The Korea Herald

TVXQ holds 'fan meeting' in Taiwan

The Korean pop music group TVXQ has successfully finished its first event for Taiwanese fans in three years, the group's entertainment agency said Monday. TVXQ SM EntertainmentAbout 10,000 fans attended the two "fan meeting" events held at "Taipei Show Hall 2" in the Taiwanese capital on Sunday, SM

Dec. 12, 2011

Variety spice of life for ‘The Nutcracker’

Top ballet companies and Hyundai Capital stage different versions of season’s favorite performanceRegardless of what genre it is adapted to, “The Nutcracker” has been a Christmas season favorite for a long time. This year is no exception. Seoul’s three top ballet companies and Hyundai Capital are staging the show, each with their own unique interpretation.Universal Ballet Company is getting ready to attract fans with its best-selling adaption of “The Nutcracker” from Dec. 21 to 31 at Universal

Dec. 11, 2011

Variety spice of life for ‘The Nutcracker’

Highlight

Classical Music“Seoul String Quartet”: This group, which led the Korean chamber music performances in the 1950s and ‘60s, will hold a concert on Dec. 18 to celebrate its comeback. The new members, star violinists Wayne Lin and Shin A-rah, violist Huang Hung-wei and cellist Park Sang-min, will play Mozart’s String Quartet No. 21, Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 3. Lin, a former member of Juliard Orhestra and the Yale Philharmonic, currently leads the first fi

Dec. 9, 2011

Korean art dealer tapped to serve at H.K. arts council

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― A South Korean businesswoman has been appointed to serve at a Hong Kong government-related body aimed at developing the arts, officials said Wednesday, marking the first time a South Korean national has held such a position.Moon Eun-myung, founder of the Hong Kong-based Moon Gallery started her term as an examiner for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council on Dec. 1, according to the council. Her term lasts until April 30, 2014.The ADC is a statutory body set up by the

Dec. 8, 2011

Korean art dealer tapped to serve at H.K. arts council

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