Lifestyle - The Korea Times

INTERVIEW Dominique Hamilton carries on mother's legacy in 'Cats'

Dominique Hamilton, left, as Rumpleteazer in the 40th anniversary production of "Cats" in Korea / Courtesy of S&COBy Kwon Mee-yooActress Dominique Hamilton / Courtesy of Dominique HamiltonAndrew Lloyd Webber's joyous musical "Cats," revolving around a clan of cats and their annual celebration of the Jellicle Ball, commemorated its 40th anniversary last year with an international production in Korea.Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the show, opening last September at the Charlotte Theater, has been delivering Lloyd Webber's exuberant musical numbers as well as Gillian Lynne's energetic choreography portraying some 20 unique cat characters across the country from Seoul to Daegu and Busan. Among actors of this production, Dominique Hamilton, who plays the mischievous burglar cat Rumpleteazer, has a special connection to the show as her mother Laura Bishop performed the same role in the popular show's Australian premiere in 1985.Coming from a family of entertainers, Hamilton made her professional debut with Barbra Streisand at the age of 10. After graduating from Jason Coleman's Ministry

Feb 9, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

[INTERVIEW] Dominique Hamilton carries on mother's legacy in 'Cats'

'Pensive Bodhisattva' to represent National Museum of Korea

Two "Pensive Bodhisattva" statues, National Treasure no. 83, right, and National Treasure no. 78, are displayed together during a 2015 Buddhist sculpture exhibition at the National Museum of Korea. The museum will open a new permanent gallery to display the two major artifacts side by side in November. Courtesy of National Museum of Korea By Kwon Mee-yooThe two "Pensive Bodhisattva" statues from the Three Kingdoms era in the collection of the National Museum of Korea (NMK) will be displayed side by side at a new gallery space as the “face” of the museum from November. "People visit the Louvre to look at the Mona Lisa and I believe that people will come to the NMK to see the two Pensive Bodhisattva," Min Byoung-chan, director general of NMK, said during a press conference announcing the museum's annual plan, Wednesday. Min, an old hand at the museum, said the statues are currently located in the museum's Buddhist Sculpture Gallery on the third floor and are often mis

Feb 5, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

'Pensive Bodhisattva' to represent National Museum of Korea

4 dance performances questioning modern lifestyles

Dance performance “Quiet Cycle” by Altimeets Courtesy of ARKOBy Park Ji-wonThe Arts Council Korea (ARKO) presents four dance performances reflecting modern lifestyles as part of ARKO Selection, a program designed to finance noteworthy performing arts productions.In 2020, 21 shows ― plays, dance performances, traditional performing arts, musicals and operas ― were chosen for ARKO Selection.“Based on each value and philosophy, the four works effectively ignite discussions about contemporary society, especially through symbolic objects,” ARKO said in press release.The performances will be presented this month at ARKO Arts Theater in Seoul's Daehangno theater district. Naver TV will stream those performances.“Quiet Cycle” by Altimeets, which will be seen on Saturday and Sunday at ARKO Arts Theater and on Naver TV on Saturday, tells the story of a man living as if he has infinite life in a wheel of life and death by introducing Buddhist concepts. Drawing performances, videos and live performances are used to express the stages of life.Choreographer Jun

Feb 3, 2021By Park Ji-won

4 dance performances questioning modern lifestyles

Solbi's controversial cake artwork draws international attention, invited to Barcelona art fair

Kwon Ji-an's "Just a Cake" (2020) / Courtesy of M.A.P CrewBy Kwon Mee-yooSinger-turned-artist Kwon Ji-an, better known by her stage name Solbi, has been invited to the Barcelona International Art Fair later this year for a cake artwork that was accused of plagiarizing a Jeff Koons sculpture. The artist's agency, M.A.P Crew, announced that Kwon was invited to the Fira Internacional d'Art de Barcelona (FIABCN), slated for Dec. 3 and 4 in the Spanish city. FIABCN's founder and director Natal Vallve invited Kwon to the sixth edition of the international art fair, which will be held at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona, and will showcase an exciting selection of international emerging and established contemporary artists and galleries.Kwon took part in another international art event, La Nuit Blanche Paris, in 2019 and presented a performance painting to her song "Violet," combining contemporary art and K-pop.Vallve paid attention to Kwon's works afterwards and recommended the singer-turned-artist to the art fair's committee. Kwon was embroiled in a controversy at the end of last year, as

Feb 3, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Solbi's controversial cake artwork draws international attention, invited to Barcelona art fair

Cultural heritage institute restores Buddhist scriptures on bark at Mongolia's request

A conservation scientist cleans a Buddhist scripture written on bark from Mongolia at the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center. / Courtesy of National Research Institute of Cultural HeritageBy Kwon Mee-yooThe Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center in the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NRICH) finished conservation treatment on 17th-century Buddhist scriptures from Mongolia.The Institute of History and Archaeology at Mongolian Academy of Sciences requested restoration of the Buddhist scriptures written on bark and paper, which had been excavated in 2019 from the archaeological site Sum Tolgoi in Tes soum, Zavkhan Province in western Mongolia. The Buddhist scriptures were excavated as part of the "Cities of Mongolia in the 17th century" project led by Chuluun Sampildondov, the current Mongolian minister of culture, who served as director of the institute from 2018 to 2019.The Mongolian institute sent 21 artifacts including the bark and wood scriptures to Korea's NRICH as the two signed the Arrangement on the Korea-Mongolia Joint Project for Research an

