Moving picture of life and death in Pompeii at London exhibition

LONDON (Reuters) ― An exhibition showing daily life and tragic death in the ill-fated Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum opened in London on Thursday to glowing reviews and the highest advance tickets sales at the British Museum in five years.Over 450 objects, many of which haven’t been seen outside Italy, are arranged to show everyday life in the Roman Empire before Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, burying the two Southern Italian cities in volcanic ash. Paul Roberts, senior curator at t

April 1, 2013

Pianist-maestro keeps heart for chamber music

Even after the emergence of hundreds of new genres of music over the centuries, classical chamber music is still one of a kind. A small group of musicians with different musical instruments sit close to each other and perform in the intimate atmosphere of a relatively small venue. The audience can even hear the players’ breathing, the very detailed resonance of the strings and the sound of the piano pedals moving up and down. “I believe that chamber music was written as if a composer were confes

April 1, 2013

Suspended coffee: a gift for you and others

A warm, smooth cappuccino or latte is ideal for coping with mid-spring frosty winds. It warms you up, boosts energy and, more than anything, provides comfort in a hectic life. To share such a good feeling with the less wealthy, a number of cafe owners across Europe have joined the “suspended coffee” initiative.Suspended coffee is an extra coffee that one pays for in advance for someone in need. People participating in the initiative go to a coffeehouse, order their coffee and prepay for another

April 1, 2013

Calendar

Dance“Altar”: Fashion designer Jung Kuho is staging his second dance piece in April with the National Dance Company of Korea. Titled “Altar,” the dance is choreographed by local artist Ahn Sung-soo, who also choreographed the Korean National Ballet and Jung’s collaboration work “Poise” last year. Jung is directing the upcoming performance, and is in charge of the stage and costume design, music, hair and makeup, and lighting. In the center of the stage, a huge altar will be set serving as an art

March 29, 2013

Korea targets 16m tourists a year

The country’s tourism sector is targeted for a renewed boost under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s new five-year plan. With the goal of attracting 16 million foreign visitors to Korea annually by the year 2017, the ministry will implement a number of initiatives, including medical tourism clusters in Daegu and Osong, North Chungcheong Province, designed to utilize the two cities’ infrastructure as government-designated medical clusters. In its report to President Park Geun-hye on T

March 28, 2013

[Newsmaker] MBC chief faces music after disputes

Is he a martyr for the previous administration’s broadcasting policy or a tyrant facing the music for his authoritarianism?Kim Jae-chul, who resigned on Wednesday after being voted out as chief of the state-subsidized broadcasting network MBC on Tuesday by the board of the broadcaster’s majority shareholder, Foundation for Broadcast Culture, had been at the center of controversy from the day he took charge at MBC in February 2010. Kim’s appointment was labeled “Lee Myung-bak cronyism” as he had

March 27, 2013

Paper never looked so beautiful

The following is part of a series exploring unique museums, collections and the passionate collectors behind them. ― Ed.The wonders that can be created with something as seemingly simple as a piece of paper are awe-inspiring. Although paper is used in everyday life on such regular basis, its intrinsic and artistic value is oftentimes overlooked. Beyond its practical uses such as material for printing and jotting down notes, paper itself is actually a form of artistic expression. Despite the adva

March 26, 2013

A faithful servant to music

The viola, slightly larger than a violin and with a deeper sound, has always been overshadowed by its smaller, higher-profile cousin.In Korea, however, the viola enjoys as much fame as the violin, thanks to Richard Yongjae O’Neill. The 34-year-old musician has reportedly sold more than 150,000 viola recordings here and his concerts are almost always sold-out affairs. His impressive CV includes an Avery Fisher Career Grant and two Grammy nominations, performances with internationally renowned orc

March 26, 2013

‘Hotel’ offers the homeless experience

A Swedish “hotel” is offering customers the chance to sleep in “rooms” including a dirty mattress under a bridge and a sleeping bag in a public park.Faktum Hotels in Gothenburg said the $15-per-night accommodations, which it began offering in November, are designed to highlight the hardships facing the city‘s homeless population, The Local.se reported Monday.　“We asked several of our homeless contacts where they often slept, then we set up our rooms,” said Aaron Israelson, editor of Faktum magaz

March 26, 2013

Cho to head Korean Pavilion at 2014 Venice Biennale

Architect Cho Min-suk has been named the commissioner of the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014, the state cultural agency Arts Council of Korea announced on Monday. Cho will be in charge of selecting architects and planning the Korean Pavilion for the architecture exhibition. Cho runs his own architecture firm, Mass Studies in Korea. Its representative projects include the “Dalki Theme Park,” in Paju, “Nature Poem,” and “World Expo 2010 Shanghai: Korea Pavilion,” for which Cho received the

March 25, 2013

Webtoon artists given a new profit channel

NHN Corporation, operator of the country’s largest search engine Naver, introduced what is called a “page profit sharing,” or PPS, program to make its webtoon services more profitable for the writers. “PPS is a business package in which we introduce a revenue model to a webtoon page and share the profit with the author,” said Kim Joon-ku, director of Naver Books.Webtoon -- a series of comic strips published through the Internet -- was originally provided for free to local readers. PPS now allows

March 25, 2013

Tongyeong festival retains independent streak

The small South Gyeongsang Province city of Tongyeong was clearly in a festive mood Friday as its annual Tongyeong International Music Festival kicked off. The streets were adorned with flags and signboards about the event and local merchants were busy selling delicacies and other goods to mark one of the most celebrated festivals for contemporary classical music in Asia. Students and young artists gathered at the city’s port and enjoyed free performances that were held as part of a fringe festi

March 24, 2013

Vivienne Westwood outshines Handel at ‘Semele Walk’

Semele Walk, the opening piece for the Tongyeong International Music Festival featured on Friday evening in its Asian premiere, was as strong as it could get from the beginning. Musicians loosely holding their instruments in rainbow-colored hair and dark eyeliner with funky garments appeared on the catwalk and seated at the front row. As soon as the orchestra started playing the quintessential Baroque tunes of the great George Friedrich Handel, flocks of models sashayed the catwalk, flaunting th

March 24, 2013

‘Book of Mormon’ already breaks record in London

NEW YORK (AP) ― The seemingly unstoppable hit “The Book of Mormon’’ has broken another record ― this time on the oter side of the Atlantic. The quirky, profane musical opened Thursday night to some critical bashing, but the next day earned the highest one-day gross in London theater history. Between 10 a.m. and midnight Friday, 2.1 million pounds ($3.2 million) worth of tickets were sold at the box office, according to final figures. By comparison, the Broadway version only earned $1.5 million t

March 24, 2013

The modern library revolution

In today’s increasingly digital world, collecting and enjoying books may seem outdated. Nonetheless, many still remain attached to paper books as they allow for a “comprehensive” experience. “I love the feeling of turning the pages, which is a special experience. Paper books will always be closer to my heart,” said Chung Hye-sun, a 34-year-old office worker. In order to survive in the digital era, many libraries are specializing, devoting their shelves to a specific category or language, for exa

March 22, 2013