’s current exhibition at Mokspace is utterly charming
Another charming exhibition at Mokspace, Talk to me, Darling, is coming to a close: you have until 6 September to enjoy it. Kim Ji-eun’s work is quirky and enchanting while also being strangely comforting. Despite the sunny nature of the drawings they conjure up the autumnal emotions and cosy daydreams of woolly jumpers, hot chocolate … [Read More]
Channel 4’s new North Korean political thriller
On 21 August 2014, “Channel 4 green lights North Korean political thriller Opposite Number.” On a covert mission in North Korea, the world’s most secretive nation, a British nuclear scientist is taken prisoner, triggering an international crisis which itself must be kept secret. Realizing their man could be forced to help North Korea finally weaponize … [Read More]
Hong Seong-dam’s art in the news again
In 2012 his unflattering painting of President-elect Park got the ruling party annoyed; now Hong Seong-nam is in the news again for lampooning Park’s response to the Sewol disaster in an exhibition linked to the Gwangju Biennale. It’s difficult to know precisely what has been going on in Gwangju from the snippets that make it … [Read More]
Busan will be extinct before Seoul, apparently
The report doesn’t seem to have been translated into English yet, and I can’t find it in Korean on the website of the National Assembly Research Service, but it has certainly provided some eye-catching headlines, the general gist being that “South Koreans will be ‘extinct’ by 2750 if nothing is done to halt the nation’s … [Read More]
The 2014 Fringe – a round-up of the reviews
Now that the 2014 Fringe has come to an end, here’s a summary of the reviews of the Korean shows. I’m surprised the Taekwondo show didn’t get any professional reviews, as I heard that the BBC loved it. Show LKL rating Other ratings Brush Review Fringe Guru The List Broadway Baby ThreeWeeks Leodo: Paradise Lost … [Read More]
Some amazing street art of Bae Doona
Thanks to @Sean_Macdonald_ for posting on Twitter a photograph of some street art of Bae Doona in Cloud Atlas. The painting is about a 5 minute walk from King’s Cross Station on the Caledonian Road. [Read More]
Book Review: Robert E Buswell, Jr — The Zen Monastic Experience
Robert E Buswell, Jr: The Zen Monastic Experience – Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea Princeton University Press, 1992, 259pp A curious tourist visiting one of the popular Korean temples will admire the architecture of the buildings; will poke their nose into the main shrine, nervously wondering whether they’re allowed in and if so what is … [Read More]
Edinburgh Fringe visit: two Korean monodramas and one Korean American
Korean acts coming to the Fringe have often majored on the non-verbal: percussion, taekwondo, comedy, physical theatre, music and dance. Last year, with Othello – Two Men, we discovered that more traditional theatre, heavy on text, can work well despite the language barrier – provided surtitles are visible. This year the Korean contingent was bolder … [Read More]
DJ Joonki’s K-pop mash-up
For those of you who couldn’t make it to the opening event of the Korean Artists Association residency on 12 August, here’s the DJ set from Joonki, via his YouTube channel. He was only alotted 5 minutes, but did pretty well to cover 30 years of K-pop. I’d like to hear something a bit longer … [Read More]
A video of Korean ceramic decorative techniques
I just tripped over this lovely video on Facebook. It would be nice to have something a bit longer, showing a comprehensive range of all the various decorative techniques used in Korean ceramics. But this is a great sampler, from Icheon Ceramics: Published on Oct 23, 2013 The exhibit “Icheon: Reviving the Korean Ceramic Tradition” … [Read More]
Edinburgh Fringe visit: A Walk in the Dust
When a play is put on for only one performance at the Fringe, you wonder what is going on. When it’s a Korean performance, and the date chosen is August 15th, National Liberation Day, the day on which Korea was freed from Japanese rule in 1945, the choice of “one day only” makes more sense. … [Read More]
If aliens landed in Gyeongnam, would they think Koreans worshipped the turtle?
Looking back at some of my travel photos, I can’t help but notice the prominence of turtles in the south of the peninsula. The symbolism of the turtle is explained briefly in the Life in Korea website as follows: While the dragon was considered the ruler of all animals, the turtle ruled over the insects. … [Read More]
A trio of Pyongyang time lapse videos
A video sponsored by Koryo Tours has had the Guardian descending to the level of Buzzfeed with the following clickbait headline: Timelapse video offers unique insight into North Korea’s capital city. Needless to say, Buzzfeed calls it “mind-blowing”. As you can see from the above, it’s a very slick production, from “city-branding pioneer JT Singh … [Read More]