The solo exhibition of installation artist Ahn Jong-yuen, who has explored -- and played with -- light throughout her artistic career opens Wednesday at Summit Gallery in southern Seoul. The exhibition titled, “Skywalk, Lightwalker: Time for Walking the Sky and Light,” is jointly organized by Herald Auction and ArtToken, and will run through March 15. Ahn has been dubbed an “artist of light” for her works that use LED lighting and media art inspired by light. Born in 1952

South Korea, today famous for its K-pop culture, had a different reputation only a few decades ago, as a country that achieved rapid economic growth through the tireless work of its people. Emerging from the depths of war-induced poverty, Koreans had a deep-rooted thirst for higher education. This thirst not only resulted in accomplishments like Korea's students ranking among the top three countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in computer-based problem-sol

The National Gugak Center is scheduled to go on a nationwide tour to perform Jongmyo Jeryeak, which is royal ancestral ritual music featured at Jongmyo Shrine. The tour will be followed by an overseas tour later in the year. The tour will start at Sejong Art Center in Yeongi-gun, Sejong City on Saturday. It will then be performed at Yeak-dang in the National Gugak Center in Seoul from June 14-16, followed by performances at the Daejeon Municipal Yeonjeong Korean Traditional Music Center on July

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has selected Jung Yeon-doo as the artist featured in its MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2023, in recognition of his art that hovers between reality and illusion and casts a critical look on various social issues. Jung has explored various artistic media, including photographs, performances and installations, creating art that provokes curiosity about the relationship between reality and illusion. His “DMZ Theater” shown at MMCA

Four Korean picture books received special mention at the BolognaRagazzi Award this week, as part of the Bologna Children's Book Fair held in Italy. “Moving Away,” written and illustrated by Lee Ji-yeon, was given special mention in the Fiction category. “This exquisitely designed leporello … invites the reader to follow a magnified ant trail through the garden where a child is playing,” said the jury. "The Blue: Bench" written and illustrated by mia

The musical “The Phantom of the Opera” will kick off in Busan in March, a significant event on many levels. Not only is it the third Korean production of the iconic musical that took the local musical industry by storm with its debut in 2001, it is returning to Korea after 13 years. Danny Sihn, CEO and producer of S&CO, told reporters during a press conference on Monday that the latest production is focused on preserving the original vision of the 35-year-old musical created by l

A special tour of the palace Changgyeonggung's architecture and history has returned with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Launched in 2018, the 90-minute tour comparing the present day palace with the one depicted in Donggwoldo, a palace map painted sometime between 1826 and 1831, is led by a cultural heritage curator. The participants are given pamphlets with a scaled down version of the old map. This year’s tour, the first since the pandemic, began 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at the

Trailblazing translator of Korean classics turns to writing biographies of Korean heroes in English

The Daesan Foundation is accepting applications for the 2023 Korean Literature Translation, Research, and Publishing Support program. Applicants for this year’s translation grants will be accepted until 3 p.m. on June 1 through the foundation’s official website. Successful applicants will be announced in August. Applicants can select from Daesan Literary Award-winning works that have not been translated into the target language, or any other literary work in need of translation. The

The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and the Korean Broadcasting System on Friday released some 335 videos documenting major historical and social events in Korea, from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The short films and video clips collected by KBS is posted on the museum’s website. The total running time of the entire archive reaches more than 40 hours. KBS converted the films into high-resolution video format for streaming while the museum categorized and labeled each record

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- As more Koreans head overseas for holidays with the lifting of COVID-19 related travel restrictions, there are concerns that domestic travel to Jeju Island may decrease. But with a number of luxury hotels newly opening on the southern island, Jeju’s travel industry is positive about growth prospects. JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa, expected to open sometime this month, is the latest five-star hotel on the island -- Grand Hyatt Jeju opened its doors in 2020 and P

Bunsik, literally food made with flour, has its beginnings in the early 1960s. Since rice was scarce and expensive in postwar Korea, the government promoted the consumption of mixed grains and flour noodles. The campaign to eat more mixed grains and flour faded out in the 1980s, and bunsik came to mean inexpensive eats that you could either have as a snack or as a meal in itself. Most small diners, known as "bunsikjib," serve what have become popular street food -- from gimbap, tteokbo

“While young, I suffered from the disease I have in my heart. At that time, my symptoms were very similar to postpartum depression that affects new mothers who were so exhausted that they lose consciousness and wake up in the middle of the night fearing that their babies might suffocate because their breast presses their babies’ mouth in their sleep.” Park Ji-won (1737-1805), a Silhak scholar and novelist who wrote renowned satirical novels exposing social irregularities such

Megabox, a South Korean cinema operator, Thursday announced that it would live stream South Korea’s World Baseball Classic matches in its theaters, starting March 10. The WBC is an international baseball tournament that has taken place every four years since 2009 The last tournament, scheduled for 2021, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korean outfielder Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes, considered Korea's next Major League Baseball hopeful, and Major Leaguer Kim Ha-s

Young Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin and Maestro Chung Myung-whun hug after a passionate accompanied performance with the German orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden on Friday at the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul. Around 2,000 attendees rose to their feet and broke into applause when the concert was adorned with the finale Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1. (Yonhap)