Enjoying cultural life in the city

By Yun Suh-young

For those who are planning to stay in Seoul during the especially long Lunar New Year’s holiday, don’t fret about finding things to do because there are plenty of cultural activities to enjoy in the city. Here are some exhibitions, musicals and plays W recommends.

Exhibitions

Space Life: NASA recorded images

Those who have enjoyed watching Interstellar or Gravity might marvel at this exhibition.

The nation’s largest space-related photo exhibition opened at the Ilmin Museum in Seoul on Feb. 6 and will run through May 17.

It features 84 images recorded by NASA and 31 pieces of art related to space by contemporary artists.

The exhibition recalls the timeline of how humans adjusted to the order of the universe. The purpose is to examine the diverse representations of the universe through recorded images and learn about science technology through modern art.

A docent program is offered twice a day at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

For more information, call (02) 2020-2050.

Nam June Paik Solo Exhibition

The Nam June Paik Solo Exhibition will be Hakgojae Gallery’s first exhibition this year. It features 12 pieces of work by Paik that were shown in the Shanghai and Hangzhou exhibitions last year.

The piece titled “W3” is his most representative work that portrays the artist’s prediction of the idealistic future media environment. “W3” refers to World Wide Web.

The exhibition runs through March 15. For more information, call (02) 720-1524~6.

Millet, Barbizon and Fontainebleau

An art exhibition showcasing Millet’s works will be held at the Seoul Olympic Museum of Art located at the Olympic Park until May 10.

The exhibition was put together by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston over the past four years through extensive research and planning to celebrate the 200th year of Jean-François Millet's birth (1814-1875).

The Korea exhibition is the finale of “Millet, Barbizon and Fontainebleau” which has been showcased throughout North America and Japan.

It features pieces from the Boston museum which has the greatest number of Millet's artwork than anywhere else in the world.

For more information, call 1544-1555 or visit www.milletseoul.com.

Musicals

Once

“Once,” a musical based on the eponymous indie film released in 2006 in Ireland, is a story of a street guitarist and Czech immigrant flower vendor’s serendipitous encounter. The beautifully composed music is key to the musical’s rise to fame.

“Falling Slowly,” has gained huge popularity over the years. The film and musical won both Oscar and Tony awards.

The Korean version of the musical runs through March 29 at the CJ Towol Theater at the Seoul Arts Center. The musical is also being held simultaneously in England and the United States.

For more information, call 1544-1555.

Jekyll and Hyde

The musical “Jekyll and Hyde” is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and will run through April 5 at the Blue Square Hall in Hannam-dong, Seoul.

Based on the eponymous novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert L. Stevenson in 1886, the story questions the duality of human nature.

The musical premiered in 1997 in Broadway and was performed in over 10 countries including Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Italy.

For more information, call 1588-5212.

Notre Dame de Paris

The French original tour of the world-famous French musical “Notre Dame de Paris” will run through Feb.27 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul.

This is the first original world tour in 10 years since the French team visited Seoul in 2005. At the time, the musical drew the largest number of spectators in the shortest period of time, gathering huge media attention.

The French original version of the musical had been temporarily suspended from performance until now.

Based on the eponymous novel by Victor Hugo, the story is about how a priest, a captain and a hunchbacked bell-ringer of a cathedral all having complicated feelings toward gypsy woman Esmeralda.

For more information, call 02-541-6236.

Kinky Boots

The Broadway musical “Kinky Boots,” which recently won a Grammy Awards for best musical album, is on a run until Feb. 22 at the Chungmu Art Hall. It is the first overseas licensed performance of the musical.

The plot is inspired by a true story, produced as a film in 2005, about a struggling British shoe factory owner, Charlie, who meets Lola, a drag queen, and starts making custom footwear for drag queens and eventually saves his business.

The music and lyrics are by Tony and Grammy award-winner Cyndi Lauper.

For more information, call 1577-3363.

Play

Harold and Maude

“Harold and Maude,” a play based on the eponymous novel by Colin Higgins published in 1971, will run through March 1 at the National Theater of Korea’s “Dal” hall in Jangchoong-dong, Seoul.

The Broadway play, first introduced in 1980, discusses what true happiness means.

The play is about a 19-year-old (Harold) who yearns for death and attempts suicide, finding the meaning of life after meeting an 80-year-old woman (Maude) who is always cheerful and full of life.