And that’s all I know so far. I’ve spoken to many people in the Korean community who’ve been involved with the festival in prior years, but none of them are involved any longer. There are rumours of a k-pop contest, and also of a piano trio who will play arrangements of Korean folk melodies. And … [Read More]
Category: Festivals (page 44)
Three outcomes of the London Riots
Three Korea-related outcomes of the London riots this year: Big Bang will not be coming for the Thames Festival (though the guilty verdict on Dae-sung didn’t help either. # Third Window Films, great supporters of Korean movies, hit as Sony’s main CD and DVD replication centre is burnt down: huge amount of stock destroyed. http://on.fb.me/npACjW … [Read More]
Korean performers at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe
Korean performers are continuing their tradition of bringing entertaining shows to the Edinburgh Fringe. Alongside the significant Korean productions as part of the main festival this year, you will find physical theatre, puppetry, traditional and indie music, and much more: Gaksi, Mago http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/gaksi-mago Category: Theatre Genres: drama Group: Kkachidong Venue: theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall Event … [Read More]
Top Korean artists at the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival
Every year we get a range of Korean performers at the Edinburgh Fringe. But the focus of the festival in 2011 is the vibrant and diverse cultures of Asia. Consequently this year we’ve got three top-notch groups who have been invited as part of the main festival itself. So for the first time this year … [Read More]
Where does “Poetry” rank among Lee Chang-dong’s films?
With Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry getting its UK theatrical release on Friday1, it’s worth taking a moment to think about where it ranks among his filmography. His first film, Green Fish (1997), is also probably his least-known, and tackles Korea’s urbanisation. By contrast, Peppermint Candy (2000), which addresses Korea’s troubled modern history, ranks highly among many … [Read More]
Kpop Flashmob, Food Fest with Samulnori, or photo exhibition with children’s event? You decide
This Saturday (9 July) offers several options for Korea enthusiasts. Fortunately it’s the only Saturday this month when Kiejo Sarsfield isn’t running one of her cookery classes, but even so you won’t be able to do it all. And don’t forget the ongoing exhibitions at the KCC and the V&A. 1. Discover Korea at Leytonstone … [Read More]
Film Review: The Man From Nowhere
Colette Balmain reviews the opening film of LKFF 2010 The Man From Nowhere (아저씨- Ajeossi) (Lee Jeong-beom, 2010) Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin), is a man shrouded in mystery, a loner who runs a small pawnshop and who is positioned on the margins of society. His only meaningful relationship is with the young girl, So-mi (Kim … [Read More]
The Love is gone but the Scar will heal: Lee Yong-baek at the Venice Biennale
Korea will be represented at the Venice Biennale by Lee Yong-baek, whose works have been regularly exhibited in London – most recently at the auction in aid of British veterans from the Korean War last year. The Love is gone but the Scar will heal Lee Yong-baek (이용백, b. 1966, Korea), since graduation from the … [Read More]
3rd Terracotta Festival, 5-8 May
Two Korean films are included in the Terracotta Festival: Man of Vendetta 파괴된 사나이, Friday 6th May 19.35. A thriller directed by Woo Min-Ho about Pastor Ju Young-su (Kim Myung-Min), a man of rock solid faith whose life is shattered when his 5-year-old daughter is kidnapped. He seeks God with desperate prayers for her safe … [Read More]
Korea Times previews Edinburgh 2011
The Korea Times previews the Korean highlights at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, including Oh Tae-seok’s Tempest. http://bit.ly/if6eAV #. It’s going to be a good year. [Read More]
Fun with Silla dynasty art at the London Art Fair
There was a distinctly Silla dynasty feeling to two of the stalls at the London Art Fair in January. Hur Shan’s trademark installations play with the concept of buildings in mid-construction or mid-demolition. Structural pillars are broken in two, revealing their reinforcing steel rods, and we wonder how the building remains standing. Rubble is piled … [Read More]
Hanmi Gallery at London Art Fair
Hanmi Gallery is a new gallery to the central London art scene – so new in fact that its gallery space is still under construction, and due to open in October this year in Maple Street, Fitzrovia. But it’s already established in Seocho-dong, Seoul, and has been trailing its London opening by holding a stall … [Read More]
Korean artists at the 2011 London Art Fair
The annual London Art Fair kicks off tonight in Islington, and as usual you won’t have to look far to find Korean artists represented there. First up, I-MYU, who have been presenting young Korean artists to a London audience since 2007, will be showing the work of Shan Hur. “When I see construction sites in … [Read More]
LKFF Festival Bites: Film Students are Softies
We’d just seen Jang Jin’s contribution to the Human Rights Watch short film collection If You Were Me 2: Someone Grateful (고마운 사람). In it, a student demonstrator is befriended by his police interrogator in the KCIA’s underground torture chambers in the 1980s. It’s a provocative short, because instead of railing against police brutality and … [Read More]
Mysterious Creature: Jang Jin at the London Korean Film Festival
Director Jang Jin is sometimes referred to as “The Future of Korean Cinema” but also as a “Mysterious Creature”. Nyomi Anderson tells us more. This year’s London Korean Film Festival featured a retrospective of the films of writer-director Jang Jin. Jang began his career in theatre before making his first film was The Happenings, which … [Read More]
Im Sang-soo interview: power, patriarchy and provocation in The Housemaid
Director Im Sang-soo discusses his reimagining of the 1960 classic The Housemaid, exploring the intersection of class structure and patriarchal power. He addresses the functional role of graphic sexuality in his films, the serendipitous symbolism of an actress’s scar, and his defiant stance toward commercial expectations and critical reception in the Korean film industry. [Read More]