Leeum presents 80 artworks looking back on Korea’s history from 1876 to present Korea’s restless modern history will unfold at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, in the form of paintings, photographs, installations and media works. The exhibition “Korean Rhapsody: A Montage of History and Memory,” which opens on Thursday, displays 80 historical documents and artworks th...

Commemorative performance ‘Hakchon Repertoire’ turns fans nostalgic Veteran actor Kim Yun-seok, who mesmerized cinephiles with his impressive role as a fraudulent gambler in the movie “Tazza,” was at the entrance of Hakchon Blue Theater in Daehangno, central Seoul, on Friday evening, checking names and handing out tickets. A PR official standing next to him handed a ticket and wanted to confirm...

LONDON (AP) ― Frothy, film-inspired funfest “Legally Blonde: The Musical” won three big prizes at London’s Laurence Olivier theater awards, while Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Love Never Dies’’ went home empty-handed despite seven nominations. “Legally Blonde” was named best new musical at Britain’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tonys on Sunday. Star Sheridan Smith was crowned best actress in a musical, and...

Mexican artist melds media, time, fantasy and reality at solo show in Seoul The ancient Egyptians were not the only ones who liked to put animal heads on human bodies. Mexican artist Carlos Amorales also enjoys creating “manimals,” his own term for the half-human, half-animal creatures, through different media such as photograms. Photograms are photographic images made without using a camera. ...

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) ― Fractions of seconds, captured by Vivian Maier a half-century ago or more ― fleeting moments of life on the streets at a time when men wore fedoras and dragged on Lucky Strike cigarettes, when women favored babushkas, when families piled in Studebakers and Packards for Sunday drives. She and her photos seemed destined for obscurity until a young man with an eye for barga...

Jaume Plensa, a Spanish installation artist renowned for his witty installation works, is looking for orean faces for his work “State Tower-Gwanghwamun,”which will be built in Cheongjin-dong, central Seoul, in July next year. Plensa’s public installation works are found across the world, with some of his famous work including “As One” in Toronto International Airport and “Breathing” on the BBC b...

Exhibitions “WA: The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today”: This show explains why adjectives such as “minimal,” “delicate” and, surprisingly, “thoughtful,” cannot help but be used to describe products made in Japan. It does more than introducing the latest cutting-edge designs: it offers an overall view of historically important designs by the Japanese that were created over 50 years ag...

A stream of light slides down an orange line until it meets a green cube and disperses, reflecting off a yellowish shine. On artist Choi Eun-hyea’s canvas, rigid cubes are softly highlighted and turned into something gentle and pastel-toned, almost mushy. Choi is showcasing drawings, paintings and installations that ponder the relationship between space, time and light at her first-ever solo sho...

Co-production looks at the lives of Koreans living in Japan in the 1960s The play “Yakiniku Dragon” is what you could call a masterpiece. Watching it is like reading a really good book in one sitting. Not only is the story itself genuine and well-organized but every detail of the play, including the witty lines and props, is very delicately knitted together so that the audience’s attention neve...

Playwright Kim Hae-rry reworking her one-woman play for Korean audiences An old woman sits in her living-room drawing women’s faces. She wants to draw all the faces of Korea’s former sex slaves before she dies. She says, “I don’t want to try to forget anymore. I draw to remember.” So starts “Face” ― a multimedia play telling of the estimated 200,000 women forced to serve as so-called “comfort ...

Hong Mi-sun, Michael Kenna, Min Byung-hun showcase photos of nature Though many dream of taking time off work for several months or even years to travel the world, not many have the courage to do so. But for some lucky photographers, global travel even makes them a living. Three established photographers are holding solo exhibitions in Seoul to show beautiful photos of nature they took during t...