The Korea Herald

U.S. violin-makers thrive despite Chinese competition

MusicFeb 7, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― American violin-making is enjoying a rebirth, craftsmen say, despite the rapidly improving production by fellow makers in China which artisans here see both as a threat ― and a boon ― to their livelihood.Even with U.S. interest in classical music slipping, and some orchestras folding in harsh economic times, support for the artisans’ business is such that hundreds of individual American violin-makers are thriving.“Violin and bowmaking in this country is the best it’s been in U
Web helps museums net new art lovers

TheaterFeb 7, 2011

LONDON (AFP) ― The world’s great museums are increasingly using the Internet and social networking sites to pique the interest of people who might never think of setting foot in an art exhibition.At a click of a mouse, some of the greatest galleries in the world can come to life in a way that has hitherto been near-impossible when seen with the naked eye.The launch of the Google Art project, takin
Paik Nam-june deserves more

TheaterFeb 7, 2011

Concerns mount even as memorial services and exhibitions mark the fifth anniversary of Korean video artist’s deathThere is probably only one memorial service in the world where the mourners can smash up an electronic guitar to honor the deceased: video artist Paik Nam-june’s. Memorial services to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the renowned South Korean artist’s death were held at several pla
Filmmaker Yang heads to Berlinale with dreams for future

FilmFeb 7, 2011

Sassy and streetwise, this 25-year-old knows what she wants in a film.Film student and director Yang Hyo-joo, whose short film “Broken Night” has been officially invited to Berlin International Film Festival’s (Berlinale) competition section this year, could not hide her obvious talent and artistic nature.“Broken Night” is the third film Yang has ever made. And it was initially a graduation projec
Amanda Knox lawyers seek to stop film

TelevisionFeb 6, 2011

ROME (AP) ― Lawyers for U.S. student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend, who were found guilty of killing Knox’s British roommate in Italy, have formally demanded that U.S. television channel Lifetime scrap a planned film about their trial.Attornies Carlo Dalla Vedova and Luca Maori said Saturday they had sent letters to Lifetime warning they would go to U.S. court to try to sequester the film if it
Male model behind the Mona Lisa, expert claims

TheaterFeb 3, 2011

ROME (AP) -- A male apprentice, longtime companion and possiblelover of Leonardo da Vinci was the main influence and a model forthe ``Mona Lisa'' painting, an Italian researcher said. But the researcher, Silvano Vinceti, said Wednesday the portraitalso represents a synthesis of Leonardo's scientific, artistic andphilosophical beliefs. Because the artist worked on it at variousintervals for ma
Celebrating Seollal in the city

TheaterFeb 1, 2011

Seoul offers a variety of events for the Lunar New Year holidaySeollal, the first day of the lunar calendar, is one of the most celebrated holidays in Korea. It has been traditionally considered a family-oriented occasion where people gather with their loved ones at home. But this year, more Seollal events are being held in Seoul for those who want to celebrate the holiday spirit and traditional c
Indonesian star gets jail after sex-tape scandal

MusicFeb 1, 2011

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) ― An Indonesian pop star who rocked this predominantly Muslim nation after several homemade sex tapes found their way to the Internet was sentenced Monday to three years in jail.Nazril “Ariel” Irham’s trial has made headlines and dominated chatter on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for more than three months. Nazril "Ariel" Irham and Girlfriend Luna Maya (
‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ more fun as play than film

TheaterJan 31, 2011

The famous 1976 novel “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is to be adapted into a Korean stage show which will be even more fun and intriguing than the 1985 film adaptation, the drama’s director said. Actors cast in the drama “Kiss of the Spider Woman” pose at a press call in Seoul on Jan. 25. From left are Choi Jae-woong, Jung Sung-hwa, Park Eun-tae and Kim Seung-dae. (Kim Yoon-mi/The Korea Herald)Aga Com
Hot property: built for an Oscar winner

FilmJan 31, 2011

Actor, singer and tween idol Carlos Pena Jr., 21, has bought a Mediterranean-style home in the San Fernando Valley for close to its $1.5 million asking price.The 560-square-meter villa is set back from the road on a gated lot. The paver-stone courtyard is punctuated by a fountain, and the custom front door, with leaded and beveled glass and side lights, opens to a two-story foyer with limestone fl
‘Obangsaek’ multimedia extravaganza to promote rich Korean culture abroad

Jan 30, 2011

Korean-American filmmaker Benson Lee, who greatly contributed to exposing Korea’s B-boy culture to the world with his 2008 documentary film “Planet B Boy,” has embarked on another ambitious project to promote Korean culture.This time, the scale is much larger and the media more complex.Under the title “Project Obangsaek,” Lee will combine the synergy of theater, cinema and the Web to generate deba
Sculptor Catlett’s heroic images on display

TheaterJan 30, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― When American sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett was a graduate student studying with Grant Wood in Iowa, the painter of the iconic “American Gothic” told his young student to make art about what she knew best.Catlett, who was born into a middle-class family in Washington, D.C., in 1915 and raised by her mother and grandmother, took Wood’s advice to heart and began making im
Chris Brown finishes domestic violence program

MusicJan 30, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Chris Brown has completed a domestic violence counseling program required as part of the singer’s guilty plea to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna nearly two years ago.On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg congratulated the 21-year-old R&B performer for finishing the yearlong program.As a result of completing the required counseling, Brown will no longer
Sundance ‘Family’ offers glimpse of Ukraine racism

FilmJan 30, 2011

PARK CITY, Utah (AFP) ― “Family Portrait in Black and White” has brought the story of a woman raising 16 black orphans in Ukraine, an overwhelmingly white and often racist society, to the Sundance film festival.The searing film by Julia Ivanova, a Russian filmmaker based in Canada, is up for the documentary grand prize at the independent film festival here in the western U.S. mountains of Utah, which closes on Sunday.Set in Sumy, a town of 300,000 inhabitants in northeast Ukraine, the film follo
Chopin's hallucinations caused by epilepsy - scientists

MusicJan 30, 2011

PARIS, (AFP) - Can anyone beat Frederic Chopin as an emblem of the Romantic artist? (MCT)In the great Polish composer, towering genius combined with a wasted frame and a pallid face behind which lurked melancholy, a brooding over death, adisconnection from ordinary life and sometimes horrifying hallucinations. A force that created this image was the French novelist George Sand, whodescribed lyrica