Culture Ministry plans to beef up digital content representing Korea

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that it will focus on strengthening digital content aimed at promoting the country more effectively and keeping up with current and future trends. Amid swelling concerns about offline meetings and in-person activities due to the pandemic, the Culture Ministry plans to bring extensive changes to the existing materials to overcome their limitations and introduce lively promotion projects by leveraging contactless strategies. The Korea National T

CultureAug. 29, 2020

Print Bakery turns into upscale multicultural space

Print Bakery by Seoul Auction in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, has turned into an upscale multicultural complex. The art store reopened on Aug. 14, after going through an extensive renovation, under a new brand name, Print Bakery X Collector, according to the company. Print Bakery, which is run by Seoul Auction, the largest art auction firm in Korea, has eight branches across the country. The flagship store in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul will offer premium print editions of artworks

Arts & DesignAug. 29, 2020

‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’ penalized for sexually inappropriate scenes

Popular tvN drama series “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” has been slapped with a warning by the Korea Communications Standards Commission for sexually suggestive and inappropriate scenes. The broadcast censorship body on Wednesday held a subcommittee and decided to issue a legal sanction to the television series for several breaches against the broadcast deliberation regulations, including Article 27 on duties of integrity and Article 30 on gender equality. “Even consideri

TelevisionAug. 28, 2020

Song Joong-ki’s ‘Space Sweepers’ release shelved again

The release of Korean space blockbuster “Space Sweepers” has been delayed yet again as new coronavirus infections continue in South Korea, with 371 new cases confirmed Friday.　 On Thursday, the film’s distributor Merry Christmas released an official statement, announcing the second delay of the highly anticipated film. Originally slated to hit the local theaters on Sept. 23, its release has been pushed back indefinitely as for now. Coming from director Jo Sung-hee, who helme

FilmAug. 28, 2020

Atelier Hermes explores blurred line of reality, fiction at new exhibition ‘Elsewhere’

Atelier Hermes -- a nonprofit gallery in Seoul run by Fondation d’Entreprise Hermes -- has brought together rising South Korean contemporary artists around the theme of “Elsewhere.” “Elsewhere” -- which opened Friday and runs through Oct. 25 -- showcases five new works by five Korean contemporary artists that explore the domains of the psyche and the subconscious, questioning our visual perception. Artists Kim Dong-hee, Kim Hee-cheon, Noh Sang-ho, Son Kwang-ju

Arts & DesignAug. 28, 2020

[Newsmaker] Public art troupe member’s private lesson in spotlight after infection

A member of an art troupe under the National Gugak Center will be questioned for conducting a private lesson, after having contact with a high school student who was tested positive for COVID-19. On Aug. 19, the member gave a private lesson to a Gugak National High School student at a private studio in southern Seoul. Few hours later, the student’s mother was confirmed positive of the virus. The student was tested positive of the virus on Aug. 19. The troupe member was tested negative

PerformanceAug. 28, 2020

[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Sancheong Medicinal Herb Festival The 20th Sancheong Medicinal Herb Festival will be held Sept. 25-Oct. 4 in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province. The festival, which began in 2001, includes exhibitions and events to learn about and directly experience Korea‘s medicinal herbs, for which the county of Sancheong is well-reputed. Visitors can also purchase medicinal herbs at relatively low prices at the festival. For more information in Korean, English, Japanese or Chinese, visit scher

TravelAug. 28, 2020

[Eye Interview] ‘When people dance, they laugh!’

When I enter choreographer Ahn Eun-me’s studio located in the basement of a building that houses a gas station on the ground level, she is perched on a balcony with a commanding view of the studio from which she presides over her eponymous dance company, Ahn Eun-Me Company. She is hard to miss: Ahn’s buzz cut renders her instantly recognizable. “Long hair was restrictive and the head gets too heavy,” says Ahn, explaining her decision to shave it all off in September 19

CultureAug. 28, 2020

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and Packages

Stay at Mayfield Hotel with Asiana Airlines mileage Mayfield Hotel Seoul is offering a chance for guests to use their Asiana Airlines mileage while COVID-19 precludes international travel. Guests can reserve rooms at the hotel with Asiana mileage until Sept. 16 for stays before the end of the year, excluding blackout days (Sept. 30 through Oct. 3, Oct. 31 and Dec. 24-26). Guests interested in using mileage will have to call the hotel for a reservation number and present personal identificatio

FoodAug. 28, 2020

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Fukuoka (Korea) Opened Aug. 27 Drama Directed by Chang Lu So-dam (Park So-dam) takes Je-moon (Yoon Je-moon) to Fukuoka to reconnect him with his long estranged friend Hae-hyo (Kwon Hae-hyo). The two men parted ways 28 years earlier after falling in love with the same woman. In Fukuoka, So-dam is able to communicate without speaking the same language, and understand people’s minds without talking to them. With this mysterious woman, the two men set off on a journey through their memories.

