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Soon Yul Kang has been invited as a demonstrating artist at Art in Action since 2010. She will again be there from July 19 -22, at Waterperry House, Wheatley, Oxfordshire.

She shows her serene tapestries and demonstrates how she works in the Textiles marquee. She also will be exhibiting her woven tapestry at the Best of Best exhibition.

Art in Action is a festival of fine art and master craftsmanship staged in the grounds of Waterperry House, Oxfordshire. Each July artists set up their studios in one of the many marquees and work in front of visitors, giving them the rare opportunity to observe the creative process at first hand. Over 150 artists from around the globe will demonstrate their skills in a wide range of disciplines for an audience of enthusiastic and enquiring visitors.

Venue: Waterperry House & Gardens, Waterperry, Nr Wheatley, Oxfordshire, OX33 1JZ
Dates: Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 July 2012
Times: 10.00am – 5.30pm

www.artinaction.org.uk
www.soonyulkang.com

KAA member Seyoung Jeong (정세영) is set designer for the new musical Gumok, which will be receiving two performances at the Chelsea Theatre on 30 June:

Gumok

Date: 30th June, 2012
Place: Chelsea Theatre (SW10 0DR)
Time: 5pm and 8pm
Price: Pay what you like (min. £1)

Project Team Gumok presents a new musical “Gumok” at 5pm and 8pm on 30th June at Chelsea Theatre in London.

“Gumok” is the story of a Korean girl, who was made a victim of sexual slavery by the Japanese Military during the 2nd World War, and is based on a true story.

This show is an experimental piece of musical theatre performed by three female actors. The running time will be approximately 60 minutes without intermission.

We hope this show will raise awareness of the atrocities committed against women during the 2nd World War. There were thousands of victims of the Japanese Military, called ‘The Comfort Women’, Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese, Dutch but mostly Korean. Only 63 Korean women are still alive out of the 234 who registered as victims and there have been demonstrations in front of the Japanese Embassy in Korea every Wednesday since 1992. All profits from this show will be donated to the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by the Japanese which officially supports “Gumok”.

“Gumok” is a collaborative work of Project Team Gumok, a creative group of young Korean artists in the UK and Korea. Jo Cho, director and writer of this piece is a former Korean musical theatre actor, currently a MA student at Arts Educational Schools, London. Gihoon Ju is a composer who studied at the Conservatorio de Santa Cecilia, Italy. And the co-operative choreographer Hany Park is a freelance Korean Traditional dancer and is studying musical theatre in the UK at the moment.

The Cast

Gumok: Jihay Kim | Seul Lee | SooJung Cho

The Creative Team

Director: Jo Cho
Music: Gihoon Ju
Co‐operative Choreographer: Hany Park
Set Designer: Seyoung Jeong
Costume Designer: Shin Young Park
Projection Designer: Gi Young Kwak
Graphic Designer: Jungsu Park
Makeup Designer: Claire Kyung Joo Chung
Photographer: Taemin Song
Assistant Director: Su‐Min Hwang
Production Manger: Song Yee Kim
Producer: Camilla Jung Lee

For more information about “Gumok”, visit www.facebook.com/musicalGumok.

http://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/gumok/

Performed in English and Korean.
All profits will be donated.

Three KAA members will be participating in the high-profile exhibition at an exciting venue overlooking the Olympic Stadium – Foreman’s Smokehouse Gallery.

Place Not Found: Korean Art Now

Foreman’s Smokehouse Gallery
Stour Road | Fish Island | Hackney Wick | E3 2NT
10 May – 3 June 2012

About the Exhibition

Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery is delighted to present ‘Place Not Found’ curated by Eunjung Shin, showing work by 15 South Korean artists most of whom relocated their working places from South Korea to London. Forman’s smokehouse, Britain’s oldest salmon smokers was likewise forced to relocate by the Olympic development to its current premises, overlooking the London 2012 Olympic Park. The works represented in the gallery space embody the artists’ experiences of a search for a place that can not be found. The gallery becomes a site for storytelling, exploring both existing and imaginary places in personal, conceptual, cultural and political spheres.

Place Not Found also relates to the transition of Hackney Wick from a traditional industrial zone to a vibrant spot of creativity. This progression inspires participating artists in Place Not Found presenting their perceptions as they respond to notions of rapid change and new surroundings.

