A reason to watch the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics as they hand over to Pyeongchang 2018: LKL’s favourite jazz singer Nah Youn Sun will perform Arirang with classical star Jo Sumi and former Boohwal lead singer Lee Seung-cheol. Sounds like a variation on President Park’s inauguration ceremony. Source: Chosun Ilbo You can … [Read More]
Category: Asides (page 24)
Waterstones stocks up on Hwang Sunmi
Seen at the Waterstones in Canary Wharf today: a pile of Hwang Sunmi’s The Hen who Dreamed She Could Fly. Nice to see that they’re including it in the buy one, get one half price promotion. My neighbourhood bookstore at home rang me today to tell me my own copy had arrived, so I’ll be … [Read More]
Lyoo Songnyeo wins ArtGemini Prize 2013
Congratulations to Lyoo Songnyeo for winning the painting section of the ArtGemini prize, a new international competition started in 2013. Lyoo is based in Frankfurt and participated in a group show of Buddhist-themed art at Mokspace in 2011 (LKL review here). Her winning work can be seen at Rebecca Hossack gallery in Conway Street until … [Read More]
Twinsters featured in Metro
The heartwarming story of two identical twins from Busan being adopted and brought up in separate continents made it into London freesheet the Metro yesterday. Samantha and Anais, having successfully raised $30,000 for phase 1 of an autobiographical documentary project on Kickstarter, are now looking to raise $80,000 for post-production. They are over a quarter … [Read More]
Miss Saigon to get Korean star
Hot on the heels of a Korean star appearing on the West End stage in Les Mis, Miss Saigon is to get a Korean lead in the shape of Hong Kwang-ho starring as Thuy. He appeared in the first Korean production of Miss Saigon a couple of years ago, according to producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh. … [Read More]
Kim Suhee’s Ribbon of Error at the RCA
At the various group shows put on at the art colleges you can usually count on encountering more Korean artists than you were expecting, and the interim exhibition at the Royal College of Arts this weekend was no exception. I had gone along to see a performance of Kim Suhee’s work Ribbon of Error, and … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Attention 1, at Hanmi Gallery
Do pay a visit to Hanmi Gallery for their 30th interim exhibition, Attention: 1 – featuring new work by Chung Yumi. Beautiful drawings, paintings and installations. The hand-stitched screens of vertical blinds, or using simple timber frames, embrace a range of textures and colours and remind one of the traditional craft of jogakbo. On till … [Read More]
Paul Lee’s painstaking, zen-like works
A group show in a Mayfair gallery last week featured the work of Korean artist Paul Lee alongside western artists Hanna ten Doornkaat and Rachel Pearcey. Lee’s work went particularly well with that of Hanna ten Doornkaat, studies in repetition of line and geometry which remind one of the dot-paintings of Kim Whanki. Lee’s work … [Read More]
BBC covers North Korean cinema
There’s a good article on North Korean cinema posted yesterday by Helier Cheung on to the BBC website: Ten things: North Korea’s film industry. The article draws on the work of Johannes Schönherr and on Lynn Lee and James Leong’s documentary The Great North Korean Picture Show which screened in Bermondsey a couple of months ago. … [Read More]
Hyelim Kim reviewed in Songlines magazine
Congratulations to Hyelim Kim for receiving a four-star review from Songlines magazine (Jan / Feb 2014 edition) for her debut CD, Nim: Taegum Collection. The disk, released in 2013 at a concert at the Royal Asiatic Society, contains many of the pieces she has been performing in London over the past year or two, from … [Read More]
Korean indie musician invited to Glastonbury
Is this a first for a Korean musician? Singer-songwriter Choi Go-eun (최고은, also known as Gonne Choi) will be performing at Glastonbury in 2014, according to the Chosun Ilbo. Here’s hoping she stops off in London on the way. Here she is singing Eric’s Song: You can find some of her tracks on iTunes under … [Read More]
Director Won’s next move
Congratulations to Won Yong-ki on being appointed head of the Korea Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism. Director Won used to head the KCCUK. In the photo from the Korea Times he is posing in front of two of the kkokdu which were on display last summer … [Read More]
Travelling the length of Korea by motorbike
For those who haven’t come across this yet: a project by some bold Kiwis to travel the length of the Korean peninsula, from Baekdusan to Hallasan, by motorbike. The journey took place this summer. Here’s a quick (12 minute) podcast they produced just after they crossed the DMZ into South Korea. Here are the blog … [Read More]
All I want for Christmas …
This MBC video is at least two years old, but like a Richard Curtis film it bears watching again. [Edit: the original MBC video is no longer online, but the above more recently uploaded item seems to be the same thing] [Read More]
Kimjang gets a UNESCO listing
Kimjang, the making and sharing of kimchi in the Republic of Korea, was admitted to the UNESCO register of intangible cultural heritage on 5 December 2013. Note that, like the listing of Arirang, this pan-Korean cultural item has been registered by South Korea. Links: Kimjang page at UNESCO Update 13 December: The South China Morning … [Read More]
Artist talk by Jukhee Kwon, 7 December
To accompany her first solo exhibition at October Gallery, Jukhee Kwon will talk about her new work and how she creates sculptures from discarded books. Saturday, 7th December, 2013. 3pm. Admission £Free. October Gallery Please reserve a place on https://jukheekwon.eventbrite.co.uk/ October Gallery | 24 Old Gloucester Street | Bloomsbury | London WC1N 3AL [Map] | … [Read More]