FilmAug. 28, 2020

Japanese auteur Hirokazu Koreeda’s first Korean film to star top Korean actors

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda will take on his first Korean movie with top-tier actors Song Kang-ho, Bae Doo-na and Gang Dong-won, according to the film’s distributor CJ ENM. Tentatively titled “Broker,” the film is a drama about people involved with “baby boxes” -- temperature-controlled containers in which unwanted newborns are dropped off. The Japanese writer and director, well reputed for his portraits of families that reveal their complexities and re

FilmAug. 27, 2020

A thorough look at a unique Korean art form

"Chaekkori Painting: A Korean Jigsaw Puzzle” By Kay E. Black Sahoipyoungnon Academy  The paintings of books and stationery laid on bookshelves give off a feeling of coziness and comfort, as if you were in a library. “Chaekkori” or “chaekgeori” refers to a unique genre of Korean painting that proliferated in the Joseon era (1392-1910), depicting books and other assorted items on bookshelves. Literally meaning “books and things,” chaekgeori

BooksAug. 27, 2020

Cultural Communications Forum 2020: Should cultural content go online?

As COVID-19 brings many changes to the culture industry, international leaders in cultural communication came together online Wednesday and Thursday to discuss changing delivery methods for cultural content in the COVID-19 era at the 11th Cultural Communications Forum. Due to the spread of COVID-19, international scholars invited to the forum joined remotely through videoconference. The Corea Image Communication Institute organized the forum jointly with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tou

CultureAug. 27, 2020

Gana Art to show Ji Yong-ho’s ‘New Mutant’ series made with 3D printing

Gana Art, a major commercial art gallery in Korea, will host the solo exhibition of sculptor Ji Yong-ho, who is widely known for his “Mutant” series of giant animal sculptures made from abandoned tires. The upcoming exhibition aims to show how his mutant series has developed with the use of new techniques and different materials. With the “New Mutant” series Ji’s previous mutants have been turned into new mutant sculptures reproduced with 3D modeling techniques.

Arts & DesignAug. 26, 2020

[Herald Interview] Opera ‘Red Pants’ to sing of housing bubble

Property prices in and around Seoul have been hitting record-high levels for the past few months, even as the government has declared war on the region’s housing bubble. That housing bubble first began to form about 50 years ago. In the 1970s and ’80s the Gangnam area, an affluent neighborhood in southern Seoul, started to fill up with massive apartment blocks. “Red Pants,” a new Korean-language opera that will be presented by the Korea National Opera on Friday and S

PerformanceAug. 25, 2020

MMCA launches online shop offering books, merchandise

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, has launched an online store that offers nearly 500 items including exhibition catalogs and books. The online store has 57 exhibition catalogs as well as books. Some have been translated into English, including “The Transnational Museum,” “What Do Museums Collect?” “MMCA Collection 300” and “Architecture and Heritage: Unearthing Future.” Museum merchandise such as postcards, magnets an

Arts & DesignAug. 25, 2020

Chinese viewers still upset with Lee Hyo-ri over ‘Mao’ quip

Chinese viewers remained unappeased and continued to demand an apology after the producers of the MBC program “Hangout With Yoo” posted a statement Monday about a comment that singer Lee Hyo-ri made on Saturday’s episode. The problem arose when Lee suggested Mao as the name of her character in “Hangout With Yoo.” “Let’s make a Chinese to be more global. How about Mao?” said Lee on Saturday’s episode. Lee’s statement infuriated man

TelevisionAug. 25, 2020

Are 90-second movies capturing subway audience?

People riding subways will want to keep a close eye on the destination information screens on subway trains and at stations for the next few weeks: The Seoul Metro International Subway Film Festival kicked off Monday, bringing short films to commuters through Sept. 18. The official slogan for this year’s festival, now in its 11th year, is “90 seconds, enjoy the subway!” “I hope many people using the subways can enjoy arts and culture by watching the super-short films,&

FilmAug. 24, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Dreamlike love story in ‘Fukuoka’ is all around us’

In the upcoming film “Fukuoka,” So-dam, played by Korean actor Park So-dam, takes Je-moon -- played by Yoon Je-mun -- to Fukuoka, saying that while she doesn’t speak Japanese, she knows that she will somehow be able to settle there. She is able to talk with not only the Japanese, but the Chinese as well, without speaking a word of the languages. The strange, sometimes surreal film does not go deep into anything. It appears to merely touch the surface of another dimension of

FilmAug. 24, 2020

[Herald Interview] Busan Biennale resists adversities in pandemic time

The Busan Biennale, an international contemporary art show that takes place in the southern port city, is ready to demonstrate that the role of art has become more essential than ever in these pandemic-hit times. “In a situation of a crisis, an art space can be a space of reflection. It can be a space where you can think and share your thought with other people,” Busan Biennale Artistic Director Jacob Fabricius told The Korea Herald during an interview last week in central Seoul.

PeopleAug. 24, 2020