Place Not Found is a group exhibition showing a big variety of work such as sculpture, paintings, photography and installations.

About the Artists

Jinkyun Ahn shows photographs of his cave in the form of a tent made from white cloth hung from the ceiling. By performing personal rituals in front of the camera including photographic equipment such as light stands and electric wires he turns the family relationship into an objective rather than a personal experience.

Chinwook Kim describes himself as an agent of healing for people who depart from reality and lose their identity. In his paintings and sculptures in the ‘Inside and outside’ series, he demonstrates how to maintain a balance between the conscious and the subconscious world.

Beomsik Won worked with construction sites in South Korea creating new photographic images and in the UK he has worked with Britain’s buildings in the same way. The Archisculpture Project makes new stories, connecting every meaning of architecture by dismantling a cityscape.

Luna Jung-eun Lee‘s work is based on collage, constructed and deconstructed found fragmental images that explore the socio-cultural forms in our global community. Her work directly indicates contradictory principles, real and fake, natural and artificial, analog and digital.

Minae Kim’s Conundrums, her telescope style sculpture provides viewers with a dilemma in which they similarly experience trying to understand their selves and their surroundings.

Jiho Won questions the place where we belong. He criticizes the fact that people draw a line between them and others with a symbol of distinction such as a flag and kill each other because they do not belong together. His war memorial with replicated coffins represents meaningless death in the war and De-Union Jack demonstrates his attempt to remove a flag as an emblem of differentiation.

Jungyun Roh has collected images of London with her drawings of sites of cultural significance. For example, she had observed the construction process of the Olympic Stadium. She recreates her own image of London with this collection of cultural symbols.

Shan Hur‘s sculptures present a puzzle: viewers must find the sculptures in the gallery and complete the crossword puzzle. The source objects for his bronze sculptures were found by the artist in ordinary scenes such as on the street or in office buildings. These places have since disappeared and now only the objects remain, embodying his memories and creating new memories for his viewers.

Francesca Cho “Our days on earth are like grass, like wild flowers, we bloom and die…” (Psalms). The transient nature of our existence has become the defining element in Francesca Cho’s work. Her installation does not need to be mowed; without active intervention, the grass will wither and dry within two weeks indoors, or within six weeks out of doors.

Sejin Moon’s Neutral Territory series explores women in their working environments. Moon’s photographic work has been highly influenced by her cultural journey moving from South Korea to the UK and her personal experiences in her professional life.

Kyunghee Park is working with the unique time of trace,which overlaps with the present when the subject, that is, the trace exists; however, it is never the time that belongs to the concept of the present time. Her 17 years old Tool Box is the time of trace itself. By using transformation into a shape which seems to be an metamorphosed skin, she intends to represent herself.

Hyunjun Kim & Taeyoung Kim‘s collaboration work, ‘Light-scape’ is composed of the immaterial landscape of Korean mountains. It conveys memories of their home country, the sun, wind and streams which they cannot find in the UK. It is an abstract, collective pattern which extends its boundaries to the site it occupies through the manipulation of lighting effects.

Jukhee Kwon treats a book as an artistic material which allows her to visualize her imagination and ideas. Her first reaction is to the space and the interaction with the place where the book will be situated. Many creations follow on from the destruction of old things. Jukhee Kwon’s book is no longer a book that is used in daily life but it is given new meaning through the perceptions of other people.

Eunhyea Choi leads viewers to invisible space across time. She represents the faint outlines of the invisible beings, the lingering ambiance of light and the emotional respiration coming from the stream of sub conscience, all experienced through the mutual perception of time and space.

Visitor Information

Address: Stour Road Fish Island Hackney Wick E3 2NT London
Opening Hours: Thursday – Friday: 5pm –9pm; Saturday – Sunday: 12am – 5pm
Contact: smokehousegallery@formans.co.uk
Nearest Tube: Hackney Wick Overground
Buses: 8 26 30 236 276 388 488
Website: http://www.smokehousegallery.org

Links:

• View the online catalogue

Two KAA members — Jeon Kim (김전) and Yonghyun Lim (임용현) — will be showing their work at the Chelsea MA Fine Art Interim Show 2012

The show as a whole is divided into three groups and runs from 1 – 12 May

Yonghyun Lim is in Group 2: 5 – 8 May (Closed 6 & 7 May for the Bank Holiday). Private View is Friday 4th May, 6-8 pm

Jeon Kim is in Group 3: 11 – 12 May. Private View is Thursday 10th May, 6-8pm

Opening times: Mon – Fri 10.00 – 20.00 / Sat 10.00 – 16.00

Venue: Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art and Design, John Islip Street, London SW1P 4JU

About Nokha

NOKHA (Nokha.org) is a music installation in which the sounds interact with the spatial disposition of the “audience” in the installation.

