The Korea Herald

Don Giovanni meets austere Italy at La Scala opening

Dec. 8, 2011

Craft fair looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary

The nation’s biggest craft fair kicks off its four-day run on Dec. 15 at COEX Hall C in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by Korea Craft & Design Foundation, the annual “Craft Trend Fair” has, over the years, become an important event for craft-lovers. This is the sixth year of the fair which attracts about 600 artisans and more than 30,000 visitors each year. This year’s theme is “Extraordinary.” “The Craft Trend Fair will shed n

Dec. 8, 2011

Craft fair looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary

Kazak, Philippines teams bag grand prize at K-pop festival

21 teams from 16 countries compete in ChangwonCHANGWON, South Gyeongsang ― A petite singer from the Philippines and a duo from Kazakhstan won the grand prizes at the 2011 K-pop World Festival Wednesday, where 10 teams from all over the world performed songs by their favorite Korean idols. Karla Carreon from the Philippines and JAM from Kazakhstan bested teams that had flown to the southeastern city of Changwon from Peru, Vietnam, Japan, China, Indonesia, Britain, Russia, the United States and mo

Dec. 8, 2011

Kazak, Philippines teams bag grand prize at K-pop festival

CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang ― A petite singer from the Philippines and a duo from Kazakhstan won the grand prizes at the 2011 K-pop World Festival Wednesday, where 10 teams from all over the world performed songs by their favorite Korean idols. Karla Carreon from the Philippines and JAM from Kazakhst

Dec. 8, 2011

KF to hold concert for 20th anniversary

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Korea Foundation is holding a special winter concert titled “Friends of Korea Foundation.”The concert, to be held at Seoul Arts Center’s concert hall on Dec. 12, will feature some of the nation’s top classical musicians, including pianist Shin Soo-jung, cellist Yang Sung-won, ensemble MIK and violinist Kwon Hyuk-joo. The Korean Chamber Orchestra, which received long-time support from the foundation, will perform Mendelssohn’s Symphony for Strings N

Dec. 7, 2011

Plagiarism or parody?

Critics argue that it is up to artists’ conscience South Korean artist Kwon Kyung-yup was recently shocked to find out that works very similar to hers were on sale in Singapore. A foreigner who came across an Indonesian artist’s solo exhibition in August at Art Front Gallery in Singapore sent an e-mail to Kwon to fill her in on the news. In the show, Indonesian artist Dani King Heriyanto’s 2011 painting “Bandage” featured a girl wearing a hoodie and a bandage over her eye just like Kwon’s 2009 w

Dec. 7, 2011

Lady Gaga discusses bullying at White House

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Lady Gaga visited the White House on Tuesday to discuss bullying prevention.The pop singer met with Obama administration staffers on the issue and afterward, Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett praised the star as “a source of strength for many young people who feel isolated and scared at their schools.’’“Lady Gaga has described this cause as a personal one ― she has said that as a child, she was often picked on for being different,’’ Jarrett wrote in a blog post on the White

Dec. 7, 2011

Strong sales shine on Art Basel Miami Beach

MIAMI (AFP) ― Tough economic times around the world did not stop European and Latin American collectors from snapping up works at Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest art fair of its kind in the United States.The 10th edition of the event in Miami Beach wrapped up Sunday on a sunny note.“I heard estimates as high as a billion dollars in art sales, which would be wonderful. We were just reaching, we were on the genesis of what this will be. It’s bigger every year,” said Florida Republican senator M

Dec. 6, 2011

Scottish installation artist Boyce wins Turner Prize

LONDON (AFP) ― Scottish artist Martin Boyce, whose works include a modernist reworking of a library table and artificial trees, on Monday won Britain’s Turner Prize at a ceremony in Gateshead, north-east England.On picking up the 25,000 pound ($39,100) award at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, 44-year-old Boyce paid tribute to his parents and highlighted the importance of teachers in light of the government’s spending cuts.The Turner is regarded as the art world’s most edgy prize, but the

Dec. 6, 2011

Scottish installation artist Boyce wins Turner Prize

Looted Korean royal texts return home

Nearly 1,200 documents taken by Japan during colonial period arrive in SeoulKorea celebrated the return of nearly 1,200 ancient documents looted by the Japanese during its 1910-1945 colonial rule, with welcoming ceremonies at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday.The books, including some 150 copies of Uigwe ― Joseon’s royal texts ― arrived in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon, on two separate Korean Air flights. Each aircraft carried about 600 copies. Members of the Cultural Heritage Administratio

Dec. 6, 2011

Lee Hyori ordered to compensate Internet shopping mall

South Korea's pop diva Lee Hyori and her agency have been ordered to pay nearly 200 million won ($176,700) in compensation to an Internet shopping mall after the firm's commercials featuring the star became unusable, a Seoul court said Tuesday. (Yonhap News)The Seoul Central District Court said it d

