Lifestyle - The Korea Times

InterviewLee Ja-ram brings pansori back to its roots by modernizing

"Here we are now, in the snowy fields of Russia, where it is minus 28 degrees Celsius." With just this one line from Korea’s leading pansori (Korean narrative music) performer Lee Ja-ram, the audience suddenly found themselves transported to the harsh Russian winter, standing upon a vast snowy plain. She repeatedly sang out "shooong," mimicking the sound of wind with her mouth while waving her fan, and evoking the sound of a horse with "hiiing" ( "neigh" in English) as she used both hands to mimic a horse walking across a snowfield. Her latest work, "Snow, Snow, Snow," staged at LG Arts Center from April 7 to 13, marked her long-awaited return to the pansori stage with a new creation — her first original piece in five years. A pansori reinterpretation of Leo Tolstoy’s short story "Master and Man," the production tells the story of merchant Vasily and peasant worker Nikita, who set out to buy a forest during Russia’s brutal winter and lose their way in a snowstorm using pansori, traditionally performed by a solo singer playing all the characters, accompanied only by a drummer. Th

May 18, 2025By Park Jin-hai

Lee Ja-ram brings pansori back to its roots by modernizing

ARKO Global Week 2025 to foster international cultural exchange

This month, Seoul is set to host the 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture, a major international gathering where cultural leaders and decision-makers come together to exchange ideas, debate pressing issues and shape the future of the creative sectors. From May 27 to 30, more than 400 delegates from 80 countries will convene in the Korean capital to explore how the arts can respond to “challenges that humanity faces together, such as artificial intelligence, the climate crisis and the restoration of regional communities,” Choung Byoung-gug, chairperson of the Arts Council of Korea (ARKO), said at a press conference, Wednesday, at the Artist House in Seoul. He added that this year’s summit represents an important milestone ahead of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, known as MONDIACULT 2025, which will take place in Barcelona, Spain, this September. The four-day event will feature a lineup of prominent speakers, including media artist Ayoung Kim, science fiction writer Chung Se-rang, OD Company president Shin Chun-soo and Ars Electronica c

May 14, 2025By Park Han-sol

ARKO Global Week 2025 to foster international cultural exchange

Blues and makgeolli: Jung Yeon-doo brews art from melancholy, fermentation

BUSAN — Inside a pristine white-cube gallery, a polyphonic harmony emerges from the most unlikely pairing: the soulful wail of blues music and the quiet rhythm of fermentation. Drums beat in sync with the gentle fizz of “makgeolli,” Korea’s traditional rice wine. Sourdough rises to the slow sway of a saxophone’s sigh. And deep within “onggi” earthenware vessels, lights flicker in tune with the low hum of a contrabass. The artist orchestrating this unexpected duet is Jung Yeon-doo, who is known for works that spotlight everyday people — restaging their memories, dreams and aspirations through carefully composed cinematic photographs and videos. His art becomes a space where disparate cultures, histories and personal narratives melt into something surprising yet whole. That same fusion pulses through his latest solo exhibition, “The Inevitable, Inacceptable,” at Kukje Gallery Busan. So, why blues and makgeolli, of all things? “If everything in the world simply died and decayed, how bleak would that be? But sometimes, instead of rotting away, things come back through fe

May 14, 2025By Park Han-sol

Blues and makgeolli: Jung Yeon-doo brews art from melancholy, fermentation

Matt Doyle, Senzel Ahmady to lead ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Korea

The Seoul production of the Broadway hit musical “The Great Gatsby” revealed its star-studded cast Wednesday, with Tony Award winner Matt Doyle and rising musical theater talent Senzel Ahmady set to lead the show, ahead of its August premiere at GS Arts Center in southern Seoul. Doyle, who won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in “Company,” will take on the role of the enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby. Known for his emotionally rich performances and exceptional vocal ability, Doyle has built a solid resume on Broadway with appearances in “Spring Awakening,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “War Horse” and “The Book of Mormon.” Starring opposite Doyle as Daisy Buchanan is Senzel Ahmady, a breakout star best known for her two-year run as Jasmine in the North American tour of “Aladdin.” The production brings a roster of Broadway talent to Seoul, featuring Gerald Caesar as Nick Carraway, Amber Ardolino as Jordan Baker, Jeanna De Waal as Myrtle Wilson, Wes Williams as Tom Buchanan, Tally Sessions as George Wilson and Ed Staudenmayer as Meyer W

May 14, 2025By Kwon Mee-yoo

Matt Doyle, Senzel Ahmady to lead ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Korea

Dreamy nights, punchy wit: Art exhibitions to catch in May

There’s something about spring — the soft light, the slow breeze — that pairs perfectly with art viewing. From dreamy paintings that whisper good night to genre-pushing experiments edged with punchy wit, the following two exhibitions may be just what you need to liven up your cultural outings this spring. Harold Ancart’s ‘Good Night’ To Harold Ancart, night is “when children dream and prisoners escape.” It is this enigmatic time that the Belgian artist channels with full creative force in his first exhibition in Korea, aptly titled “Good Night.” Within the APMA Cabinet — a project space tucked inside the Seoul headquarters of cosmetics giant Amorepacific — Ancart’s five nocturnal paintings are cloaked in a dreamlike hush. Soft beige pleated curtains envelop the gallery, transforming it into an intimate living room where every corner seems to whisper a tender farewell before sleep. The works in “Good Night” blur the line between figuration and abstraction. “During nighttime, things do not appear as clearly. The way you perceive things becomes different, and t

