Poet Ko Un will begin a lecture tour in Europe next month as part of the government’s project to promote prominent Korean authors abroad. The lectures, sponsored by the state culture agency Arts Council Korea, will be held in Venice, Milan, Rome and Paris from March to June 30. The celebrated Korean poet is also expected to receive an honorary doctorate from Ca’ Doscari University of Venice, where he will spend four months writing poems and researching. Apart from his European tour, Ko will part

Nude paintings were banned from public exhibition and publication in the early days of modern Korea: When a daily newspaper ran a story of a Korean painter winning a Japanese art award in 1916, the story ran without a picture.The editor’s note read, “The photo of the painting cannot be published as it has naked women.”The painting by Kim Kwan-ho, featuring two females standing in the nude, was considered the first nude painting of modern Korean art. While nudity was associated with disgracefulne

The boundaries between retail stores, art galleries and concert halls are being blurred by a new breed of multi-concept culture spots in Seoul. With everything just a click away in the age of smartphones, more places strive to provide a variety of experiences in one spot. Known as “multi culture spots” in Korean, the multi-purpose places enable visitors to shop for clothes, get a haircut, eat, view art and listen to music all in one place. Many places also serve as networking venues that bring t

Pop music“Soul Play: Brown Eyed Soul”: Soul and R&B group Brown Eyed Soul is holding its third concert titled “Soul Play.” The four-member group came back after a two-year break with the release of its third album and will be touring in seven cities in Korea including Seoul from Feb. 15-16 at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium starting at 8 p.m. on the first day and 6 p.m. on the second day. Tickets range from 88,000 won to 132,000 won. For more information, call (02) 515-5880 or visit www.inte

The online accommodation information service Airbnb announced its official service launch in Korea on Tuesday, as part of its expansion plan in Northeast Asia. The peer-to-peer service matches spare rooms at homes of local residents and tourists looking for accommodation. The business model has received much attention as an example of the “sharing economy.” At the press conference held on the day, cofounder and chief product officer Joe Gebbia said Korea was growing faster than any other Asian m

Light mist cloaked the ancient hills in Upper Normandy, and from somewhere within this tapestry of seaside cliffs and pastures of flowers, I expected a fire-breathing dragon or a white-haired wizard muttering ancient incantations would come bounding out of the forest at any moment.Upper Normandy, in the northwest corner of France, is just the place that would summon a dragon or wizard or two with its castles, monasteries, moats, and stone fences. But it also summons spirits, the kind you find in

The Korean National Museum of Contemporary Art will open a new branch in the heart of Seoul later this year that will function as the “hub of contemporary art” in Korea, according to museum officials. “The opening of the Seoul branch realizes our dream of establishing a space that presents the future of Korean art. Citizens and the art world together have shown great anticipation toward the new museum,” said Chung Hyung-min, director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea at a press c

With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, Opera Gallery Seoul is showcasing love-themed artwork during the month of February. The Valentine’s Day selection will feature 50 artworks by 15 artists, including sculptures of Auguste Rodin, and works by famous contemporary artists Peter Klasen, Mr. Brainwash, Romero Britto and Korean artist Lee Dong-uk. “Love has always been a favorite theme of artists who expressed different emotions of love in their creations,” said Hong Su-ryun, a curator of the ga

An art scandal involving fake paintings by two great Korean modern artists came to an end as the court ruled them to be forgeries last week. Art experts have been casting doubts about the authenticity of 2,834 paintings, claimed to have been made by Lee Jung-seob and Park Soo-keun, since they were first unveiled to the world in 2005. The court ruling came last Friday after several appraisals conducted by the National Forensic Service and museums over the past seven years, but left a deep distrus

The art of the Czech Republic is less well known than its literature or music, but the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea and the National Gallery in Prague have worked together to break the mold and brought a selection of 107 paintings by 28 modern Czech artists for an exhibition in Korea. “Korean museums often hold so-called ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions focusing on mainstream art of Western Europe in order to draw large a number of visitors. But as a national museum of Korea with a respon

Theater“Shear Madness”: The Korean adaptation of the popular German play “Shear Madness” is back for its second run in Seoul. The play is one of the longest-running plays in the world, premiering back in 1963. The play takes place in a hair salon, which is owned by a gay hairdresser named George. After George and his flirty assistant Suji welcome two customers, one a wealthy housewife and the other an antique dealer, the landlady of the shop is murdered upstairs. The audience is asked to partici

Seoul Metropolitan Government named Park Hyun-jung, president of the Woman Leadership Research Institute, as the new CEO of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on Friday. She is the first female chief executive of the orchestra. The nomination came a year after Kim Joo-ho retired as CEO in February.Park graduated from Seoul National University with a major in education, and completed master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology at Harvard University. She has also held managerial positions at Samsung Lif

Lotte Hotel is hosting a restaurant week that offers discounts on special course menus at its restaurants. The “Restaurant Super Week,” which runs from Jan. 25-31, offers diners a 30 percent to 50 percent discount on special menus at restaurants in Lotte Hotel Seoul in Sogong-dong, Lotte Hotel World in Jamsil, and Lotte Hotel Ulsan. The participating restaurants are the French restaurant Pierre Gagnaire; Italian restaurant Peninsula; Japanese restaurant Momoyama; Korean restaurant Mugunghwa and

Artist Sa Suk-won, born and raised in Seoul, has vivid memories of the city in which he grew up. In the middle of the pro-democracy protests in May 1980, Sa, who was an art college student, hid at a coffee shop in Jongno, central Seoul, from arrest. A coffee shop owner brought in a girl who was also hiding from the police and suggested a safe way out, advising that the two pretend to be a couple. Now, 53, the artist still remembers many other incidents that happened in different parts of the cit

Photographer Kim Jung-man is holding a smartphone photo exhibition to help young and elderly people with visual impairments. Titled “Eyes of Vega,” the exhibition features photos Kim took with Pantech’s latest mobile phone Vega R3, equipped with a 13 million-pixel camera.Kim captured beautiful scenes during his travels to Seoul’s old palaces, Jusanji Lake in North Gyeongsang Province, Jeju Island, Tokyo, and China’s Yunnan Province. “These are photos I took with two sets of Vega smartphones. I s