Around Town 2

Club Octagon

Nonhyeon

Near the New Hilltop Hotel in Nonhyeon, this club is notable for its stylish interior and elite clientele. The venue offers a club stage, lounge bar and dining area to satisfy any night out after work or on the weekend. Near exit 4 of Hakdong Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 516-8847.

Club Volume

Itaewon

Offering a venue for specially-themed weekly events and world-class DJs, Club Volume is located in the Crown Hotel near Noksapyeong Station. Club Volume was listed by Time magazine among the "10 things to do in 24 hours in Seoul." For more information, call 1544-2635.

Once in a Blue Moon

Apgujeong

Once in a Blue Moon is one of the best known and well established jazz clubs in the city. It features live jazz sets from two different bands every night, usually starting at 7:30 p.m. It is located between the Hakdong intersection and Galleria department stores in the posh district of Apgujeong. For more information, call (02) 549-5490 or visit www.onceinabluemoon.co.kr.

Club Answer

Cheongdam

Club Answer, chosen as one of the five hottest clubs in Seoul by CNN, provides a spacious interior and brilliant lighting systems, with world renowned DJs filling the stage. Club Answer is located in the classy area of Cheongdam, a district known to lead the party culture of Seoul. Located near exit 13 of Cheongdam Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 514-4311 or visit www.clubanswer.co.kr.

Club Double Eight

Sinsa

Opened in 2010, Club Double Eight takes clubbing to a whole new level. Located in Gangnam, it provides diverse hotel promotions and features weekend lineups with global DJs. Located near exit 1 of Sinsa Station on subway line 3. For more information, call (02) 543-8803 or visit cafe.naver.com/doubleeight.

‘Hwanhee’

Gyeonggi Arts Center

Through Aug. 22

The Gyeonggi Arts Center is hosting a series of traditional Korean dance and musical performances through August 22. This exciting venture, which got off to a vigorous start with a thunderous performance on March 21, centers on telling traditional Korean tales through the medium of traditional dance and music. A selection of past performances include: “Eunwolloo,” a story that hinges on the parallels of loneliness of human nature to that of the moon; “Buchaechum,” also known as the fan dance, which constitutes one of the most frequently performed Korean folk dances, usually performed by a group of female dancers in coordination; and “Nongakmoo,” a dance, typically enjoyed by farmers in the bygone years, that was performed with extra alacrity so as to invigorate them while working in the field and alleviate their exhausted spirit. Tickets cost 14,000 won. For more information, call (031) 230-3200 or visit www.ggac.or.kr.

‘All (is) Vanity’

Seoul Museum of Art

Through Aug. 9

The Seoul Museum of Art is holding an exhibition on the symbolism of Vanitas in the arts through August 9. Vanitas refers to a particular school of artistic symbolism, popularized in seventeenth-century Europe, particularly in Flanders. Translated from Latin as “vanity,” in its antediluvian sense of the word, Vanitas works of art sought to demonstrate the utter futility of life on Earth and the pursuits, pleasures, and aspirations of earthly life. Consequently, the most common motifs found in early Vanitas paintings included the human skull, burning candles, and decaying flowers.

While such morbid references may seem unpleasantly macabre and a distant, outdated reality, one can draw plenty of parallels to the seventeenth century’s preoccupation with man’s mortality with the twenty-first century’s consumerist and impersonal societal landscape. To be sure, the benefits of modern existence are manifold. Yet while such advantages can only come with the adoption of a fast-paced, individualistic life, they are often enjoyed to the detriment of interpersonal connections. As such, no other time in history does the idea of fleeting value and consequence as embodied by the Vanitas genre seem more appropriate than in the hollow meaninglessness of 2015.For more information, call (02) 395-0100 or visit www.seoulmuseum.org.

‘Magnum’s First’

The Museum of Photography, Seoul

Through Aug. 15

To herald in the 130th anniversary of bilateral relations between Korea and France in 2016, a retrospective photography exhibition is underway at the Museum of Photography from through Aug. 15. Organized in part by Magnum Photos, one of the world’s most eminent photography agencies, “Magnum’s First” will feature photo-essays composed of original black and white vintage prints shot by the eight iconic photo journalists featured: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Marc Riboud, IngeMorath, Ernest Haas, Jean Marquis, Werner Bischof, Robert Capa, and Erich Lessing. Located near exit 2 of Mongchontoseong Station on subway line 8. For more information, call (02) 0418-1315 or visit www.photomuseum.or.kr.

