Creativity of their own presented by artists with mental disabilities

While the art market is hectic with rapidly changing trends, and art fairs have broken sales records over the past few months, there is an exhibition that approaches art more intrinsically, shedding light on the act of creativity itself. The exhibition “Shrunken Paper, Expanded World,” at the SeMA, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in Nowon-gu, northern Seoul, showcases the work of 22 artists who have developmental disabilities or mental disorders. The artists delved into their own inner wo

Arts & DesignJune 29, 2021

Metal type blocks from King Sejong’s reign discovered

The Sudo Research Institute of Cultural Heritage has excavated more than 1,600 pieces of metal type blocks from the early Joseon era in Insa-dong in Jongno, central Seoul, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration on Tuesday. “We found around 1,600 pieces of Hangeul and Chinese character metal type blocks,” head of the Sudo Research Institute of Cultural Heritage Oh Kyung-taek said during a press conference Tuesday. “We estimate that the relics are from the 15th to 16

CultureJune 29, 2021

EIDF recruiting audience panel

The EBS International Documentary Film Festival started recruiting audience panels on June 21. The participants will cast votes for the grand prize, the Grand Prix prize, and the audience panel award under the two main competitive sections, “Festival Choice: Global” and “Festival Choice: Asia.” The panels will also have to choose the best audience panel award as well. The winner of the audience panel award will be decided by adding up the audience panel’s votes

FilmJune 29, 2021

Explore Wild West with Puccini opera

The Korea National Opera is set for the Korean premiere of Puccini’s 1910 opera “La Fanciulla del West.” The upcoming performance, set to run from Thursday at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, features sopranos Karine Babajanyan and Lilla Lee, tenors Marco Berti and Oliver Kook. Puccini wrote the opera after watching the play “The Girl of the Golden West,” written by the American author David Belasco, in New York. The opera is set in a mining camp in Calif

PerformanceJune 29, 2021

Works from Lee Kun-hee’s collection to be unveiled in Gwangju, Daegu

The art collection of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee will be partly unveiled at the Gwangju Museum of Art and Daegu Art Museum, starting Tuesday, offering an opportunity for the general public to appreciate masterpieces by Korean modern artists. The exhibition, titled “A Beautiful Legacy: An Affinity Brought by Lee Kun-hee’s Art Collection” at the Gwangju Museum of Art, will showcase 30 works by renowned modern and contemporary Korean artists along with pieces f

Arts & DesignJune 28, 2021

Changdeokgung’s nocturnal splendor to be showcased virtually

  Now that the muggy summer days are here, the state-run Cultural Heritage Administration’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation will invite visitors to experience a royal palace in Seoul on a summer night. Nighttime tours of Changdeokgung will be made available online starting Tuesday so that disadvantaged people outside the capital can experience the popular Moonlight Trip to the palace and its grounds. After receiving “moonlight packag

CultureJune 28, 2021

Culture ministry’s ‘Korea International Travel Expo’ prepares global leap

With international routes slowly opening again to travelers, and nearly one-third of the country’s population having received their first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine, South Korea is no exception in preparations to resume its once-halted tourism industry. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism with the Korea Tourism Organization on Monday jointly announced this year’s Korea International Travel Expo, set to kick off Tuesday at Paradise Hotel Incheon and via the expo‘s offi

TravelJune 28, 2021

Buddhist monks-turned-exorcists save the day in ‘The 8th Night’

The director of the highly anticipated Korean mystery thriller “The 8th Night” Kim Tae-hyung said his new movie is unique because it features Buddhist monks in a way moviegoers have never seen them before. “Our movie shows that Buddist monks can also appear as exorcists,” the director said during an online press conference held on Monday, ahead of the film’s Netflix release on Friday. “I agree with the director. I am a Christian but I have wondered why onl

FilmJune 28, 2021

Soprano Sua Jo releases debut album

Soprano Sua Jo, known locally as Jo Su-a, has released her debut album “La Prima Donna” under the Sony Classical label Monday. According to Sony Music Entertainment Korea, the album features well-known arias such as “Lascia Ch’io Pianga” and “Ombra Mai Fu” from Handel’s 1711 opera “Rinaldo,” and Italian baroque music such as “Amarilli, Mia Bella” and “Amor Ch’attendi” written by Caccini and “Caro Mi

PerformanceJune 28, 2021

[Herald interview] Today’s K-pop is more intricate, complex

Unlike most music critics who jump into the world music at a young age, K-pop music critic Cha woo-jin confesses he was not a music lover as a youngster. At home after school, he reached for comics, short stories and movies rather than music. Things changed when he entered his teens. “There was a moment as a teenager when I sensed an earnest desire for music,” he said. Looking back, Cha thinks that spark came when he had grasped the meaning of the long-held definition of music -- m

