Pianist Kim Tae-hyung and members of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in a concert featuring chamber music pieces composed by Russian composers on Aug. 24 at the Sejong Chamber Hall in Seoul. Chamber pieces by Rachmaninoff, Medtner and Tchaikovsky will be performed under the title of “Russian Romantics,” with Rachmaninoff’s Trio Elegiaque for violin, cello and piano No. 1 in G minor opening the concert. Pianist Kim with violinist Kim Deok-woo and cellist Kim So-yeon, both of the SPO

Performance Aug. 13, 2018

Ki Joo-bong won the best actor award at the 2018 Locarno Film Festival that ended Saturday.He won the prize for his performance in Hong Sang-soo’s 2018 film “Hotel by the River.” Ki is a veteran actor of some 40 years, who has performed onstage and starred in films and TV shows. Ki Joo-bong poses with the award for best actor during the 71st Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland, Saturday. (EPA-Yonhap)In the film, Ki played the role of poet Young-wan, who has taken up resid

Film Aug. 12, 2018

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Seoul branch will launch an exhibition of the 2018 Korea Artist Prize candidates Saturday, featuring works by four candidates selected earlier this year.The Korea Artist Prize, launched in 2012, offers financial support and exhibition opportunities to promising Korean artists. The four artist candidates selected for this year’s prize are Siren Eun-young Jung, Gu Min-ja, Okin Collective and Jung Jae-ho. Upon being selected as candidates, the ar

Arts & Design Aug. 9, 2018

Museums are more than exhibition spaces for art these days, as they increasingly add various kinds of live performances to attract more visitors, as well as to offer a better museum experience. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Seoul branch, for example, is hosting ballet performances and lectures from Friday to Saturday. Members of the Korea National Ballet perform at an outdoor space at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Seoul branch (MMCA)Members from the

Arts & Design Aug. 8, 2018

Dark-colored columns and planes lie on giant linen and cotton canvases. Upon a close look, one can see the gradation of colors on the rough textures of the canvases. Late monochrome painter Yun Hyong-keun’s paintings are a result of hardships and emotions that grew out of suffering. As in Mark Rothko’s paintings, Yun’s works, too, evoke religious and mythical stirrings in the viewers. Perhaps, Yun’s paintings appear imbued with grimmer emotions. Artist Yun Hyong-keun (MMCA)The National Museum of

Arts & Design Aug. 7, 2018

Artist and photographer Coco Capitan’s solo exhibition in Seoul comes across as rather straightforward, but still raises certain questions, perhaps because the artist crosses boundaries between art and commercialism with no reserve.Via her collaboration with Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director, photographer Coco Capitan earned international recognition in the industry. Coco Capitan’s 2015 work “Hasta La Vista” (Courtesy of the artist)The Spanish-born and now London-based Capitan has br

Arts & Design Aug. 6, 2018

Kallaci String Quartet now has a new member on the violin, a position left vacant for two years following the unexpected death of violinist Kwun Hyuk-joo. Since Kwun’s passing, the group had been inviting guest violinists to perform with it.Now, with violinist Kang Su-yeon as a new member, the Kallaci String Quartet will hold a concert at Kumho Art Hall on Aug. 30.From left: violinist Kang Su-yeon, violinist Jang Yoo-jin, violist Lee Han-na and cellist Shim Joon-ho perform at Kumho Art Hall in D

Performance Aug. 3, 2018

The Lindenbaum Festival Orchestra will hold a peace-promoting concert at Camp Greaves, a former military base in the northernmost area of South Korea, just 2 kilometers from the Demilitarized Zone, in collaboration with members from the Yale Symphony Orchestra and young musicians from around the globe. Led by violinist and artistic director Won Hyung-joon, the festival orchestra is a project orchestra formed in 2009 with hopes to create a joint South-North orchestra. It holds a concert at the ca

Performance Aug. 1, 2018

Pianist Lim Dong-hyek will perform in a series of chamber music concerts in August, starting with a performance with the rising Veits Quintet on Aug. 14 at the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul.Established in 2012, Veits Quintet is a Berlin-based ensemble group of young artists who are currently performing at prestigious orchestras in Europe. The members are flutist Cho Sung-hyun, oboist Ham Kyeong, clarinetist Kim Han, Portugese hornist Ricardo Silva and bassoonist Rie Koyama.Veits Quintet received i

Performance July 31, 2018

The late artist Bahc Yi-so’s career was short-lived. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 47, two decades after launching his career in New York in 1984. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Gwacheon branch is holding a retrospective exhibition that highlights works of Bahc, as well as an archive of materials he left behind.“Bahc Yi-so: Memos and Memories,” the artist’s first-ever posthumous solo exhibition at the MMCA Gwacheon branch, makes extensive use of archive materials

Arts & Design July 30, 2018

People often write journals not just to record the daily grind but to look back and understand various encounters, experiences and phenomena.Titled “Jet Lagged,” the latest exhibition at Arario Gallery’s Ryse Hotel branch is an exhibition that presents works of young artists striving to find their way in their cultural, historical and personal surroundings.Opened on July 19, “Jet Lagged” is a group exhibition featuring four Asian artists: Indonesian artist Jompet Kuswidananto, Chinese artist Zhu

Arts & Design July 29, 2018

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- The 2018 Pyeongchang Music Festival is a great chance to hear versatile violinist Clara-Jumi Kang. She will appear as a chamber music member on one occasion, as a concertmaster of an orchestra on another day and then -- of course -- as a soloist.She might have been tired from the previous night’s performance, but she appeared to be in high spirits while talking about music. “I think I have this mode that gets switched on when I am participating in a festival like

Performance July 26, 2018

‘Scenes of National Division: Panmunjom and DMZ’By Kim Nyung-man Yoonjin (288 pages, 45,000 won) Friday marks the 65th year since the two Koreas signed the armistice that brought the 1950-1953 Korean War to a halt. Photographer Kim Nyung-man’s “Scenes of National Division: Panmunjom and DMZ” is a 288-page book that was released on July 15 amid hope that the current warming of relations between South and North Korea would lead to lasting peace.  Documentary photographer Kim Nyung-man‘s 2017 photo

Books July 26, 2018

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Pianist Son Yeol-eum, the new artistic director of the Pyeongchang Music Festival, appeared nervous but excited to see the very first concert she has devoted herself to. The Korea Herald met the artistic director Wednesday at the convention center near the Alpensia Concert Hall and Music Tent. “It’s unbelievable. I had doubted this day would ever come, but here I am, feeling nervous yet excited. The only thing I am very certain of is that the performances will be

Performance July 25, 2018

Artist Hong Sung-dam was on the Park Geun-hye administration’s blacklist of artists, which included a total of 9,473 names that were to be excluded from receiving state funds or support.His controversial painting “Sewol Owol” is now being shown for the first time in Seoul at Insa Art Center, as part of his solo exhibition “Sewol Owol and Candlelight,” which opened Thursday. Artist Hong Sung-dam explains a painting based on the first summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Ki

Arts & Design July 24, 2018