‘Bonjour, La France’

Seongnam Arts Center

Through Oct. 11

The Seongnam Arts Center hosts an exhibition on contemporary French art through Oct. 11. The exhibition will display approximately 50 to 60 pieces from 22 different artists, including Valerie Belin, Miguel Chevalier, Robert Combas, Bernard Frize and Lionel Sabatte who specialize in diverse media,. Tickets cost 8,000 won for adults and 5,000 won for students. For more information, call (031) 783-8000 or visit www.snart.or.kr.

‘Lee Quede: An Epic of Liberation’

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung

Through Nov. 1

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art holds a special retrospective of Korean artist Lee Quede’s work at its Deoksugung branch through Nov. 1 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation. Until recently, Lee Quede and his legacy were forgotten, deliberately omitted from the national narrative due to his alleged loyalty to the North. Fortunately, his good name and unparalleled importance in Korean art history have been restored in recent years, as Lee was in his time the foremost embodiment of the artist as a social activist. From 1937 to 1950, his most prolific years, Lee sought to incorporate Korean history and fundamental traditions into his work, thereby founding a new artistic form that emancipated itself from the debilitating effects of Japanese influence. The exhibition is divided into three sections, each dedicated to an integral time period that helped shape and further Lee’s style and approach to art. Admission is free. For more information, call (02) 2188-6000 or visit www.mmca.go.kr.

Grevin Museum

Through Sept. 30

The Grevin Museum is holding an exhibition through Sept. 30 to celebrate its historic opening in Seoul, the first in Asia. The original, located in Paris, was founded in 1882, and is one of the oldest in Europe. Among its other features, the Grevin Museum is known for its baroque and highly stylized architecture and panoramas depicting historic moments and occasions. For the Seoul branch, select wax figurines of Koreans who have made Korea shine in their own right will be displayed, ranging from modern figures, such as figure skater Kim Yuna, singer Jo Sumi, and originator of the perennial summer hit “Gangnam Style” Psy, to historic pioneers, including King Sejong the Great and General Lee Soon-shin. In addition, the museum will also offer its usual points of attraction, in the form of waxen form of Hollywood stars, presidents, sports stars, and influential artists and inventors. Tickets cost 23,000 won for adults, 18,000 won for adolescents, and 15,000 won for children. For more information, call (02) 777-4700 or visit https://www.grevin-seoul.com.

Ansel Adams

Sejong Center for the Performing Arts*

Aug. 20-Oct. 19

“Trailer Camp Children” by Ansel Adams will be on display at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from Aug. 20 to Oct. 19. / Courtesy of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts

The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will hold a photography exhibition of Ansel Adams’s iconic work from Aug. 20 to Oct. 19. Ansel Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, whose black-and-white landscape photographs of the splendor of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have become symbolic images of the natural, uncultivated beauty of the Wild West. In addition, Adams helped found the San Francisco-based photography group, “Group f/64,” whose members’ modus operandi consisted of producing sharply focused images that infused clarity and depth into their photographs. Tickets cost 15,000 won for adults, 13,000 won for university students, and 10,000 won for students. For more information, call (070) 4288-5177 or visit www.anseladams.kr.

‘Playmobil Art’

The Seongnam Arts Center holds an exhibition centered on Playmobil toys through Oct. 11. Familiar to millions of children around the world, Playmobil figurines first made their debut in 1975, and have come to rival other successful toy lines. The exhibition will incorporate a myriad of artists from Korea, France, Italy, and Austria, who will rework classic paintings and photographs, running the gamut of Monet to the Beatles’ famed Abbey Road snapshot, by using Playmobil toys to replace the subjects. Tickets cost 12,000 won for adults, 10,000 won for students, and 8,000 won for children. For more information, call (02) 3143-4360 or visit www.iqbox.co.kr.

