A building by the renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta on Jeju Island is being torn down this week, ending months-long debate on whether to preserve or demolish the building. The building named “Casa del Agua,” meaning the House of Water in Spanish, was originally built in 2009 to function as a temporary model house for a hotel and condominium resort in Jungmun Tourist Complex in Seogwipo, Jeju. Legorreta, who died at 80 in 2011, won several prestigious architecture awards including the

Culture March 7, 2013

Actress Koo Hye-sun has been invited to showcase her paintings at an art fair in Hong Kong in May. According to her agency YG Entertainment, Koo will participate in the Hong Kong Contemporary from May 24-27. Koo is the second Korean celebrity artist to have been invited to the art event following actor and artist Ha Jung-woo last year.  Koo held her first exhibition in 2009 in Seoul and has been active in the field ever since.At Hong Kong Contemporary, she is expected to showcase 10 to 15 pieces

People March 7, 2013

The question viewers ask in front of artist Han Sung-pil’s photographs and video works is simple ― is it real or fake? In Han’s photographs, two different worlds coexist in one place, leaving viewers looking hard to distinguish which image is real, and which is manipulated.An image of a bird and the blue sky that is actually painted on a huge water tank the artist found on Jeju Island blends well into the real natural landscape of Jeju. His solo exhibition at Arario Gallery in Seoul presents aro

Performance March 6, 2013

Visitors to contemporary art exhibitions are often left feeling clueless at the end of a viewing. Unless guided tours are offered, a majority of them just remember bits of images that seem impressive to them without fully comprehending the meanings and intentions of the artists. The exhibition at the Samsung Art Museum Plateau, surrounded by office buildings in central Seoul, asks viewers to pay extra attention to understand the meaning of artworks by Korean contemporary artist Gim Hong-sok. The

Performance March 5, 2013

Sungkok Art Museum has taken up the role of showcasing regional art and artists that have largely escaped public interest for years. “Major galleries paid greater interest to regional arts in the 1980s, inviting artists for exhibitions, but such exhibitions are rarely held now,” said Park Cheon-nam, head of curators at Sungkok Art Museum, at the opening reception last Friday. “We don’t see exhibitions that look deep into regional artists and their art world although many parts of the country are

Performance March 4, 2013

Hydrofluoric acid was allegedly leaked Saturday evening from the LG Siltron plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, according to police. The leakage was reported to local authorities on Sunday morning, 16 hours after the initial leak was detected at 8:34 p.m. on Saturday, raising suspicions of a cover up. According to police, some 30 to 60 liters of mixed hydrofluoric, nitric and acetic acid was leaked from the Gumi plant 2 of LG Siltron, a producer of wafers used in semiconductor manufacturin

Social Affairs March 3, 2013

With architecture more commonly associated with engineering than art, exhibitions devoted to architects are still rare.But two exhibitions in Seoul focus on architects whose backgrounds as artists gave them a unique approach. The exhibition at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea sheds light on the life of Chung Gu-yon, who died of cancer in 2011. The first public exhibition of the archives of Chung since his death features about 2,000 items including his sketches, journals and books t

Performance March 3, 2013

Busan’s new affluent and luxury district of Marine City welcomed newcomer Park Hyatt Busan this week. Located adjacent to Haeundae Beach, the 33-story hotel features 269 guestrooms, including 69 suites, and restaurants, meeting facilities, spa and fitness centers. Designed by the world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, the hotel adds to the dynamic landscape of Busan with its curved shape representing ocean waves.  The interior design by the Japanese design firm Super Potato creates a modern

Travel Feb. 28, 2013

BUSAN ― Busan has often been associated with its popular fish market Jagalchi Market and the rows of stalls offering fresh sashimi. But South Korea’s second-largest city is also enhancing its glamorous image, defined by upscale high-rise developments and luxury hotels.Marine City is changing Busan’s landscape with high-rise developments and affluent districts being established on the southern coast of the city. According to a recent local news report, about 50-60 percent of Busan’s wealthy are f

Travel Feb. 28, 2013

The spring/summer collection by Christian Dior’s new artistic director Raf Simons is on view in Seoul. The French fashion house set up an in-store pop-up unit at multi-brand shop My Boon in Cheongdam-dong. The display presents Simons’ first ready-to-wear spring/summer collection for Christian Dior. The collection focuses on the structured silhouette of Dior’s iconic “bar” jacket and hyper-feminine take on tailoring. Dior’s “bar” suit, introduced in 1947, dubbed the “New Look” at the time, featur

Culture Feb. 27, 2013

Artday, a sister company of The Korea Herald, will hold a spring auction that presents a variety of contemporary art by Korean artists. It features about 130 paintings by established artists, including Chon Kyung-ja, Lee Dae-won, Kim Jong-hak, Oh Yoon, Oh Chi-gyun, and Kim Jeom-seon. Online bidding is possible at the Artday website (www.artday.co.kr) or through the “Artday” mobile application, which provides real-time information on auction status.The highlight of the exhibition is Lee Dae-won’s

Performance Feb. 26, 2013

India has dispatched police officers for tourists in most of its states and plans to launch a help line from which tourists can seek help in emergency situations, according to India’s secretary of tourism. A series of highly publicized rape cases, including the alleged drug rape of a 23-year-old Korean woman and the death of a 23-year-old Indian woman after a gang rape on a bus in south Delhi last December, has raised questions about the safety of female travelers in India.“We are very much conc

Travel Feb. 25, 2013

Music performances will add to the celebratory mood of the presidential inauguration ceremony on Monday. Singers, musicians and comedians will perform before thousands of people invited to the inauguration ceremony in the morning. K-pop sensation Psy and boy group JYJ will be among the entertainers who will help fire up the festive mood.  Soprano Sumi Jo will also take the center stage, singing the national anthem with baritone Choi Hyun-soo during the event at which Park Geun-hye will be sworn

Culture Feb. 24, 2013

Sixty-five-year-old antique collector Lee Seong-wook is a regular visitor to the Itaewon antique furniture street. Lee, who has been collecting antiques as a hobby since he was a young man, said the story that each piece told drew him to the antiques. “I can have a silent conversation with them. I am attracted to the story of each piece and its rarity,” said Lee, who was shopping at the Antique Village Gulliver, one of the antique shops in the foreigner-dense district of downtown Seoul. On the o

Culture Feb. 22, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO ― There are two Chinatowns in San Francisco, one where tourists can buy conical straw hats and tacky souvenirs, and a second where the locals live, shop and eat.There are no defined boundaries ― you don’t cross a street and step from Tourist Chinatown to Authentic Chinatown. Rather, the two overlap. A visitor can leave a neon-lit store, loaded down with bamboo back scratchers and plastic Buddhas, and a half-block away turn down a dingy alley dotted with shops and businesses where n

Travel Feb. 22, 2013