PerformanceJune 28, 2021

'Hard Hit' tops S. Korean box office over weekend

The South Korean actioner "Hard Hit" topped the local box office over the weekend, recording the biggest opening-weekend score for homegrown movies this year, data showed Monday. The film, released Wednesday, attracted 253,000 people over the Friday-Sunday period, taking the No. 1 spot at the South Korean box office on its first weekend, according to the data by the Korean Film Council. The figure was the largest first weekend admission record set by a South Korean film throughout 20

FilmJune 28, 2021

Cho Seong-jin to release new Chopin album

Concert pianist Cho Seong-jin, the first Korean to win the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, is to release a new album featuring Frederic Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Aug. 26. Like the debut studio-recorded album in 2016, Cho joined hands with the London Symphony Orchestra led by the Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda. Though Cho has performed the work on multiple occasions including the debut performance at the BBC Proms in 2018, it is the first time for the concer

PerformanceJune 27, 2021

Will drive-in theaters give film industry pandemic solace?

Being unable to walk into theaters freely in the non-face-to-face era has changed moviegoers’ behavior and boosted streaming platforms such as Netflix and Watcha. But for many, the big screen in a cinema is still the ideal choice. According to movie industry reports on June 26, CGV and Lotte Cinema recently opened drive-in theaters in Incheon and Busan -- the first in South Korea to be operated by large multiplex theater chains with branches throughout the country. The most obvious advan

CultureJune 27, 2021

Stray Kids’ Hyunjin resumes activities after bullying controversy

Hyunjin of K-pop boy band Stray Kids has resumed his activities with the group after taking time out due to accusations that he had bullied a classmate in middle school. The act’s agency, JYP Entertainment, officially announced Saturday that Stray Kids had released a new record, “Mixtape: Oh,” as a whole group including Hyun-jin. In February, a former classmate who did not want his identity made public posted a message online saying he had suffered “severe emotional st

PerformanceJune 27, 2021

[Eye Plus] Boramae Park, a place to relax and see airplanes

First-time visitors to Boramae Park in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, may be surprised to see eight airplanes on display. They are often occupied by children who want to take a closer look and have their pictures taken with them. The retired planes include a transport aircraft, a Cessna T-37, a helicopter and a fighter aircraft. The airplanes are there to show that the park was established on the former site of the Republic of Korea Air Force Academy.  The academy was located in the area from 1958

CultureJune 26, 2021

Chow mein and Mongolian beef at Woktionary

Served up in a white carton box, the chow mein at Woktionary -- GFFG’s latest enterprise -- with its slick, glossy noodles punctuated by shards of tender pork and nutty sesame seeds, is, for those who miss and enjoy American Chinese cuisine, nostalgically addictive. “We start off by practically frying the pork in hot oil before tossing in the veggies and noodles,” Woktionary head chef Kim Han-su, 32, said in an email interview. Woktionary is the latest brainchild of GFFG --

FoodJune 26, 2021

First walking tour in London held to introduce Korean history

A walking tour has been held in the United Kingdom for locals interested in Korean culture and history. The Korea Tourism Organization, along with the Korean Cultural Center UK, jointly launched a walking tour on Wednesday, to showcase locations and symbolic features in the city that have a connection to Korea. The two-hour tour was designed to reach out to British citizens craving future visits to Korea, while still waiting for the relaunch of cross-border travels following the pandemic.&nbs

CultureJune 26, 2021

[Herald Interview] Actor Jo Woo-jin says he was worried about playing title role in ‘Hard Hit’

At the beginning of shooting for action film “Hard Hit,” actor Jo Woo-jin said he had worries because it was his first time playing a leading role in his 22-year career. “I was not sure if I am good enough for it,” he told local reporters during a joint media interview conducted via Zoom on Tuesday. “At the same time, I did not want to be arrogant and reminded myself of the thought that I had when I started acting.” He figured the best way to address his con

FilmJune 26, 2021

Foundry Seoul opens in Seoul’s rising art hub, Hannam-dong

Foundry Seoul, a contemporary art gallery, has opened in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, presenting Berlin-based artist Henning Strassburger and Seoul-based experimental design duo Kanghyuk in its inaugural exhibition. The gallery is housed in the same building as the newly opened Gucci store, the Italian luxury brand’s second flagship store in Korea. The Hannam-dong neighborhood is fast rising as a new art hub with several international galleries opening in the area.  "We ha

Arts & DesignJune 25, 2021

Yoo Ah-in to star in new Netflix action flick ‘Seoul Vibe’

Netflix on Friday announced that it has cast star Yoo Ah-in for its new action film “Seoul Vibe.” The global streaming platform added that it had finished casting all the main characters for the film, which will be directed by Moon Hyun-sung, who created films including “As One” and “The King’s Case Note.” “Seoul Vibe” revolves around a team investigating a case related to a VIP’s slush fund on the day of the opening ceremony of the

FilmJune 25, 2021