Chatham House Korea Discussion Group China’s ‘Korea Wave’: National Branding, Piracy, Idols and Fans Speaker: Dr Rowan Pease, 6 December 2006, 1:15pm If ever you get the chance to hear Rowan Pease talk on her chosen subject of the hallyu in China, drop everything and go to it. Even if you’ve heard some of her … [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 52)
Is it Mrs Blair who’s farting Hangul?
Prompted by Beccy Kennedy’s thoughtful comments on the Still Dynamics exhibition, I popped over the river to the Jerwood Space yesterday lunchtime. The result is this somewhat tabloid counterblast — hoping to prompt some more of you to go along to see it for yourself. The most eye-catching work in the show is Seunghee Kang’s … [Read More]
Korean art: Unstoppable forces and immovable objects
Still Dynamics: The Korean Contemporary Art Show The Jerwood Space, 14-20 December Review by Beccy Kennedy The serene setting of the Jerwood Space provides the perfect offset for the vivid works of eleven Korean artists. With the exception of Kira Kim’s light installation, I Love U, and Sangjun Roh’s miniature, cardboard people, the works are … [Read More]
South Korean artist’s response to the Division of Korea
South Korean Artists’ Response to the Issue of Divided Korea Lecture by Jim Hoare and Jiyoon Lee Monday 11 December at Asia House 6.45-7.45pm The current exhibition at Asia House is producing much food for thought. This is now the third post devoted to the exhibition and is unlikely to be the last. In an … [Read More]
But is it Art?
Encounters with Painters in North Korea 5pm SOAS, 8 December 2006 Koen De Ceuster, Centre for Korean Studies, Leiden University “But is it Art”?: that was the question posed by Koen De Ceuster on Friday night at SOAS, as part of the series of talks held by the Centre for Korean Studies. The talk started … [Read More]
Uncovering Wonderland
Review of the Asia House exhibition by Beccy Kennedy The multi-storey, multi-story exhibition of contemporary Korean art at Asia House, Through the Looking Glass, provides a multi-faceted Korean art experience, in terms of the media used and the themes approached by the artists. Independent curator, Jiyoon Lee, uses the looking glass as an audience-friendly metaphor … [Read More]
Master Oh’s apology to Korean youth
Romeo & Juliet – adapted by Oh Tae-seok (Oh T’ae-sŏk, 오태석) Mokhwa Repertory Company 23 November 2006 – 9 December 2006 / 19:00, 19:45 The Pit, Barbican, Part of bite06 Oh Tae-suk, born in 1940, had a traumatic start to his life. When I was 11, the Korean War broke out. One day a car … [Read More]
“Through the Looking Glass” panel discussion at Asia house
Yesterday morning’s panel session gave a priveleged (1) insight into the work of some of the artists represented at the stimulating show at Asia House. Chaired by Beth McKillop of the V&A, the discussant panel included Alessio Antoniolli from Gasworks, Hans Ulrich Obrist from The Serpentine, curator Jiyoon Lee and artists Duck-hyun Cho, Yeondoo Jung, … [Read More]
Circuit Diagram at Cell gallery
What do a 20 dollar bill, a spirit level, a geodesic dome, and a loudspeaker chanting Mongolian love songs in Korean have in common? That’s the question posed by the introduction to a multinational contemporary art show in the Cell gallery space in Cambridge Heath Road, Hackney. And answered. The loudspeaker chanting the Mongolian love … [Read More]
Chuseok celebrations at Asia House
The Chuseok celebrations at Asia House on 12 October, though a couple of days late for the festival itself, were warmly received by a capacity audience. Dr Keith Howard from SOAS gave a useful introduction to the meaning of Chuseok, and also explained the genesis of one of the instruments being played that evening — … [Read More]
Festival film review: Pororo to the Cookie Castle
I thought I ought to see at least one Korean animation as part of the recent film festival, so I took pot luck with the one that best fitted my Saturday schedule and ended up watching Pororo to the Cookie Castle. In the foyer of the Odeon Covent Garden was a 4-foot high penguin, beside … [Read More]
Event report: the Anglo Korean Society visit to the V+A
Many thanks to Sylvia Park for organising a fun evening of food and learning on 20 September, and of course to Beth McKillop, curator of the V&A’s Asian collection, for guiding the assembled company through the V&A’s Korean exhibits. The evening started in the Samsung gallery at the V&A, in front of the stoneware from … [Read More]
Kimchi juice: the art medium of the future – a visit to Give me Shelter at Union Gallery
I went to the “Give me Shelter” exhibition at the Union Gallery one lunchtime this week, as it’s only 15 minutes walk from my office. I’ll be going back again. Possibly the easiest works to relate to are the biggest and the smallest. Hyungkoo Lee‘s skeletal coyote and roadrunner occupied a whole room, atmospherically lit. … [Read More]
Kwak Kyung-taek’s next film a lower-budget romance
At last night’s Q&A following a packed showing of Typhoon (queue above), director Kwak Kyung-taek confirmed that his next film will have a slightly smaller budget than his last, which had disappointing box office result despite its large budget. It will be a romance, and Kwak is talking to Lee Jung-jae, the hero of Typhoon, … [Read More]
How like “Swiri” is “The Way Home”?
That’s the intriguing question posed by Andrew Jackson’s talk at the Sheffield BAKS conference last week. It was a question prompted by a statement by Ahn Sang-gun, a senior figure in KOTRA, the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency, and reported in the Donga Ilbo on 5 April 2003: that The Way Home and Swiri are … [Read More]
Brief review: Baudeogi at the Bloomsbury
Another entertaining evening from Think Korea. As the year progresses, the sponsors are learning about how best to introduce their wonderful shows to a western audience. This time, there was a glossy programme which set out some of the background to what we were about to see, which was helpful. There was also some useful … [Read More]