Feb 2, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Cultural heritage institute restores Buddhist scriptures on bark at Mongolia's request

INTERVIEW Artist Mina Cheon explores dreams of Korean unification, implications for politically divided US

Installation view of Mina Cheon's exhibition, "Dreaming Unification: Protest Peace," at Ethan Cohen Gallery in New York / Courtesy of the artist and Ethan Cohen GalleryBy Kwon Mee-yooArtist Mina CheonKorean American artist Mina Cheon unveils her latest pieces created by her North Korean art persona, Kim Il-soon, at an exhibition "Dreaming Unification: Protest Peace" at Ethan Cohen Gallery in New York through Feb. 27.While the two Koreas remain physically divided, citizens of many other countries in the world, including the United States, are experiencing increasing political and social divisions. This increasing polarization has been a source of inspiration for Cheon, who hopes to explore the concepts of unification and peace through her projects. "With the world being so divided, culturally, economically, religiously, ideologically, politically… and in my case, my native country having been divided for 70 years, although the Korean people have been together for 5,000 years, a Korean with global concerns should also be practicing art in manners that reflect these divided world

Jan 30, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

[INTERVIEW] Artist Mina Cheon explores dreams of Korean unification, implications for politically divided US

INTERVIEW 'Bandage art' ceramist leaves past behind to move forward

Ceramist Suh Hee-su poses with clay-coated bandages, the main materials she uses to create her unique artwork, in her studio in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 22. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Park Han-solBandages can often push the story forward ― in TV shows, movies and sometimes in real life ― as a direct representation of the intensity of the blood, pain and agony felt by the victim. At the same time, they are precisely what protects those wounds and injuries from further damage as the first step to recovery.To ceramist Suh Hee-su, this captivating fabric has been the main material of her pottery work for nearly three decades.After coating the bandages with wet white clay and layering them together to make a thicker band, she then bends, twists, turns and cuts those pieces into different shapes and places them in a kiln. The final work is born when the fabric inside is burnt up and vanishes into thin air, only leaving traces of its texture on the pottery's surface. The most essential material of her work must disappear for it to be completed.A complex set of reasons was

Jan 28, 2021By Park Han-sol

[INTERVIEW] 'Bandage art' ceramist leaves past behind to move forward

Five-meter 'Yojiyeondo' screen returns from US

“Yojiyeondo,” or "Immortals' Feast on Yoji Pond," an 18th century court painting from the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, is on display at the National Palace Museum of Korea's Court Painting Gallery. Visitors have a look at “Yojiyeondo” at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapThe eight-panel screen painting was purchased by the Cultural Heritage Administration via auction last year from a private owner in the U.S., whose father purchased the screen while stationed in Korea with the U.S. Army about 50 years ago. The painting depicts a banquet at Yoji Pond on Mount Kunlun celebrating a peach tree bearing fruit after 3,000 years. Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration

Jan 27, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Five-meter 'Yojiyeondo' screen returns from US

Dansaekhwa artist Park Seo-bo's daughter releases English-language memoir on father

Park Seo-bo / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Kwon Mee-yooPark Seung-sook, an art therapist and daughter of the Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome) artist Park Seo-bo, has released an English version of a biography of her father online for free. Titled “Park Seo-bo's Art & Life," the book chronicles Park's artistic career and personal life in the context of Korea's turbulent modern history.Park was born in 1931 in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province and entered the College of Fine Arts at Hongik University in 1950, just before the outbreak of the Korean War. He was the country's first artist to pursue the Art Informel movement in Korea and later taught at his alma mater Hongik University for about three decades from 1962 to 1994 and served as dean of the College of Fine Arts.He is best known for his "Ecriture" series, which can be characterized by connecting meditative practice to the painting process. As his works were revisited along with the rediscovery of Dansaekhwa in the 2010s, Park became one of the Korea's most expensive living artists. "I did not like my father nor d

Jan 26, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Dansaekhwa artist Park Seo-bo's daughter releases English-language memoir on father

National Chorus of Korea to sing popular Korean poems

The National Chorus of Korea (NCK) Courtesy of NCKBy Park Ji-wonPoster for “Poetic Colors” Courtesy of NCKThe National Chorus of Korea (NCK) will hold an online concert called “Poetic Colors,” in which the chorus will sing songs composed from a series of popular Korean poems. In the concert, which will be released on the NCK's channel on Naver TV, Feb. 10, the chorus will show the stage from different angles using versatile lighting, to entertain viewers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Nine songs adopted from famous Korean poems such as Kim Yeong-nang's “An Endless River Flows” and Kim So-wol's “Mother, Sister,” will be performed by the NCK and other artists such as soprano Im Sun-hae, bass-baritone Gil Byeong-min and cellist Mun Tae-guk. The songs were composed by in-house and famous composers such as Stephen Paulus, a Grammy winning American composer.“Amid the spread of COVID-19 infections and the cancellations of performances, we have come up with Poetic Colors aiming to show video-based chorus content. We also tried to produce qual

Jan 26, 2021By Park Ji-won

Arts & Theater