Jon Dunbar is a copy editor at The Korea Times, as well as editor of the Foreign Community page and curator of the Korea Times Archive. If you have suggestions for possible articles, or wish to contribute articles yourself, contact jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr.
3rd Seoul Culture Club showcase to feature 19 diverse artists
Participants in Seoul Culture Club pose together on the stage at Eulji Space in downtown Seoul, Sunday, ahead of their performance next weekend. Courtesy of Antonia Giordano
By Jon Dunbar
Seoul Culture Club, a festival of diverse performing arts, is back for the third time this Friday to Sunday at downtown Seoul's Eulji Space.
The event will offer music and dance, theater and art, poetry and magic, separated into four different shows. Under the theme "Here's a toast to all those who..." the four shows are being called "toasts." Each offers a different lineup of seven acts, with 19 overall acts performing in the four toasts.
"We just had a lot of people that showed interest, so ended up with more performers than before and got creative with the structure," said Conan, one of the co-founders of Seoul Culture Club. "Last year, we had 10 performers in the June show and nine in the November one."
Kate McDowell, a returning performer and also a co-producer this time around, added, “We’re really excited about our diverse and growing community of artists, and the opportunity to connect and interact with the audience and the world in new ways.”
Jessica Ko / Courtesy of Seo Han-bom
The list of performers includes hip-hop artists Jessica Ko and Lotus Root, folk musician Seth Mountain and Lee Jung-min, who will sing Filipino love songs in Tagalog. The British-American duo Erin & Gaia will sing traditional Korean "minyo" songs and play traditional drums, and sayn + Jii will perform songs blending Korean traditional music and hip-hop.
Seth Mountain plays the banjo at Baekusaeng Makgeolli brewpub in western Seoul's Ahyeon Market, Dec. 17, 2023. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Other musicians performing include singer-guitarist Lilia, singer-keyboardist Avocado Allergy who will play songs that are "somehow both somber and witty," artist K-KO who will introduce her art and sing, Kim Tae Hyun, Young_An and Mexican musician Arantza Vazquez.
There will be a dance performance by Kyle James Abraham who will perform a piece that "investigates vacillating feelings of connection and isolation." Marcia will perform a combination of movement and self-narrative poetry, as a “toast to all the bodies I’ve been.” And Kim Ye-rin will perform a movement + monologue piece about "the beauty of doing things slowly."
There are also several non-musical performers, including magician and mindreader Kim Ji-wan and photo artist Bereket Alemayehu who will provide a photography-based narrative "based on his experience with a particular object in Korea." Kelly will perform a monologue titled "Pain Divine," and Haewon Park will do a monologue performance "based on other people's stories of personal struggle and wounded relationships."
Ethiopian "photo patternist" Bereket Alemayehu poses with one of his pieces at the closing party for "The Dreaming Tree" group exhibition in Eulji Space, May 11. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Between the Toasts, there will also be free shows held in The Attic, the art gallery space on the fifth floor. There will be a Turkish traditional live-painting performance by Serkan on Saturday afternoon between the second and third Toasts. And singer-songwriter jina0king will provide a live sound-and-performance art piece before the fourth Toast.
In addition, Eulji Space will host Earthling's Art Market, an arts-and-crafts market for independent artists and creators to showcase and sell their creations. The market will be open from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Singer-songwriter jina0king performs at Southside Parlor in central Seoul's Itaewon area, Oct. 8, 2023, during Block Party 2023. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
There will also be an after-party each evening at On the Move, the fifth-floor rooftop bar of the space. DJ Konrad will perform at the Saturday party, and singer-songwriter and theater artist Lee Earth will perform on Sunday.
Tickets to each Toast cost 20,000 won, with a 50 percent discount available to anyone who comes to an additional Toast.
Participants in Seoul Culture Club pose together on the stage at Eulji Space in downtown Seoul, Sunday, ahead of their performance next weekend. Courtesy of Antonia Giordano
Visit euljispace.com for more information or follow @seoul.culture.club on Instagram.