The members of indie duo Kim Sawol X Kim Haewon were nearly complete strangers when they recorded their award-winning album “Secret” back in the summer of 2014 in a cramped studio in Seoul. At first, it was “intensely awkward” to be cooped up together, writing songs and recording for long hours that often stretched into dawn, the band told The Korea Herald in an interview last week at a café in Itaewon. But if it hadn’t been for that shabby room, the sweltering heat and that tension between them

PerformanceJuly 10, 2016

The five-member K-pop band Big Bang will be included in Forbes’ 2016 Celebrity 100 issue, which analyzes and ranks the world’s top 100 highest-earning entertainers and celebrities. This will be the first time a K-pop group is featured on the annual list and Big Bang’s ranking position will be revealed when the list is announced on Tuesday.The band made $44 million in pretax earnings from June 2015 to June 2016, according to a recent Forbes article. This is over $10 million more than the annual i

PerformanceJuly 10, 2016

LONDON (AFP) – Britain’s thriving arts sector is in despair about the vote to leave the European Union, fearing that funding cuts and freedom of movement restrictions will have serious consequences.In the aftermath of last month’s referendum result, performers and fans at the Glastonbury festival formed a heart in a pro-EU flash mob while musicians gave a spontaneous performance of Beethoven's “Ode To Joy” -- Europe’s anthem -- in central London.“I had a horrible dream in which I found out on a

CultureJuly 10, 2016

PRAGUE (AFP) -- Hungarian film “It’s Not The Time Of My Life” won the top prize at the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary film festival on Saturday, the organizers said.The Crystal Globe award winner directed by Szabolcs Hajdu (“White Palms,” “Bibliotheque Pascal”) is a study of two families forced to share a flat. American actor Willem Dafoe, the star of “Platoon,” “Shadow of the Vampire” and “The Last Temptation of Christ,” received the Crystal Globe at the festival earlier on for his contribution

FilmJuly 10, 2016

LONDON (AP) -- Thousands of people have stripped naked and painted themselves in four shades of blue to celebrate the English city of Hull’s relationship with the sea. Hull City Council says some 3,200 people took part in the art installation, staged by New York artist Spencer Tunick on Saturday. The work is called “Sea of Hull” and was commissioned by the Ferens Art Gallery to mark the city’s celebration next year as the U.K. City of Culture.Tunick says the resulting photos incorporate some of

PerformanceJuly 10, 2016

AVIGNON, France (AFP) -- On paper it was already theatrical TNT. One of the hottest directors in the world and some of France’s greatest stage actors in a play warning about the slide into dangerous political populism.And “The Damned” has not disappointed.Ivo van Hove’s powerful adaptation of Luchino Visconti’s 1969 film about the insidious rise of fascism opened the Avignon festival in France last week to rave reviews, with critics from the right and left rising to hail it as “sublime, unforget

CultureJuly 10, 2016

Bastille Day Gourmet Dinner at Millennium Seoul HiltonMillennium Seoul Hilton’s French restaurant Seasons will present a Bastille Day Gourmet Dinner on July 14, in celebration of the French National Day.　The gala dinner will start with a welcome cocktail followed by a French-themed dinner paired with French wines.　The menu features a mixed platter of Alaskan King crab, oysters on ice, scallops with crunchy vegetables and sturgeon caviar sauce, and wagyu beef Wellington.　The gala dinner is priced

TravelJuly 8, 2016

If you look at food history and the culture of any country, the roots of their cuisine usually lie in local and naturally grown ingredients as well as seasonal and slow-food cooking methods. 　Whether you are in Italy or Mexico, or here in Korea, the backbone of traditional food rarely changes with time, keeping culinary history strong. 　At Seoil Farm, an organic working farm and education center in Anseong County, traditional methods of Korean cooking and preparation have been preserved in a bea

FoodJuly 8, 2016

　After nine years, Hollywood mega star Matt Damon is reprising his hit blockbuster role as the infamous memory-loss-stricken CIA assassin Jason Bourne in the franchise series’ upcoming film.　The upcoming “Jason Bourne” film marks the fourth installment of the popular Bourne series and is slated to hit local theaters on July 27. The movie comes nearly a decade after “The Bourne Ultimatum” and 14 years since the franchise’s first flick, “The Bourne Identity.”  Matt Damon (right) and “Jason Bourne”

FilmJuly 8, 2016

　DAEGU -- Launched on March 25, the foreigner-exclusive K-Travel Bus was rolled out by the Visit Korea Committee with one major aim – to showcase that there is more to Korea than the glitzy urban sprawl of Seoul. The travel bus began as part of the 2016-2018 “Visit Korea Year,” with the goal of attracting more than 20 million international tourists to Korea annually. With a large majority of travelers to Korea choosing to solely remain in the confines of the capital city, the Visit Korea Committ

TravelJuly 8, 2016

Another slice of timeless neo-soul　Maxwell“blackSUMMERS’night”　(Columbia)　Maxwell isn’t all that concerned with timeliness.　When the neo-soul pioneer launched his “BLACKsummers’night” trilogy in 2009, no one really expected him to take seven years to release the next installment. But the second part, “blackSUMMERS’night” (Columbia), is so sleek and well-crafted that it’s hard to complain.　The first single, “Lake by the Ocean,” is really the only track that seems touched by current sounds and sad

PerformanceJuly 8, 2016

The vine-swinging character of Tarzan first appeared on the silver screen nearly 100 years ago, in 1918. Which is perhaps why this 2016 reboot, “The Legend of Tarzan,” feels woefully out of touch. There’s only so much updating that can be done to an Edgar Rice Burroughs tale about an Englishman raised in the African jungles by gorillas, a wild man who communes with animals. And who, exactly, was clamoring for a reboot of this property?　Writers Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer have decided that the wa

FilmJuly 8, 2016

 　Seondal: The Man who Sells the River　(Korea)　Opened July 6　Historical, Adventure. Directed by Park Dae-min　　Charming, genius swindler Kim Seon-dal (Yoo Seung-ho) and his team of con artists (Ko Chang-seok, Ra Mi-ran, Xiumin) decide to steal a large batch of tobacco, a much-prized good in the Joseon era. 　　Finding Dory　(U.S.)　Opened July 6　Animation, Adventure. Directed by Andrew Stanton　　Dory, a comically amnesiac regal blue tang (Ellen DeGeneres), one day dreams about her parents and embarks

FilmJuly 8, 2016

Exhibitions　 Installation view of artist Gwon O-sang’s solo exhibition “New Structure and Relief” at the Arario Gallery in Seoul. (Arario Gallery)　“New Structure and Relief”: Artist Gwon O-sang, known for his sculptures made with photographs, is presenting his new series in a solo exhibition at Arario Gallery Seoul until Aug. 21. The artist presents his reinterpretation of Alexander Calder’s iconic stationary sculpture “Stabile” in his new series of photograph sculptures “New Structure” that con

PerformanceJuly 8, 2016

Without any warning, the humdrum of the most ordinary lives can come crashing down -- literally. This is the premise behind the much anticipated upcoming summer film “Tunnel,” starring actors Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doona and Oh Dal-su.Directed by Kim Seong-hun, “Tunnel” chronicles one man’s seemingly unending fight for survival after a tunnel crashes down as he is returning home. Played by Ha, who recently gained international recognition from the film “The Handmaiden,” the main character Lee Jung-soo

FilmJuly 7, 2016