Fragments of pre-composed music will be played at predetermined points as and when the visitors will coincidentally or haphazardly arrive at them.

This project is inspired by the beautiful hanok in Gahoedong, which is one of the last traditional hanoks in Seoul preserved in its entirety, with hopes to bring awareness of the loss of authentic hanoks in South Korea.

Composer Jee Soo Shin

“Jee Soo Shin is a Korean composer who currently splits her time between London and Seoul. Beginning her musical journey as a child, Jee Soo went on to study at Seoul National University, followed by an MA at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and a PhD at the University of Southampton, England where she studied with Michael Finnissy.

While educated in the works of legendary composers Jee Soo refuses to stay within the boundaries of conventional composition. Instead her work crosses into the realms performance art, sonic interpretation, and John Cage’s helter skelterlike avant garde experiments. Yet perhaps the most important detail is that Jee Soo’s work is contemporary and therefore relevant to the world outside of art, approaching the environments that we swirl around within from a composer’s perspective, and creating bold work derived from these experiences.”
text by Dann Gaymer

Production crew

Jaewoo Joung Engineer at Mando Hella Electronics Korea
Ian Park IT consultant at NDS UK

Performers

Eun Ja Youn geomungo
Principal geomungo at Seongnam Municipal Troop of Korean Traditional Performing Arts
Sooah Lee violin
Lecturer at Chonbuk National University and Jeonju Art High School
Sin Gyu Hwang flute
Prix de Perfectionnement at C.R.R. de Rueil-malmaison
Chris Jaewoong Yang toy piano
Lecturer at Sun Wha Art School and Anyang Art High School

The tour

Seoul April 21 2012 7:00 pm
31-79 Gahoe-dong

Jeonju May 11 2012 7:00 pm
Jeonju Hanok Living Experience Center

Hamyang May 12 2012 7:00 pm
263-1, Gaepyeong-ri, Jigok-myeon

Duration 50 minutes
Information 010 3488 9842
Admission free
Sponsors David & Jade Kilburn, MyungGaWon
Supported by kahoidong.com, Jeonju Hanok Living Experience Centre

Links:

• Nokha.org, the project’s official website
• kahoidong.com, the official website of the campaign for Seoul’s hanoks in Bukchon and elsewhere
• Composer, campaigner put hanok to song, Korea Herald, 17 April 2012
• Jee Soo Shin’s website

KAA member Joohee Chun is participating in the “Exclusive Asian Art” exhibition, 31 Jan – 12 Feb 2012 at HF Contemporary Art, Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill, London N6 5HG. (Archway tube)

Under the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf there’s a busy shopping centre. In amongst the arcades there are window displays which advertise some of the shops. But there are also art and design displays which are open daily and showcase up-and-coming artists, designers and craftspeople. Soo Ji Shin is exhibiting her chandeliers and lighting designs in the Lightbox Gallery during January and February.

Date: 5 Jan – 24 Feb 2012
Venue: Lightbox Gallery, Canada Walk, Canada Place
http://www.canarywharf.com/visitus/Public–Art/Events/
www.soojis.com

Soo Ji’s designs are fresh and unusual. She strives to bring movement to ordinarily motionless lighting. Chandeliers look as if they are sea creatures that gather when people feed them. Soo Ji’s designs are all bespoke, made by her own hand sewing.

The Society of Designer Craftsmen has an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries. Among the exhibitors this year is SDC Ceramics Licentiate and KAA member Myung-nam AN:

Designer Crafts at the Mall 2012

At The Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1
Friday 6th to Sunday 15th January 2012

This winter craft exhibition, presented by the Society of Designer Craftsmen, is recognised as a leading platform for the best talent in ceramics, furniture, jewellery, glass and textiles. Celebrated and experienced makers are shown alongside recent graduates, which makes for a stimulating and exciting exhibition. All work is for sale and ‘The Shop within the Show’ returns, offering a range of handmade crafts.

