If you go to the current exhibition at HADA Contemporary, make sure you take a magnifying glass. The grotesque, rather disturbing, sculptures are so tiny that if your eyesight isn’t very good they might look like a smudge on the wall. This little fellow, for example, if you were to straighten his hair, would be … [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 21)
Korean War Memorial unveiled in London
The South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se had a busy Wednesday last week as part of a three-day visit to the UK. According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, top of the agenda was the first annual Strategic Dialogue meeting between the two countries agreed during President Park’s state visit last year. The … [Read More]
LKFF 2014: the conversations
The London Korean Film Festival is not just about getting acquainted with the latest in Korean movies. It is also an opportunity to meet some of the people behind those movies – actors, directors and producers. Opportunities for engaging with these film professionals vary: for an ever-growing group of aficionados there is the offer of round-table … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Hwajang / Revivre
Well, I was right. Ahn Sung-ki confessed in the Q+A which followed the screening of Hwajang that one of his most difficult tasks in portraying Oh Sang-moo, a senior executive in a cosmetics company, was to project certain aspects of being old – of being blocked inside because of the swollen prostate, of being more … [Read More]
North Korean artists paint London scenes, on show at the DPRK embassy
Seven years ago, artists from Pyongyang’s Mansudae Studios came to London with a wide range of works in a variety of genres. There were ceramics, oils, chosonhwa, embroidery, and of course the images that caught everyone’s attention: the propaganda posters. The location was opposite the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall. This week, a different … [Read More]
Exhibition visits: Lee Bul at Ikon Gallery (Birmingham) and the KCC
Lee Bul has been having a busy year. A solo show in New York in May / June; two new large-scale installations at MMCA Seoul from the end of September; and at the same time a travelling show in Europe which stopped off at Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, with a parallel site-specific commission in the Korean Cultural … [Read More]
Korea’s Economy in Transition – a report from the recent evening at Asia House
Sometimes, when you go along to an evening talk, you are looking forward to the networking rather than the substance of what the speakers will be saying. Perhaps you think you won’t learn much, and you’re going along out of a vague sense of duty, because other people will expect you to be there. Well, … [Read More]
In pictures: Yun Sungfeel at Hanmi Gallery
Here are a few installation shots of Yun Sungfeel’s current exhibition, Fields of Immersion, which closed on Friday. Working from the top down, a couple from his Chaos, Cosmos and Circulation series on the second floor – iron filings and glue. Next, his Energy series of metal sculptures, which were installed on the first floor: … [Read More]
Seven ways in which Hill of Freedom is different from other Hong Sang-soo films
… and some ways in which it isn’t. Hill of Freedom (자유의 언덕) is Hong Sang-soo’s 16th feature, and could not have been made by anyother director. The awkwardness of human interaction and conversation, the bonding over alcohol, the fragmentation of the narrative, the aim to rekindle lost love – all are common features of … [Read More]
Korea Chronicles – programme and video of the opening performance
Here is a video of the opening performance of the Korea Chronicles residency at the KCC, by Jason Verney of Native Nomad Pictures. The performance was on 12 August 2014. As Jason comments: This film features the performances and concert in its entirety, along with added extras – the preparation beforehand, the artwork associated with … [Read More]
Concert review: Ensemble Sinawi at the City of London Festival
How can you adequately describe a gig which touched the highs and lows of human emotion? There were times when the melody sung by the voice or ajaeng had a searing, heart rending intensity which brought a lump to the throat and tears to the eye; and then in the next piece the toes would … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft
Nothing prepared you for the sight that greeted you when you entered the room containing the Korean crafts at Tent London. As you were wandering past the various stalls in the main part of the exhibition displaying contemporary crafts from around the world on your way to the “Constancy and Change” room, you might have … [Read More]
K-Drama week: Yang Yun-ho, IRIS, and the current state of Korean drama
The KCCUK’s K-Drama week included the opportunity to meet the director of one of Korea’s most successful TV dramas of recent years, IRIS, which has been screened in 26 countries and brings film-like tension to the small screen. Director Yang Yun-ho gave a talk on the current state of Hallyu at SOAS, and participated in … [Read More]
Cho Young-wuk on waltzes, playgrounds and working with Park Chan-wook
An in-depth look at film composer Cho Young-wuk, his creative process and long-standing collaboration with Park Chan-wook. From the iconic Oldboy score to live performances and audience Q&A in London, the article explores how music shapes mood, character and cinematic identity. [Read More]
The Massive reports from this week’s UKISS gig
Many of us were torn on Wednesday between the IRIS screening with Q&A at the Curzon Soho and the UKISS concert at the Forum. Those who chose to go to screening instead of the gig should see what they missed by reading the Korean Class Massive’s review of the evening. They’ve got some great photos … [Read More]
Shin Dong-hyuk: “passionate human rights campaigner and an ordinary young man”
Youngeun Koo reports from the first of EAHRNK’s “North Korean Memoirs” events. On Tuesday 16 September, the UK had the rare opportunity to meet Shin Dong-hyuk in person. Shin is so far the only person known to have successfully escaped from Camp 14, a ‘total control camp’ in North Korea. Organised by European Alliance for … [Read More]