Global celebration features dance companies from 18 countries

With the Chuseok holiday behind us, temperatures will soon begin to drop and live performance lovers will flock indoors to enjoy nights of cultural programs. Whether one’s interests lie in dabbling in the arts scene or head-banging the night away to the latest rock hits, the upcoming fall season promises a variety of performances. The country’s two biggest ballet companies will be staging two classic programs this year: “Romeo and Juliet” and “Sleeping Beauty.”The Universal Ballet is gearing up

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) -- Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was possibly bipolar or had a borderline personality, but a combination of factors likely drove him to cut off his ear and commit suicide, a researcher said Friday.“We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to draw a final conclusion about his illness,” said Louis van Tilborgh, a senior researcher at Amsterdam‘s renowned Van Gogh Museum.Van Tilborgh last week led a two-day panel discussion with researchers and medical experts

With this year marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, theater stages in Seoul have seen their fair share of tribute performances of some of the playwright’s most-beloved masterpieces this year. In April, the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre opened its 2016 season with a production of “Henry IV: Part I and II,” the first time the play was performed in Seoul in 14 years.Once again bringing back the works of Shakespeare this month, the Seoul theater troupe is gearing up to present “Ham-ick

Contemporary artists pay tribute to famed art collector Jeon Hyeong-pil in a show marking the 110th anniversary of his birth

Theater 　　“Mr. Show”: By renowned musical director Kolleen Park, the naughty male striptease show “Mr. Show” is returning to the stage this year. The women-only variety show features strapping young men who dance and perform various themed acts that are geared toward tantalizing females. The live show – only for those 19 and above -- will be staged from Sept. 24 to Dec. 4 at the Shinhan Card Fan Square’s Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets are 52,000 won and 80,000 won. For more details, call 02-547-569

Museums and galleries present diverse exhibitions in time for biennale season

Exposing the convoluted and dynamic relationship between mentor and mentees, Jon Marans’ 1996 Pulitzer Prize nominated dramatic musical play “Old Wicked Songs” will hit the Seoul stage starting Sept. 21. Set in a rehearsal studio in Vienna, Austria, the seemingly simplistic two-man play is anything but. The storyline follows the relationship between Josef Mashkan, a Viennese music professor, and his new student Stephen Hoffman. The 25-year-old Jewish pianist was once considered a musical genius,

Led by Swedish curator Maria Lind, 2016 event questions the role of art today

READING, United Kingdom (AFP) - Reading Gaol broke Oscar Wilde during his two-year incarceration but 120 years later, the prison is welcoming the Irish writer back -- this time through his works, in an exhibition on isolation.Her Majesty's Prison Reading, west of London, is also hosting works from the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and British visual artist Steve McQueen for the exhibition entitled “Inside.”It would be hard to find a better place to discuss separation, deprivation and despair than wit

Busan Biennale, one of the largest celebrations of contemporary art in Korea, opened on Saturday, bringing together more than 100 artists from 22 countries in the port city of Busan.　This year’s exhibition, themed with “Hybridizing Earth, Discussing Multitude,” highlights East Asian experimental art trends and their historical significance. The show is curated and presented by the curatorial team that consists of Korean, Chinese and Japanese curators.  Visitors view the Busan Biennale exhibition

Growing number of women and young artists featured at multimedia biennale

Jeong, winner of 16th Hermes Foundation Missulsang, reveals her collection of sexual and medical objects used in her voyeurism-provoking work