May 9, 2025By Park Han-sol

Dreamy nights, punchy wit: Art exhibitions to catch in May

William Kentridge brings interdisciplinary performances to GS Arts Center

As part of its opening festival, GS Arts Center will spotlight the work of South African interdisciplinary artist William Kentridge, reflecting the center’s mission to highlight artists who blur the lines between genres. Kentridge visited Korea to present two of his acclaimed works — "Sybil" and "Oh to Believe in Another World: Shostakovich 10" — this month. “It’s a pleasure to be back in Korea,” he said during a press conference at GS Tower in southern Seoul, Wednesday. Known for blending genres and challenging artistic boundaries, Kentridge emphasized that his creative process is less about delivering answers and more about asking questions — whether it is music, theater or visual art. “I think we are in a very strange world,” Kentridge said when asked how shifting global affairs influence his work. “I don't quite understand the details of the immediate politics in South Korea, but I know that there's been a lot of crises and transformations and questions recently here. The state of martial law and the impeachment of President [Yoon Suk Yeol] — it’s a complicated

May 7, 2025By Kim Se-jeong

William Kentridge brings interdisciplinary performances to GS Arts Center

From dreaming giants to skull mountains, Ron Mueck's hyperrealist vision grips Seoul

How many sculptures did it take for Australian artist Ron Mueck to summon record-breaking crowds to Seoul’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA)? Just 10. Stand before them, and you’ll understand — the spell is immediate. From an absurd standoff between a semi-nude old man and a defiant chicken to a woman stretched out in a 6.5-meter-long bed, Mueck’s handmade sculptures are eerily lifelike. With every wrinkle, vein and pore rendered in startling detail, his figures — either larger or smaller than life, but never quite life-size — seem caught mid-breath, as if they might blink or turn their eyes to meet their gazers’ at any second. These hyperrealist recreations in silicone hold visitors in a hush of alluring unease; their presence unsettling, yet so absorbing it demands a second look, then a third. It helps, too, that they make compelling subjects for photographs — perfect fodder for the social media posts that have become a ritual among younger exhibition-goers in recent years. Perhaps that’s why “Ron Mueck” at the MMCA — the artist’s largest-e

May 7, 2025By Park Han-sol

From dreaming giants to skull mountains, Ron Mueck's hyperrealist vision grips Seoul

Ron Mueck's first Asian retrospective draws record audiences in Seoul

Australian artist Ron Mueck's solo exhibition at a Seoul museum has drawn a record number of average daily visitors, organizers said Friday. The large-scale exhibition has attracted an average of 7,400 visitors on weekends and 4,200 on weekdays since opening April 11 at the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA). As of Thursday, a cumulative number of 106,999 people had visited the gallery to experience the exhibition. The daily average of 5,000 is the highest attendance since the Seoul branch opened, a figure representing an increase of more than four times compared to the exhibition with the highest daily average last year, according to the MMCA. Curator Hong Lee-ji at the museum said Mueck's works stir emotions and elicit empathy upon viewing, as they depict familiar human figures, rendered with "unbelievable realism." "It is noticeable how much conversation takes place among visitors in the exhibition space, perhaps because the sense of contemplation and wonder sparked by the works leads them to ponder questions about human existence," she said. The M

May 2, 2025By Yonhap

Ron Mueck's first Asian retrospective draws record audiences in Seoul

'Maybe Happy Ending' earns 10 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical

The Korean hit musical “Maybe Happy Ending,” which debuted on Broadway last year, has been nominated in 10 categories at the 78th Tony Awards. The musical received nominations for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design and Best Orchestrations, according to the official website. Actor Darren Criss was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor, while director Michael Arden earned a nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. The Tony Awards are held annually to recognize excellence in Broadway theater. Originally premiering as a one-act musical in Korea in 2016, “Maybe Happy Ending” tells the story of two Helperbots, Oliver and Claire, as they form a connection while exploring themes of companionship, mortality and meaning. For the Broadway production, creators Hue Park and Will Aronson collaborated on the music and lyrics. The winners will be announced on June 8 during an award ceremony in New York City. In Korea, the musical won Musical of the Year at the Korean Musical Awards in 2019. It has a

May 2, 2025By Kim Se-jeong

'Maybe Happy Ending' earns 10 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical

Binna Choi tapped as artistic director for Korea at 2026 Venice Biennale

Curator Binna Choi has been appointed artistic director for the Korean Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, the Arts Council Korea (Arko) said Wednesday. Choi was selected from among 18 candidates for her proposal to present the Korean Pavilion as "a monumental space designed to transform the state of social conflict and chaos into dynamic and inclusive kinetic energy," Arko said. Choi's curatorial experiences include serving as a curator for the 11th Gwangju Biennale in 2016 and as co-artistic director for the Singapore Biennale in 2022. From 2008 to 2023, she was the director of Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, a nonprofit public art institution based in Utrecht, Netherlands. She is currently part of the three-member curatorial team, alongside Wassan Al-Khudhairi and Noelle M.K.Y., for the Hawaii Triennial 2025. The 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh, chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, is scheduled to run next year from May 9 to Nov. 21.

Apr 30, 2025By Yonhap

Arts & Theater