There’s a little bit of Jeollanamdo in the KCC at the moment. Although the exhibition is co-organised by the Asia Cultural Center in Gwangju, and by the Gwangju Museum of Art, the subject matter of the exhibition strays outside of the city limits into Damyang, Hwasun and further afield. The first work to engage you […]
Category: Event reports and reviews
Write-ups, reports and reviews of Korea-related events, exhibitions, shows etc in London and elsewhere
The Illusionists: we went to see the Korean Manipulator, and ended up being fans of all seven performers
The events that LKL covers often involve high culture: dance, visual arts, contemporary or experimental music. So a family entertainment show aimed at a mainstream audience is somewhat outside our usual area of coverage. But that’s not to say we don’t appreciate supreme talent and skill when we see it. Last week we went along […]
Mari Kim’s trip to London for “Immortal Beloved”
We’ve enjoyed seeing Mari Kim’s work on display in London galleries over the past few years, so it was a real treat to be able to meet her when she came over recently for the opening of her show at Pontone Gallery. The works on display this time showed a slightly different direction: still the […]
Live music review: SaaWee at the Albany, Deptford
When anticipating Korea related events involving live performance, I generally try not to raise my expectations too high. That way, I don’t get disappointed. But sometimes I break that rule, usually based on past experience of one or more of the performers. Hence, when pulling together the events post for July I highlighted three events […]
Photos from Birdsong and Borders concert at St Luke’s
While it’s a huge treat that there’s so much in the way of interesting performances involving UK-based Koreans nowadays, it’s a shame that sometimes they clash with each other. Hyelim Kim’s recent collaboration with Merit Ariane at LSO St Luke’s was something I’d definitely have gone to… if it hadn’t been for Jinyeob Cha’s performance […]
Review: Jinyeob Cha in Bongsu Park’s Dream Ritual
The stage is black, preparing you for sleep; the floor slightly mirrored. The space is empty apart from a curtain of transparent silvery organza fabric whose flowing folds represent the peaks and troughs of a typical sleep brainwave, and between which the dancer will move like a ghost. The dancer enters, pulling a another fabric […]
Review triple bill: the 2019 Festival of Korean Dance
When Kim Jae-Duk’s Modern Table last performed at The Place, it was to close the 2016 K-Music Festival. This year the eight-strong all-male troupe was selected to open the 2019 Festival of Korean Dance at the same venue. With a piece entitled Sok-do (Velocity) the audience perhaps had a hint of what to expect. And […]
Nayeong Jeong: Repeat after “The End of the World”
Nayeong Jeong celebrated the successful completion of her Slade PhD viva the day before with a performance at the opening of the group exhibition “A Dance of Scales”, at Assembly Point in Peckham. Jeong’s work often involves a performative element, and also often involves the use of clay not only as a creative medium but […]
Fun and informative: the Purple A x SOKOLLAB K-Beauty x K-pop workshop
Raymond Sweetman, Founder of Purple A, reports from last weekend’s K-Beauty x K-pop workshop It’s always a worry for event organizers that people might not turn up. A second worry is wondering if people will actually like what you are offering. Very happy to report that last Saturday’s workshop held at The Place (home of […]
Concert notes: Byron Wallen, Jihye Kim and Pouya Ehsaei at Redon
It was hard to believe that Byron Wallen, Jihye Kim and Pouya Ehsaei had not performed together as a trio before – there seemed be such respect and understanding between the musicians, as if they were totally familiar with each other’s ways of playing. The three had shared ideas with each other in advance – […]
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 […]
Exhibition visit: Kimsooja at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
LKL had a mini-break in the Derbyshire Dales last week. And, because the Yorkshire Sculpture Park was but an hour’s drive away from where we were staying, we decided to pay a visit to see the installations by Kimsooja. The weather app promised that the rain was likely to hold off for at least half […]
Review – ATEEZ: The Expedition Tour in London
Cast your minds to the 3rd April 2019 and the O2 Forum in Kentish Town. The weather was less than pleasant. It was cold, raining and at some point during the queueing there was hail. Fans known as ‘Atinys’ were eventually let into the venue at 6pm and, despite being at the back of the […]
Brief review: Seong-jin Cho’s Rachmaninov at the Barbican
I can’t help feeling slightly disappointed at Seong-jin Cho’s performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto at the Barbican at the end of March. There was no shortage of virtuoso filligree fingerwork and moments of poetry, but somehow the performance as a whole lacked passion and fire. Perhaps part of the problem was rapport between orchestra […]
BTS perform on Britain’s Got Talent
Last time they were in town for a gig it their chosen UK TV appearance was the BBC’s Graham Norton Show. A small TV studio was not the best place to showcase their talents, but they made the best of circumstances and turned in a good performance despite injuries. This time round the stage was […]
Exhibition visit: Jukhee Kwon in Present Moment, at October Gallery
It was nice to see Jukhee Kwon’s work again in London, after too long a break. The most eye-catching work was one of her extended cascades of paper from a single book: Dipping into Darkness (2013) was hung from the top of the wall, its black-tinted lower end trailing on the floor, making the whole […]
Bongsu Park’s Internal Library / Playground collaboration now online
Bongsu Park’s collaboration with Liam Francis is now available online on the BBC website and also on the Rambert Live site. The live event is presented by Simone Damberg Würtz – Rambert dancer, choreographer and founder of The Playground – and involves artists and performers from all backgrounds who come together to use dance to […]