Jennifer Barclay, author of MEETING MR KIM: OR HOW I WENT TO KOREA AND LEARNED TO LOVE KIMCHI, reports from the Korean Cultural Centre on Dame Margaret Drabble’s lecture based on her novel The Red Queen Dame Margaret Drabble, CBE DBE, looks elegant with her hair in a natural bob and a touch of red … [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 41)
Fan Death in Venice – the Korean Pavilion at the Biennale
In a collection of National Pavilions which includes a big aluminium cage (France), some unfinished pine kitchen furniture (Germany) and a reconstruction of a celebrity gay swimming pool death (Nordic countries) the Korean pavilion at the Venice Biennale is in good company in making you scratch your head a little bit. What is one to … [Read More]
Gong Myoung in Chichester — Korean Musicians Win English Hearts
Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim, reviews Gong Myoung at the Chichester Festival Theatre, 12 October 2009 He enters the stage wearing an oversized orange hat and sunglasses, carrying a toolbox and a walking stick. From the toolbox he takes out a saw and a drill, saws off the end of the walking stick, … [Read More]
An evening with the Korean Artists Association – event report
Last summer, the Korean Artists Association put on an evening of performances at the Korean cultural centre. The evening was well attended and popular, but somehow you felt that they could do better. They came back 15 months later and did just that. Recognising that the visual artists did not get much of a look-in … [Read More]
Behind the scenes with the KAA
The plan for an evening of performance and visual arts at the KCC came quite suddenly, and when I met Park Sunnee for a quick chat about it six weeks ago the plans all seemed rather vague. I have in the past been sceptical about Korean organisational abilities, and the mountain to climb in such … [Read More]
Tweeting the KAA October performance
19 Oct 2009: Photos from the Korean Artists at the KCC event (16 October) are up on Flickr http://bit.ly/1qhGtz. Thanks to Mr Lee Hyung-wook of The East # 17 Oct 2009: Totally relieved that the KAA event at the KCC is over. I think it was a massive success. Well done all. # 16 Oct … [Read More]
Exhibition Visit: Earth Alert – Environmental protest goes mainstream
Over the past few years, environmentalists have been protesting about the massive land reclamation project at Saemangeum on the west coast of Korea. As well as being an environmental tragedy, it has also been a minor irritation in UK-ROK relations: prominent among the campaigners have been British naturalists protesting about the scheme’s impact on the … [Read More]
Sales Pitch – the Anglo Korean Society Annual Dinner
Even over the phone, you can feel your arm being twisted. So when Sylvia Park rang me a couple of weeks ago to cajole me in to rounding up some guests for the Anglo Korean Society Dinner at the House of Commons I knew I couldn’t say no. My chosen guests were Korean Artists Association … [Read More]
Koreans sparkle at the Goldsmiths Fair
The Goldsmith’s Fair is an annual show of some of the best designers and craftspeople in the jewellery and metalwork business, in the livery hall of the City of London’s oldest established guild. Every year, with around 80 stalls to choose from, there is a stunning range of items to view, many of which are … [Read More]
Goldsmiths Fair, week 2
Goldsmiths Fair week 2: Serena Park has created absolutely the *cutest* pillbox hat from glass, and Misun Won makes lovely jogakpo-inspired silver jewelry # [Read More]
Cute kisses and extreme marriages – different perspectives on Park Chan-wook
After Monday’s focus on Thirst, Tuesday’s Mr Vengeance screening, together with a generous hour of Q&A with Director Park, offered the opportunity to focus on his earlier work. In fact, the first question at the Q&A asked about Park’s very first films (pre JSA). Did Park have any tips or lessons learned for a rookie … [Read More]
Lead us not into temptation – Q&A with Park Chan-wook at UK “Thirst” premiere
Appropriately enough, Director Park cast a sombre red shadow on the screen as he walked onto the stage to answer questions following the London premiere of Thirst. The film delivered all the blood you have come to expect from a Park Chan-wook movie, this time with some justification, given the vampire theme. But as always … [Read More]
The presentation of Korean Contemporary Art in London – a punter’s perspective
Having fumbled my incoherent, jet-lagged way through a half prepared presentation at I-MYU a couple of days ago, here, Thucydidean style, is what I would have said if I had been better prepared. Since LKL went online three and a half years ago, we’ve tracked over 90 exhibitions of Korean art and artefacts, most of … [Read More]
KoreaDesign at Earl’s Court
It was not so long ago that Korea was known as a country which was highly competent at manufacturing goods which ticked all the boxes in terms of functionality and cost, but lacked the wow factor in terms of design. In recent years, Korea has been catching up with the design innovators, with consumer electronics … [Read More]
Photos from the Thames Festival
It was a perfect day in More London, by Tower Bridge, and the crowds were out in large numbers to enjoy the Thames Festival. The Korean contingent had taken possession of The Scoop for the weekend, and over 70 performers had come over from Korea to entertain the festival-goers. Reflecting the current marketing push to … [Read More]
Visit Korea, tour a shipyard
LKL ponders some of the out-of-the-ordinary things you might want to do on holiday in Korea In the Q&A which followed the Korean Tourism presentation and documentary screening at the Cultural Centre last week, some unusual holiday ideas were floated, all of which are achievable in Korea. Here are some of the suggestions, supplemented with … [Read More]