Statement by Myung-nam AN:

Art is a lifestyle for me. Everything that surrounds and excites me is automatically processed and transformed into the final result: an artwork. It is fascinating to watch the transitions from life to art. The essence of my work is the human being and their everyday life. I find ceramic to be the most versatile material and it is suited to express my ideas. Working in clay is really deep and has much to interest me: philosophy, technique – so much.

In my work, I like to tell stories using symbols which are universal, when you look at my work you could tell your own story, and would interpret what you see in your own way and each work in the series is created to evoke a different moods and emotions. I am exploring abstract appropriated images from our culture and translating these onto the surface of my work. I feel that they address or allude to specific ideals that interest me. It has always been my goal as an artist to make work that speaks to the viewer on a deeper level.

My works are a step in my ongoing growth toward a personal and unique approach to clay. It is my hope that these images will provoke thought in the viewer. The characteristics and limitations of the materials is a fundamental issue for me. I make use of a working process which is based on analysis and experience. I approach my work in a formal and aesthetic way. That does not mean that emotionality and sensuality are set aside – on the contrary, I go for a cool expression with sensitive undertones and thereby join an abstract, new formalistic movement in contemporary art.

Links:

• Myung-nam AN website
• Mall Galleries website
• Society of Designer Craftsmen website

Haeinsa Temple is hosting its first contemporary art exhibition, involving 34 artists from 10 countries, to commemorate the millennial anniversary of the Tripitaka Koreana, which UNESCO has designated one of the “most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world.”

Among the 34 international artist in the exhibition is Hyunseok Lee, who is contributing a 10 minute video work entitled 1,000 years.

Lee comments:

This artwork, 1,000 years, represents the 1,000 years of the Tripitaka Koreana and the 1,200 years history of the Haeinsa monastery through the digital images artwork in order to deliver the historic and religious meaning of the Tripitaka Koreana and Haeinsa itself.

Particularly, I have focused on exploring the representation of Buddhist philosophical principles and sacred experience by dramatising abstract and surreal environments displaying Korean architecture and the Tripitaka Koreana. This encourages audiences to feel the ‘sacredness’ which is a unique and indigenous form of Korean tradition. The Buddhist style of narration hopefully will evoke a dramatic feeling to explore the holistic passion and pride about the Tripitaka Koreana. The English voiceover also will deliver the deep meaning of the Korean Buddhism to people from all over the world.

This form of art work, using the ‘Animated Spiritual Documentary’ genre, explores the beauty of the physical outlook as well as the metaphysical meaning using the both realistic and surreal expression based on my subjective and artistic interpretation to share the ‘feeling’ with audiences.

通 | 통 | Tong
Date: Sept 23, 2011 – Nov 6, 2011 (45 days)
Organizer: Haein Art Project
Host: Haeinsa Temple
Curators: Yu Yeon Kim(Chief), Jiwoong Yoon
Advisors: Gerardo Mosquera, Martin Brauen
Venue: Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon, Korea
Haein Art Project: 44-1 Chiin-ri, Gaya, Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, (678-895)
TEL: 055-934-3175 (English); 055-934-3173 (Korean); Fax 055-934-3174
Web: www.haeinart.org Email: pr.haeinart@gmail.com

KAYA Concert: ‘Bridge’

Harmony of Korean traditional harp ‘kayagum’ and guitar
Korean Cultural Centre UK: Multi Purpose Hall
Friday 21st October 2011 7pm – 8:30pm
Register via info@kccuk.org.uk | 020 7004 2600

The team name ‘KAYA’ derives from the Korean traditional instrument ‘kayagum’. Ji Eun Jung plays the modern 25 string kayagum with Sung Min Jeon playing acoustic guitar. They’ve been performing together since 2002 in Korea and since 2005 in Europe after they settled in UK. They’ve performed for various diplomatic, corporate, cultural and charity events including at London City Hall, British Museum, Asia House, Oxford University, Chelsea Flower Show. They were often invited to perform to represent Korea, and also stand for the harmony between the East and the West, and the bridge between Korea and the world. They’ve released two CDs: ‘Bridge’ and ‘Korean Breeze’ in UK. Official website: www.kaya-music.co.uk

Ji Eun Jung

Ji Eun Jung is a professional kayagum player and a national initiator of the Important Intangible Cultural Assets of Korea, No.23 Jook Pa Kim Sanjo. She did her BA in Korean Traditional Music at Ewha Woman’s University and MA in Asian Music at Dong Gook University. After graduate she had performed all over the world.

