Wednesday’s talk on the Japanese manga Kenkanryu was packed to overflowing — a strong contrast with the generally much sparser attendance at the Centre for Korean Studies seminars. Whether that’s a reflection of the greater number of people enrolled in Japanese Studies courses, or the popular culture subject matter I don’t know. In these few … [Read More]
Category: Conference reports (page 8)
The Grand Culture Project
At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title “the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics”. “What on earth is Cultural Informatics?” I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The … [Read More]
Conference Report: Modern Encounters and Mutual Perceptions
Thanks to Grace Koh for organising the joint CKS / BAKS half day at SOAS on Wednesday. An interesting sharing of papers, with UK-based academics presenting papers on the British encounters with Korea, and Seoul based academics providing the opposite view. We started with early views of Western civilization as viewed from Korea through their … [Read More]
Amnesty International on Human Rights in North and South Korea
Rajiv Narayan’s talk at Chatham House last week about Amnesty International’s activities and concerns on the Korean peninsula was timely but yet somehow seemed to miss the point. I was reminded about the story of a drunk who was found grovelling on the pavement underneath a streetlamp at 3am. A concerned passer-by asked him what … [Read More]
Loanwords in twentieth century Korean literature
The chosen specialist subject of Antonetta Bruno, from La Sapienza in Rome, is Korean shamanism. But she has an interesting sideline in linguistics. Her theme at SOAS’s Centre for Korean Studies last Friday evening (23 Feb) was the extent to which Korean has borrowed words from foreign languages, particularly in the first half of the … [Read More]
Event report: Korea Business Reception at London City Hall
By Peter Corbishley On Monday 15th January the glitterati of the Anglo-Korean business worlds were invited to network by Ambassador Cho and Mike Backhouse of Standard Chartered under the auspices of Ken Livingstone and Think London. Over 250 companies accepted invitations to an event originally scheduled to be part of Think Korea 2006, as the … [Read More]
Korea’s cute and funky cultural exports
Chatham House Korea Discussion Group China’s ‘Korea Wave’: National Branding, Piracy, Idols and Fans Speaker: Dr Rowan Pease, 6 December 2006, 1:15pm If ever you get the chance to hear Rowan Pease talk on her chosen subject of the hallyu in China, drop everything and go to it. Even if you’ve heard some of her … [Read More]
South Korean artist’s response to the Division of Korea
South Korean Artists’ Response to the Issue of Divided Korea Lecture by Jim Hoare and Jiyoon Lee Monday 11 December at Asia House 6.45-7.45pm The current exhibition at Asia House is producing much food for thought. This is now the third post devoted to the exhibition and is unlikely to be the last. In an … [Read More]
But is it Art?
Encounters with Painters in North Korea 5pm SOAS, 8 December 2006 Koen De Ceuster, Centre for Korean Studies, Leiden University “But is it Art”?: that was the question posed by Koen De Ceuster on Friday night at SOAS, as part of the series of talks held by the Centre for Korean Studies. The talk started … [Read More]
“Through the Looking Glass” panel discussion at Asia house
Yesterday morning’s panel session gave a priveleged1 insight into the work of some of the artists represented at the stimulating show at Asia House. Chaired by Beth McKillop of the V&A, the discussant panel included Alessio Antoniolli from Gasworks, Hans Ulrich Obrist from The Serpentine, curator Jiyoon Lee and artists Duck-hyun Cho, Yeondoo Jung, Jeong-hwa … [Read More]
How like “Swiri” is “The Way Home”?
That’s the intriguing question posed by Andrew Jackson’s talk at the Sheffield BAKS conference last week. It was a question prompted by a statement by Ahn Sang-gun, a senior figure in KOTRA, the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency, and reported in the Donga Ilbo on 5 April 2003: that The Way Home and Swiri are … [Read More]
Conference report: the 2006 BAKS conference
The BAKS conference in Sheffield last week had a broad range of speakers. What follows is a personal response to the proceedings, and isn’t meant to be in any way an official account. I apologise to those speakers to whom I devote fewer words. No disrespect is intended. In any occasion like this, some talks … [Read More]
Prof Kim Chang-nam: history & characteristics of modern Korean culture
(SOAS, 5 June 2006, 7pm: the concluding event of the London Korean Festival 2006) I’m more reluctant than usual to make this post. The ground covered in Professor Kim’s hugely stimulating conclusion to the London Korean Festival was more than extensive, and left the audience wanting to ask tons of questions. To condense a hundred … [Read More]
Korean Ceramics: Arts and Techniques. Or, Why don’t people talk to each other?
KOREAN CERAMICS: ARTS AND TECHNIQUES TALK BY DAUPHINE SCALBERT Thursday 25 May 2006, 6.30-7.30pm at Asia House Dauphine Scalbert is a distinguished French potter who, having spent 6 years studying pottery and restoring antique ceramics in Korea, has Korean pots in her blood. Her copiously illustrated talk at Asia House last night was an interesting … [Read More]
What a difference a region makes
East Asian popular culture currents and counter-currents, Birkbeck College, 17/18 March 2006 Thanks to Chris Berry (Goldsmiths) and Nicola Liscutin (Birkbeck) for putting together a stimulating day and a half symposium discussing regional popular culture in East Asia. Presentations mainly covered the creative industries in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The focus on Taiwan was puzzling, … [Read More]
Exploring Korean Music Old and New – Tradition and creativity
SOAS, 24 February 2006 Many thanks to Dr Keith Howard of SOAS for putting together a fascinating half-day colloquium on Korean music. Presentations were as follows: Simon Mills’s (SOAS) subject was the rhythmic drum patterns (Changdan) used in shamanistic ritual on the East coast of Korea. He focused on the startling digressions (Tokkaebbi changdan) which … [Read More]