The time was right. Not having seen a Hong Sang-soo film for a few years – and he himself has had an unusual two-year break since his last one – I was perhaps ready to reacquaint myself with his work. It was a cold misty winter’s afternoon. I had just taken a rare day off […]
December events 2020
As we emerge from the lockdown: Exhibitions The KCC’s Artist of the Year exhibition featuring Jewyo Rhii lasts until the end of January. There’s a series of online talks associated with the exhibition. Han Collection has an exhibition of buncheong ceramics all month. Skipwiths have an online exhibition featuring Hyojin Park – Spiritual Garden Awakening […]
Julie Park wins Sir Karl Jenkins Music Award
Belated congratulations to London based violist Julie Park for winning the prestigious Arts Club Sir Karl Jenkins Award in October. She follows violinists Songha Choi, who won second prize in 2019, and Joo Yeon Sir who won the prize in 2014. Julie Park performs tomorrow in Korean Cultural Centre UK’s ‘Home Theatre’ season of online […]
Shin Seung-tae’s new Trot persona
When Lee Hee Moon announced the disbandment of his glam rock minyo outfit Ssing Ssing last year, I forewent gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, prophesying instead that an abundance of interesting projects must surely follow. And Lo, it did come to pass. Female vocalist Chu Da-hye started her band, Chudahye and The Chagis […]
Review: City of Ash and Red
City of Ash and Red is a novel for 2020, even though it was originally published in 2010. Inspired no doubt in part by the SARS outbreak of 2002-3, Pyun Hye-young imagines a world where a virus has the potential to shut down whole countries, in which visitors are tested for infection on arrival at […]
Gallery: START Art Fair 2020
A few installation views of the Korean artists and galleries displaying work at START Art Fair in the Saatchi Gallery at the end of October: A show-stopping display of Ceviga’s work by Skipwiths – who also introduced a work by Kim Hayoung; Intricate musical sculptures by Eunhyue Shin – constructed in part from broken musical […]
Review: Na Man’gap – the Diary of 1636
Na Man’gap’s Diary of 1636, as George Kallander explains in his informative introduction, is the longest known private account of the second Manchu invasion of Korea. Na (1592 – 1642) was a senior scholar-official who was with the King and court inside Namhansanseong – he was in charge of military rations – throughout the siege […]
November events 2020
As we head back into lock-down, there’s only a couple of days left in November to visit the exhibitions. And we commiserate with the KCCUK and LEAFF organisers, who have worked so hard to find venues for screenings and live music only to find that the pandemic has other ideas. Books and Talks Thank heavens […]
Movie review: Peninsula. Four years after Train to Busan, the zombies rule the streets…
We’re four years on from the zombie pandemic that ravaged the Korea that we saw in Train to Busan (2016). The port city proved to be no refuge from the rampaging menace, and the zombies took over the country. Some lucky few of the non-infected escaped by sea, but no country wanted to receive the […]
K-music 2020: now online only
It was a brave attempt: despite the pandemic, K-music 2020 was originally planned to open and close with live gigs. Now neither gig will now go ahead as planned. Flying over ADG7, a 9-member band with its associated staff, as Covid conditions worsened proved too much of a challenge. So the opening concert was the […]
Buckwheat tops the translation league table
As I’ve been logging the various publications during the construction of LKL’s K-lit hub, I’ve been keeping an eye on those stories which appear most often in English translation, whether in an anthology or a standalone publication. Charles Montgomery has always said that When the Buckwheat Blooms is the most published story, and I’ve yet […]
Announcing LKL’s new K-Lit Hub
I haven’t been posting much on LKL recently. That’s not because nothing’s been going on. On the contrary, there’s been plenty of exhibitions to review, online film festivals to attend, and some real-world foodie events to enjoy. In fact, I have a longer than ever writing backlog, which I shall do my best to backfill. So […]
K-music 2020: the official press release
Despite the pandemic, Serious and the KCCUK have arranged a great line-up for K-music this year. Bookended by live performances to open and close the festival, there’s a range of exciting online performances which involve new collaborations between favourite K-music artists from the past as well as some new names. We’ve already posted about the […]
October events 2020
How did it get to be October so quickly? Once Chuseok is over, prepare yourselves for K-music and the LKFF, both of which have a mix of live and online events. There’s plenty else on too. Arts and exhibitions Han Collection celebrates London Crafts Week with Brilliant Hues – a selection of ceramics from Icheon, […]
Gallery: CHAGOK CHAGOK at Be-oom tea rooms
Be-oom’s collaboration with BOMBOM to create a unique evening of Korean-style tapas with wine and tea pairings provided an opportunity for an informal, between lock-down, editorial meeting between LKL’s new visual arts contributor and the website’s founder. Food was beautifully presented with the sort of mild flavours you might find in temple temple. The wine […]
LKFF 2020 announces its line-up
This is now the 15th edition of the festival organised by KCCUK. As is to be expected, this year is somewhat different, with many of the screenings taking place online. There’s plenty to enjoy in the programme. We’re particularly looking forward to Mark Morris’s selection of Mudang films. Here’s the official press release; we’ll be […]
A round-up of current and recent exhibitions
Since the lifting of most of lockdown restrictions put in place at the height of the pandemic, Korean art-related events have recently resumed in the UK. The KCCUK programme, once the Rendered Reality exhibition by Joonhong Min and Shinuk Suh closed, moved on to Seoul Unfolded, a display of architectural projects and works featuring the […]