How long is it since the time when we could go in person to a talk given by a real person in an actual physical room? I reckon it’s around 15 months. Since the beginning of March last year, Zoom has been the norm. Online talks do have advantages over a traditional lecture theatre: you can … [Read More]
Category: Conference reports
Building bridges between North and South in New Malden
We do not need reminding that the Korean peninsula is divided. But the implications of that division for Koreans in Britain are not so obvious. I remember at a British Korean Society event ten years ago at which the North and South Korean Ambassadors were speaking, as audience and speakers mingled over drinks afterwards, one … [Read More]
Two days total immersion in BTS at Kingston: a report from the Global Interdisciplinary Conference Project
When I told someone at the (virtually empty) office on the first Friday of the new decade that I would be spending the weekend at a two-day conference on BTS, he at first looked blank. I had to explain to him that they’re a K-pop boy band, at which he grinned and urged me to … [Read More]
BKS / Chatham House Korean Ambassadors talk: the podcast
For those, such as myself, who couldn’t make it to the recent talk on the Diplomatic Outlook on the Korean Peninsula, Chatham House has kindly uploaded a recording of the event, which you can find on the Chatham House website and embedded below. The Guardian picked up one of the earlier soundbites in the on-the-record … [Read More]
Colette Balmain and Paul Quinn on women in the Korean film industry
For those of you who, like me, were unable to make it up to Harrow for the talk on Women in Korean film by Colette Balmain and Paul Quinn on 4 March, Colette has posted a recording of her talk on Korean female directors on Soundcloud, while Paul has uploaded the text of his talk, … [Read More]
John Lee and the Kingdom of Pines
Not a write-up of John Lee’s fascinating recent talk at SOAS – more a place to store a couple of images of the translations of relevant sources that he talked about so that I don’t lose them. I for one am looking forward immensely to seeing this material fully discussed in his upcoming monograph, Kingdom … [Read More]
Javier Cha on the uses of digitised historical data
Last night at SOAS there was a choice of two early evening events to start the weekend. I only heard about the appearance of South Korean queer artist and activist Heezy Yang (aka Hurricane Kimchi) two hours before the event, and I had already prepared myself mentally for the Centre of Korean Studies seminar on … [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]
Beth McKillop reports from the 2016 Culture Communication Forum in Seoul
Senior Research Fellow and former Deputy Director at the Victoria and Albert Museum Beth McKillop was the UK’s representative at Korea’s annual Culture Communication Forum hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute. Since 1990 when I first visited Korea to collect ceramics, outfits and furniture for a planned Victoria and Albert Museum Korea gallery, I’ve … [Read More]
Conference report: UK-Korea Creative Industries Forum
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has recently posted a brief round-up of the Creative Industries Forum held at the BFI earlier this month. The conference provided the opportunity for Korean Minister of Culture Kim Jongdeok and Culture Secretary John Whittingdale to sign a joint statement in which “Both sides agreed to continue to … [Read More]
APPG provides summary of their conference on violence against women
The All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea has published a brief write-up of their conference on violence against women and girls in North Korea, which was held on 22 February in the Houses of Parliament. They hope to upload the conference papers in due course. The report includes photos of the event by the … [Read More]
Why Han Kang’s Human Acts is likely to be my book of the year
Han Kang: Human Acts Translated by Deborah Smith Portobello Books, 2016, 224pp Originally published as 소년이 온다, Changbi Publishers Inc, Seoul, 2014 Han Kang’s Human Acts hits the bookshelves in the UK just as The Vegetarian starts to make waves in the US. The latter book has already made its mark in the UK, making … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Noh Suntag at 43 Inverness Street and Fitzrovia Gallery
In his written introduction to the two parallel exhibitions at 43 Inverness Street and the Fitzrovia Gallery, Noh Suntag says “I am exploring how the Korean War lives and breathes in contemporary Korean society. I glare at the space where divided powers manipulate the war and division at will, treating them as a chapter of … [Read More]
A lunchtime of ceramics and an evening of awesomeness
I wish the lunch break had been longer at today’s Korean film conference at SOAS. I was planning on having a quick snack at Mr Mok’s Bibimbap Cafe in Museum Street, maybe say a brief hello to my friends at It’s All Greek a few doors away, and then look in at the British Museum’s … [Read More]
Event report: the stories of our North Korean friends in New Malden
During last year’s New Malden Festival, the founders of the Korean Information Centre, Bona Shin and Glenna Debosco, hosted an evening looking at the experiences of North Korean refugees in New Malden. The event was a valuable opportunity for local residents and others to raise their awareness of this small community in their midst, and … [Read More]
Brief conference report: Deconstructing Boundaries: is “East Asian Art History” possible, at SOAS
This weekend’s two-day conference at SOAS (10-11 October), hosted by the Japan Research Centre, presented some fascinating papers on art history in East Asia. The question it asked – ‘Is “East Asian Art History” possible?’ – is at first sight a puzzling one (why should it not be?), until one scratches below the surface as … [Read More]