‘Visual Scandal’

KT&G SangsangMadang Gallery

Through Aug. 30

A comprehensive exhibition featuring a lifetime’s worth of work by preeminent graphic artist Raymond Savignac is being held at the KT & G SangsangMadang Gallery through Aug. 30. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone who is unable to identify an original Savignac poster, for his use of explosively vivid colors, and humorous wit and simplicity are emblematic of the French illustrator’s modus operandi. Tickets cost 7,000 won. For more information, call (02) 330-6223 or visit www.sangsangmadang.com.

‘Brilliant Korea’

Aug. 15-Nov. 3

An exhibition highlighting contemporary Korean society in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Korean independence will be held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from Aug. 15 to Nov. 3. The exhibition honors the works of nine photographers of different backgrounds and nationalities, who have worked to capture their understanding of the essence of modern Korea for the past two years. Through their lens, one is able to witness the visceral representation of the various, underlying meanings and nuances that entail being Korean in the modern era. The exhibition will be divided into four parts, each highlighting a particular aspect of the face of Korea _ “Thousand Years,” “Boundary,” “Passion,” and “Hero.” Tickets cost 12,000 won. For more information, call (02) 333-7087 or visit www.magnumphotoskorea.com.

‘Since 1970, Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again’

Whanki Museum

Through Nov. 4

“Since 1970, Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again” by Kim Whan-ki is currently on display at the Whanki Museum through Nov. 4. / Courtesy of the Whanki Museum

The Whanki Museum is holding an exhibition titled “Since 1970, Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again” through Nov. 4. Kim Whan-ki, commonly considered and exalted as a pioneering abstract artist of Korea, was most famous for mixing oriental concepts and ideals with abstraction. While his earlier work consisted mainly of semi-abstract paintings that still gave form to recognizable shapes and constructions, his later works dealt primarily in the artistic style of deep abstraction, namely lines, spaces, and diverse hues and patterns. Centering on Kim’s most celebrated work, “Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again,” the exhibition seeks to encapsulate the spirit, direction, and countless forms of Korean art since the 1970s. Tickets cost 7,000 won for adults, and 5,000 won for students.

For more information, call (02) 391-7701 or visit whankimuseum.org.

‘World Press Photo’

Busan Cultural Center

The Busan Cultural Center will host an exhibition of photography taken and created by World Press Photo, an independent based in Amsterdam that most famously holds the world’s largest and most prestigious press photography contest. Past entries from previous years will be on display for viewers to enjoy, including the finalists for this year’s photography contest. Tickets cost 10,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2038-2267 or visit www.wpph.co.kr.

The Children’s Museum

National Museum of Korea

Open Run

The Children’s Museum run by the National Museum of Korea provides an opportunity for children to see the lifestyles of Koreans in the past. The museum also exhibits duplicated versions of Korea’s national treasures, which visitors can touch. In the “hands-on” activity room, children can play traditional Korean music instruments. Located near exit 2 of Ichon Station, subway line 4 and Jungang Line. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr.

Gwacheon National Science Museum

Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province

The museum has revamped its programs, highlighted by a wider variety of natural history items such as dinosaurs and also items on space technology. Located near exit 5 of Seoul Grand Park Station, subway line 4. Tickets cost 2,000 won for children and 4,000 won for adults. For more information, call (02) 3677-1500 or visit www.sciencecenter.go.kr.

KBO League

Friday, Aug. 7

KT vs. KIA

Gwangju at 6:30 p.m.

LG vs. Hanhwa

Daejeon at 6:30 p.m.

Lotte vs. NC

Masan at 6:30 p.m.

SK vs. Samsung

Pohang at 6:30 p.m.

Nexen vs. Doosan

Jamsil at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 8

Gwangju at 6 p.m.

Daejeon at 6 p.m.

Gwacheon Seoul Race Track

The Gwacheon Seoul Race Track holds races from 10:30 a.m. to 5:10 p.m., every Saturday and Sunday. Get off at Seoul Racecourse Park Station, subway line 4, exit 3. For more information, call (02) 509-1114 or visit www.kra.co.kr.