Artist traces journey of light

A stream of light slides down an orange line until it meets a green cube and disperses, reflecting off a yellowish shine. On artist Choi Eun-hyea’s canvas, rigid cubes are softly highlighted and turned into something gentle and pastel-toned, almost mushy. Choi is showcasing drawings, paintings and installations that ponder the relationship between space, time and light at her first-ever solo show.

March 11, 2011

‘Home is near; but it is far … very far’

Co-production looks at the lives of Koreans living in Japan in the 1960sThe play “Yakiniku Dragon” is what you could call a masterpiece. Watching it is like reading a really good book in one sitting. Not only is the story itself genuine and well-organized but every detail of the play, including the witty lines and props, is very delicately knitted together so that the audience’s attention never wa

March 10, 2011

Santana shows Latin soul

Mexican-American guitarist’s performance fit for a legendCarlos Santana, the 63-year-old lead guitarist of rock band Santana, transcended all kinds of barriers ― including age, language and nationality ― during his live concert in Seoul on Wednesday evening.Appearing on the Olympic Gymnastics Gymnasium’s stage with his trademark black top hat, black adidas tracksuit bottoms and matching short-slee

March 10, 2011

From Paganini to Piazzola

Denis Sung-ho Janssens leads four string artists on ‘journey to the sun’Italian composer and violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) was also a guitarist, composing more than 100 songs for guitar. Paganini’s Sonata for Violin and Guitar in E minor became especially famous in Korea after it was used as background music in the 1995 SBS drama “Sandglass.”Korean-born Belgian guitarist Denis Sung-

March 9, 2011

Barakatt to stage romantic melodies

Program includes new song ‘He is from Seoul, She is from Pyongyang’Canadian pianist and composer Steve Barakatt said he will perform his song “He is from Seoul, She is from Pyongyang,” the No. 5 track of his new album “Someday, Somewhere,” at his upcoming concert in Seoul.Barakatt is scheduled to hold a “White Day” recital at the Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall on Sunday and Monday, as March 14 i

March 9, 2011

Hyun Bin and Song Hye-kyo confirm break-up

Korean star actors Hyun Bin and Song Hye-kyo ended their relationship earlier this year, it was revealed Tuesday. Hyun Bin’s entertainment agency, AM Entertainment released an official statement confirming the rumored breakup. (Yonhap News)The breakup announcement came one day after Hyun joined the Marines on Monday. The relationship between the two actors began to form in 2008 when they starred t

March 8, 2011

The show goes on

Two old friends to stage complete cycle of Beethoven’s violin sonatasThey’re old, but not in spirit. When talking about their passion for music, the two musicians’ eyes twinkle like stars. The 69-year-old violinist Kim Min, music director of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, had thought his most recent recital “My Life, My Music” at the Seoul Arts Center in 2008 would be his last stage performance. Bu

March 8, 2011

Cine France opens its spring line-up

To the joy of the many French movie fans in Korea, Cine France announced Tuesday the lineup for the March-April season, which is currently running at Dongsoong Art Center in Dongsung-dong, central Seoul.Organized by the French Embassy in Korea, the French Cultural Center and Jinjin Pictures, Cine France is a film screening event started in 2006 to introduce French movies to the Korean public. A sc

March 8, 2011

Korean movies top box office charts

South Korean movies have been dominating the country’s cinemas since the start of this year. The Korean Film Council announced on Monday that 8.48 million people watched Korean films at cinemas in February, accounting for 63 percent of all moviegoers. About 4.98 million watched foreign flicks. There were 520,000 more people in Korean movie audiences this January compared to the same month last yea

March 8, 2011

WWII sex slaves’ anguish on stage

Playwright Kim Hae-rry reworking her one-woman play for Korean audiencesAn old woman sits in her living-room drawing women’s faces. She wants to draw all the faces of Korea’s former sex slaves before she dies. She says, “I don’t want to try to forget anymore. I draw to remember.” So starts “Face” ― a multimedia play telling of the estimated 200,000 women forced to serve as so-called “comfort women

March 8, 2011

Africa ‘Oscar’ goes to incest movie from Morocco

OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) ― A Moroccan film about the incestuous rape of a young woman by her father who believes she is demon-possessed scooped the top honors at Africa’s biggest film festival.“Pegase” by Mohamed Mouftakir from Morocco, late Saturday won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, the grand prize of the Pan African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso’s desert capital Ouagadougou.

March 7, 2011

Photos to take you out of the city

Hong Mi-sun, Michael Kenna, Min Byung-hun showcase photos of natureThough many dream of taking time off work for several months or even years to travel the world, not many have the courage to do so. But for some lucky photographers, global travel even makes them a living. Three established photographers are holding solo exhibitions in Seoul to show beautiful photos of nature they took during their

March 7, 2011

Late actress was forced to provide sexual favors to 31 figures

A late rookie actress, who committed suicide in March 2009 after accusing her talent agency chief of abusing her, claimed in her posthumous letters disclosed by broadcaster SBS on Sunday that she was forced to entertain and provide sex services to 31 people about one hundred times.SBS disclosed letters supposedly written by the late actress Jang Ja-yeon claiming the sexual services she had to offe

March 7, 2011

World’s oldest civic orchestra returns to Seoul

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra to perform Dvorak violin concerto, Bruckner symphonyThe world’s oldest civic orchestra, which moved Korean hearts with its uniquely weighty sounds in 1995, is to return to Seoul with maestro Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly taking the helm Monday and Tuesday.The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra has its origins in “Grand Concert,” a concert society founded by 16 textile m

March 6, 2011

Justin Bieber’s hair sells for $40,688 on eBay

Fans can go crazy with their pop idols sometimes.This time, an ardent fan of pop star Justin Bieber got his hair. The Canadian pop singer’s hair has been sold for $40,688 on eBay, CBS News reported. The star had a hair cut the day after his 17th birthday and drew attention from many fans who described his new look as “Bieberish.” After the hair cut, he brought the lock of his hair in a box to “The

March 6, 2011

Box Office

Hanji (Korea)Opening March 17Drama. Directed by Im Kwon-taek. Documentary producer Ji-won (Kang Soo-yeon) is making a non-fiction film about hanji, Korea’s traditional handmade paper. While traveling across the country to film the paper of many different kinds, she runs into Pil-yong, (Park Joong-hoon) a low-grade public officer. Pil-yong is married to Hyo-gyeong (Ye Ji-won), who has been sufferin

March 4, 2011

How director Gore Verbinski wrangled ‘Rango’

“Animation isn’t a genre” like Westerns, film noir, romance or horror, Gore Verbinski was saying. “It’s just a technique for telling a story.”So when the man behind the hugely popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” series decided to make his first animated feature, his biggest concern wasn’t about the process of animation but about the process of storytelling.Verbinski, 46, could have stuck with the “

March 4, 2011