Dec. 6, 2011

Lee Hyori ordered to compensate Internet shopping mall

Clinton flies home to fete Kennedy Center honorees

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined in celebrating the top artists receiving the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday while home for less than 36 hours between diplomatic travels.Between her historic visit to Myanmar and a trip to Germany to discuss Afghanistan’s future, Clinton hosted a dinner Saturday for some big names from Broadway, jazz, pop, classical music and Hollywood. On Sunday, Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins and Meryl Streep will also be

Dec. 5, 2011

Ma, Diamond, Streep receive Kennedy Center Honors

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Meryl Streep may have her next film assignment and Neil Diamond thanked the namesake of his famous tune “Sweet Caroline’’ as they joined other luminaries from Broadway, jazz and classical music Sunday to receive the Kennedy Center Honors.Broadway singer Barbara Cook, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins were among several to receive the top award for those who have influenced American culture through the arts.Caroline Kennedy, who hosts the show as part of

Dec. 5, 2011

Madonna to perform at Super Bowl halftime

NEW YORK (AP) -- Madonna will be taking the stage on U.S. football‘s biggest night, the Super Bowl.The National Football League and NBC announced Sunday night that the Grammy Award-winning singer will highlight the Feb. 5 show, which is the most-watched musical event of the year. More than 162 million in the U.S. tuning in to see The Black Eyed Peas’ performance with Slash and Usher last February.Madonna, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has sold more than 300 million records, will join s

Dec. 5, 2011

Photographers bring their wars to New York’s Bronx

NEW YORK (AFP) ― After dangerous, dusty assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan, photographer Michael Kamber has chosen a tough area of New York City as the new backdrop for his interest in war.The award-winning journalist recently opened a gallery in the Bronx, the first in the borough, and he hopes that his gesture will both help photographers and build bridges with a neighborhood that, while not at war, certainly knows the harder side of life.The Bronx Documentary Center’s inaugural exhibition fo

Dec. 5, 2011

Amsterdam museum identifies new Rembrandt painting

THE HAGUE (AFP) ― A painting by Rembrandt that had long been attributed to one of his school is in fact by the 17th-century Dutch master himself, the Rembrandthuis museum in Amsterdam said Friday.“We are 100 percent sure now that we can attribute the painting to Rembrandt,” Leslie Schwartz, a museum spokeswoman, told AFP.She said the painting called “Old Man with a Beard” had up to now been attributed to “an associate.”The 18.5-centimeter by 17-centimeter oil painting was done around 1630, at th

Dec. 5, 2011

MOCA sheds light on donors

Exhibition at National Museum of Contemporary Art features donated artwork; museum vows to better manage donations The National Museum of Contemporary Art kicked off on Monday an exhibition highlighting its donors, an unprecedented move in the museum’s history.The exhibition “Beautiful Encounter: Selected Gifts from the Collection,” currently held at MOCA in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, showcases 270 among the total 3,045 donated works in the museum’s collection. The museum also invited about 15

Dec. 5, 2011

U.S. investigates forgery of modern art: report

NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. federal authorities are investigating whether paintings and drawings sold by elite New York art dealers as the work of Modernist masters are in fact fakes, The New York Times reported Saturday.The pieces purported to be by artists like Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollock, sold for up to $17 million apiece, were purchased through Glafira Rosales, a little-known art dealer claiming the works were obtained by a secret collector, the Times said.Some of the works were then sol

Dec. 4, 2011

LatAm collectors shop for deals at Art Basel Miami

MIAMI (AFP) ― Latin Americans who sell or collect top notch contemporary art are key players in the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest art fair of its kind in the United States.Thousands of art lovers, collectors and gallery operators from all over the world filled the Miami Beach Convention Center in a frenzied opening Thursday that recalled last week’s Black Friday shopping binge.“I want to buy a sculpture by a young Korean woman who is promising and spectacular,” said Ana Rosa

Dec. 4, 2011

LatAm collectors shop for deals at Art Basel Miami

National Gugak Center to perform in Paris, Berlin

The National Gugak Center will perform Korea’s celebrated traditional music “Yeongsanhoesang” in Berlin and Paris on Wednesday. The center previously held a concert featuring the same music at La Maison des Cultures du Monde in Paris and at Tempodrom, a major venue in Berlin, on Sunday. The upcoming concerts on Wednesday will take place at the same venues in Paris and Berlin.The featured piece is believed to have been written as a Buddhist piece during Korea’s Goryeo period (918-1392), or even b

Dec. 4, 2011

National Gugak Center to perform in Paris, Berlin