It was 3pm on a sunny but cool afternoon when I began to queue for the CNBLUE concert, though many had been there since early morning coming from as far afield as Finland, France, Switzerland, Italy and Poland – a wide mix of nationalities and ethnicity that seemed almost equal. As with all concerts there … [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 31)
Choi Jeong-hwa: a summer on the South Bank
The summer is over, and Chuseok approaches. The gay green baskets and balloons which adorned the drab concrete pillars beneath the Hayward Gallery and Queen Elizabth Hall during the Olympics period have been packed away. Here’s a reminder of what was there. Choi Jeong-hwa supervises the inflation of the spiral balloons for his installation Life-Life … [Read More]
In pictures: All Eyes on Korea at the Thames Festival 2012
We didn’t manage to see all of the All Eyes on Korea Thames Festival events, but here’s a flavour of some of them… 1. The Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration team practising on the evening before the Festival. They wowed the audience on Saturday with an encore featuring PSY’s Gangnam Style. 2. CJ’s new restaurant, Bibigo, was … [Read More]
Exhibition Visit: Sung Hwan Kim – Temper Clay in Tate Modern Tanks
So far I’ve probably spent seven hours over the course of five visits trying to figure out the massive installation in the Tate Modern by 37 year old Sung Hwan Kim (김성환). I haven’t succeeded yet, and indeed I’m not at all sure it’s possible fully to resolve the into a coherent whole the many … [Read More]
Kkokdu – a cortege’s colourful attendants
Accompanying the KCC’s exhibition of Korean funerary figures, Charlotte Horlyck gave a helpful lecture providing some historical background and context to these colourful wooden characters. The talk was particularly valuable as the introduction provided by the director of the Kkokdu Museum a few weeks previously had lacked much content. While generally admitting that not much … [Read More]
Come Rain Come Shine: beautifully restrained or just a little bit wet?
There is a narrow dividing line between a movie which paints a delicate, nuanced portrait of characters who have subtle and restrained emotions, and a movie in which you want to just punch everyone in the face for being so wet. Come Rain, Come Shine is a movie which is on that dividing line, perhaps … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Kim Beom’s School of Inversion
Kim Beom is known for his videos of very serious Korean TV newsreaders, their newscasts chopped into a thousand pieces and spliced back together word by word to create nonsense stories. Londoners were introduced to his work back in 2006 as part of the Asia House group show Through the Looking Glass and Untitled (News) … [Read More]
All Eyes on Korea: consistent investment in the performing arts brings its rewards
The London 2012 Olympics was around a decade in the making: preparation of the bid, building the venue itself and putting in place the infrastructure required to run a successful games. And for the last couple of years of that preparation time, a separate team of hard-working organisers from the Korean Ministry of Culture Sports … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Fragility and Francesca Cho’s creative process
Francesca Cho’s latest solo show is at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, a venue which is linked in my mind with Sunday afternoon film double bills. But on visiting Cho’s exhibition (several times – as it’s easily accessible on my walking route home) I find that it has a smart bar cum restaurant and a … [Read More]
Lee Yoon-ki’s Love Talk captures the drifting, rootless nature of an immigrant community
Lee Yoon-ki is a director who divides opinion. He is known for his delicate, nuanced character portraits which delight many an art-house enthusiast but which for those who like things to happen in their movies are a big turnoff. Love Talk will appeal to those who are in between. Love Talk (2006) is Lee’s second … [Read More]
Fashion, food and music: Korea Shining Bright with Lie Sang Bong at the V&A
It’s not often that an honour guard in Joseon dynasty costume greets you as you enter a London public building. In fact the last time I can recall it happening was at the celebration of Korean food and fashion at the Banqueting House in 2009. And at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 30 July … [Read More]
A London 2012 Korean Olympic round-up
Here are some of the highlights and headlines from the past two weeks or so of Korean athletes at the London 2012 Olympics: 25 July North Korea’s Olympic women’s football team walked off the pitch for an hour at their opening London 2012 match tonight after organisers mistakenly introduced the players using South Korea’s flag. … [Read More]
Mask dance and K-pop covers at the Kingston Korean Festival
During the Olympics, the Korean Tourism Organisation has been sponsoring a K-pop vocal and dance workshop in Chelsea Town Hall. The results were on show today at the 15th annual Korean Festival organised by the Korean Residents Society. I think I managed to miss all the traditional performances this year – the otherwise informative programme … [Read More]
Im Kwon-taek visits London for the Olympics
As part of the VIP delegation visiting from Seoul to launch Korea’s bid for Olympic glory in London 2012, a surprise dignitary was legendary film director Im Kwon-taek. I first caught sight of him at the Korea Shining Bright event at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday night, 30 July. I wondered if I … [Read More]
Needles and a mouth organ at Team Korea House
Yes, there have been K-pop flashmobs, dancing robots, traditional music performances and comedy magic shows at Team Korea House. There has even been a live radio show broadcast from there, with presenters dressed in royal hanbok. Last Saturday (4 August) was the final performance by Dulsori before they head off to Germany. They opened with … [Read More]
Battle of the Divas: Shining K-Classics at the Festival Hall
Maestro Seigerstam eased himself onto the platform looking like a cross between Brahms and a benign troll, long white beard resting on a generous stomach, long white hair reaching down the back of his tailcoat. With a waggle of his baton, the woodwind started playing Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Overture and the Shining K-Classics concert … [Read More]