The call for papers has been issued for the long-planned conference on BTS: Call for Papers – BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference Project Kingston University, January 4-5, 2020 Korean boy group BTS are the first ever Korean act to perform at Wembley Stadium as part of their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself world tour. Debuting in 2013 under […]
June events 2019
It’s another big month for music and performance, and don’t forget to plan ahead for Bongsu Park’s Dream Ritual featuring Jinyeob Cha and haihm in early July. Arts and exhibitions The KCC’s new exhibition, Ways to Experience, opens on 11 June. Art Night is on 22 June, with one-off appearances from Christine Sun Kim and […]
BTS perform on Britain’s Got Talent
Last time they were in town for a gig it their chosen UK TV appearance was the BBC’s Graham Norton Show. A small TV studio was not the best place to showcase their talents, but they made the best of circumstances and turned in a good performance despite injuries. This time round the stage was […]
Sharing Dreams: Bongsu Park talks about her upcoming DREAM RITUAL performance
Dreams. Freud made a whole career out of them. We are supposed to have them every night, but most of the time we can’t remember them. Cultures around the world have myths and legends in which dreams are laden with symbolic and predictive power. And in Korea, in a quaint folk custom, dreams are bought […]
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite wins Palme d’Or
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (기생충) is the first Korean film to take the Palme d’Or – the top prize – at the Cannes Film Festival. The awards were announced last night, 25 May. Announcing the 2019 CST Artist-Technician Prize, the Jury also noted Lee Ha-jun’s outstanding work as Artistic Director on the movie. According to Arirang […]
The Duke of York’s visit to Korea
HRH Prince Andrew paid a visit to Korea last week, and as part of his visit retraced the footsteps of his mother’s state visit twenty years ago. He arrived on 12 May and his first engagement was a reception hosted by the ambassador HE Simon Smith: https://twitter.com/TheDukeOfYork/status/1127907416526458885 The next day, after giving a welcome speech […]
Francis Daehoon Lee meets Jeremy Corbyn
On Monday, before his London talk on Denuclearising The Korean Peninsula, Prof Francis Daehoon Lee of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy was invited to lunch with Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, in a restaurant in his Islington constituency. He said he was impressed by Corbyn’s understanding of the situation in the Korean peninsular. Prof. Lee is […]
Festival Film Review: Dark Figure of Crime
In a standard police procedural about a serial killer, a detective – maybe a bit of a loner, often with a drink problem – goes from crime scene to crime scene, from victim to victim, trying to fit together the pieces of the jigsaw that will eventually lead to the murderer, before the next crime […]
Brief review: Samuel Hawley — The Imjin War
Samuel Hawley: The Imjin War – Japan’s Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China 2nd Edition, Conquistador Press 2014 Originally published by Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, Seoul, 2005 How is it that a 664 page book only merits a brief review? Well, because as an historical book a proper review should only […]
Book review: Kim Young-ha – Diary of a Murderer
Kim Young-ha: Diary of a Murderer and other stories Translated by Krys Lee Mariner Books, 2019, 200pp Originally published as 살인자의 기억법, Munhakdongne, 2013 Somewhat rashly, I approach Kim Young-ha’s novels with a keen sense of anticipation, particularly when translated by Krys Lee. Rashly, because with high expectations you usually set yourself up for a […]
2018 travel diary 4 – Gayasa and the tomb of Namyeon-gun
Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, 11 November 2018. In the first half of the 19th century, although the Yi family was on the throne, much of the power in the land was actually wielded by the Andong Kim family who had intermarried with the royal family. One member of the royal family, Yi Ha-eung, resorted to rather unusual […]
May events 2019
A very busy month for music, among other things. Exhibitions: Kimsooja’s To Breathe is installed at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park; Haegue Yang’s Tracing Movement is at South London Gallery until 26 May; Jukhee Kwon’s work is in October Gallery’s 40th birthday show until 25 May; Lee Jaehyo and Kim Bumsu are at Pontone Gallery until […]
An introduction to SOKOLLAB – Soho’s K-beauty and K-pop store
Ever wanted to try that BB cream shade, test that exfoliator out, and listen to K-Pop artists at the same time? Now you can, in Soho – the heart of London’s West End. SOKOLLAB’s Victoria Martin introduces her tempting store: SOKOLLAB is the first UK store to specialise in Korean beauty and Kpop. The […]
Exhibition visit: Minhwa – The Beauty of Korean Folk Paintings
This has got to be one of the KCC’s most pleasurable exhibitions ever: a collection of twenty folk paintings in different genres by artists from the Korean Minhwa Centre of Daegu’s Keimyung University. It’s also one of the most informative exhibitions I’ve seen in a while, as the information on the walls and in the […]
BTS tops the UK album charts
BTS is the first Korean band to top the UK album charts, according to the Official Charts Company. Their new EP, Map of The Soul: Persona, released on 12 April, came straight in at number 1, while its lead single Boy With Luv (ft Halsey) narrowly missed a top 10 entry, coming in at number […]
An introduction to the Home Truths season of screenings
A slightly belated start to the year for the KCC’s regular film screenings, but their first season promises well. Here are the details, kindly provided by the KCC. Home Truths 2 May – 20 June Now in its 11th year, Korean Film Nights open for 2019 with ‘Home Truths’ – a season exploring how Korean […]
2018 travel diary 3 – The Smile of Baekje
10 – 11 November 2018. My trips to Korea are usually preceded by a hurried piece of research on the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) website trying to find out what notable items of tangible or intangible heritage, or what other historic or scenic sites there might be, to attract an inquisitive traveller to the places […]