Sung Min Jeon

Sung Min Jeon is a Korean guitarist and folk singer songwriter. He mainly plays a steel string acoustic guitar with a harmonica. He started playing the guitar when he was 13. His passion for music was inspired by his family. His father plays various instruments and is also a great singer, while his mother used to run a record shop. His uncle is the leader of the greatest Korean folk duo, ‘Sunflower’.

Program

1. Sanjo
Sanjo, Korean representative music for solo instruments, was developed in the 19th century. It is thought to have been developed from shinawi, a form of improvisation played in shamanistic ceremonies in Jeolla Province, in the south western part of the Korean peninsula. Originally, Sanjo was improvised music but now the forms are set. It has five movements which increase in tempo Chinyangjo, Chungmori, Chungjungmori, Chajinmori and Hwimori.

2. Amazing Grace
‘Amazing grace’ is a hymn written by English poet and clergyman ‘John Newton’ (1725-1807). It is one of the most recognizable songs in the world. Ji Eun Jung tries to arrange the song to fit 25 strings Kayagum.

3. Thinking of you
Sung Min composed ‘Thinking of You’ inspired by one rainy day when he thought of someone he loves.

4. Heart for the people
This is Ji Eun’s own composition. As is well known, her home country Korea has been divided into North and South for more than 50 years. In the face of such geographical and ideological division, she believes the most important thing is to continue to love the people who are suffering.

5. Your theme
In Ji Eun’s composition ‘Your Theme’, she intends listeners to let their feelings roam freely inspired by the emotion of the music.

6. Dokdo
Sung Min’s composition ‘Dokdo’ was inspired by Dokdo, the island of the Korean coast in the East Sea. It literally means ‘Solitary Island’ in Korean. It’s a small but beautiful island. Also Dokdo is special and means a lot to Koreans. It’s in every Korean’s heart.

7. Market day / People of the sea / The field – ‘Home’
With photo slide show of Ji Eun’s father Jung Hoi Jung’s photo works – Korean rural scenery in 1970’s
Ji Eun composed and arranged ‘Market day’ and ‘People of the Sea’ inspired by the photos taken by her father, Mr. Jung Hoi Jung, a professional photographer. His photos show scenes of Korea in 1970s. ‘Home’ is Sung Min’s composition.

8. The narrow way
‘The Narrow Way’ is Ji Eun’s own composition and words. There are many ways in our life, but she believes that the true way of life is narrow.

9. New Arirang
Joined by daegum, the traditional Korean bamboo flute, and keyboard
‘Arirang’, is the most representative Korean traditional folk song. ‘Arirang’ is an ancient native Korean word. ‘Ari’ means ‘beautiful’ and ‘rang’ can mean ‘dear’. Ji Eun arranged ‘Arirang’ into a modern style.

Francesca Cho participated in a group exhibition entitled “Free Words” in the Mayfair Library three years ago. She returns to the same venue with a solo show this month:

This is not just a picture

Mayfair Library Exhibition Hall
25 South Audley Street
London W1K 2PB
October 14th – November 5th
11am – 7pm Monday – Friday
10.30am – 2pm Saturday

The title of the exhibition ‘This is not just a picture’ is a reference to the involved process that Francesca Cho employs when creating her work namely, painting with a mixture of ash and paint.

The ash is produced by burning former belongings e.g. old photos, letters, catalogues, paintings or drawings, legal documents and papers which showed the artist’s name and address. The presence of unforgettable stories within the ash is now embedded in the paint of Cho’s canvasses.

Ash is a symbol of mortality. The beautiful images created therefore are not just aesthetic, but are also an expression of her emotional response to everyday tragedies in the news and her desire to transform this into something more positive. In doing so they become cathartic.

‘Opening Performance’ at 7.30pm
In their performance art collaboration entitled: Elasticized Probation, Part I, Francesca Cho and Dagmar Glausnitzer-Smith will explore an “intertransitexchangecommunication” an experiment between sound, voice and object. Cho’s words are from the sources of SIJO – Korean traditional poetry – and their foreign-ness will meet with Glausnitzer-Smith’s sounds of everyday objects. The artists move within the boundaries of their own individual entity, however are deceivingly connected.

Curated by Camille Rodskjaer

www.francescacho.com