Global Community

Haebangchons spring festival to be held on May 21

By John Redmond Now in its fifth year, the Haebangchon (HBC) festival hosts its spring edition themed “May Festival,” welcoming the foreign and Korean music communities to eight venues in the popular expat neighborhood. Kicking off midday on May 21 at selected clubs, restaurants and bars located in Haebangchon and Itaewon in Seoul, the HBC festival will feature some 60 acts. With performances that range from rock bands, folk musicians and traditional Korean performing artists and even a burlesque review, the twice-a-year festival has over the past four years grown to embrace a growing wealth of local and international talent. Always expanding, the festival is a local neighborhood initiative guided by Lance Reegan-Diehl, an internationally acclaimed musician who has been the central organizer since day one. All performers and spectators are asked to remain in designated venues especially in the evenings to control noise levels. “As with previous events we’re trying to keep people off the streets as we are trying to keep noise levels down,” said Reegan-Diehl.

(436) Riding the subway (I)

(435) Baseball batting cage (I)

(433) Admiral Yi Sun-sin

(432) Tongue twisters (II)

International artists to hold exhibition in Ulsan

By John Redmond Members of the International Artists Community (IAC) are to hold an exhibition of 12 artists representing Asia, Europe and North America at Gallery Dot in Ulsan this month. Under the title "Where Are All the Heroes?" the exhibition will also feature performances by Anthony Ragucci (USA), Hong Oh Bong (Korea) and Tiger & Bear (UK). It will run from May 8 to 28. The exhibition’s theme deals with role models, ideals and cultural identity. “Everyone has had a hero at some point in their life, someone they admire look up to or want to emulate,” said IAC director Richard Beaumont. “Heroes can be ordinary people who, finding themselves in extraordinary situations become heroes; or public figures who dedicate their lives to the service or others (or appear to); or they can be cultural icons created by advertising moguls to sell product; or fictional comic book characters that are capable of superhuman acts to defend a principal, a good cause or an ideology.” The artists are Richard J. Beaumont (United Kingdom), Frances Fagan (Ireland), Jang Oui-lou

Yeonpyeong Island still silent after N. Korean attack

By Matthew C. Crawford YEONPYEONG ISLAND ― The town on Yeonpyeong Island seemed almost deserted when I arrived on a Saturday afternoon in early April. Though all the doors were unlocked, it took three tries to find a restaurant that was staffed. There were more people in the side lanes, where slow moving oldsters stayed out of the way of kids zooming past on their bikes. Young and old alike seemed not to notice the charred wreckage of houses that had been destroyed by artillery or burned down in the ensuing fires. North Korea attacked on Nov. 23, 2010 and the citizens were evacuated to Incheon for three months. While almost everyone has returned now, life is still unstable. In the week before I arrived a live firing drill was held on the island, the second of these since the incident. No one knew how North Korea would react, so the residents were urged to evacuate again, temporarily. Ra-ok, a woman who worked at the only large bar in town and who only gave her first name, said everyone was still on edge. There weren’t any customers in the bar because everyone goes to Incheo

Australian performer presents blend of puppetry and mime

By John Redmond Australian performer Tim Watts will present a unique blend of puppetry and mime in a show entitled “The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer” at LIG Art Hall in Yeoksam-dong, Southern Seoul. The show begins today for a five-day run through May 8. “Alvin Sputnik” is a visually inspired solo show, created and performed by Tim Watts, who employs a unique blend of mime, puppetry, live and recorded music, and animation to present an exploration of the next and oldest frontier ― the deep blue sea. The story, set in the future, is a multi award-winning one-man puppet show that melds technology and multimedia into a touching story of enduring love and the end of the world. “The seas have risen, billions have died and those who are left live on farms atop skyscrapers, atop mountains. Scientists have tried everything .... A last ditch effort to save the human race requires journeying down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for us to live,” states a press release. Sputnik, who just lost his wife, accepts th

(431) Tongue twisters (I)

(430) Income inequality