If you are looking for a trendy or fashionable exhibition, Doosan Gallery Seoul’s “Cour des Miracles” is probably not the right one for you. It surely will not meet your need for escapism. Here, you will not find a soothing, relaxing or sublime experience. But the exhibition offers a different kind of sensory experience.“Cour des Miracles” is an exhibition curated by Bae Enn-a, the winner of the 2018 Curatorial Open Call, a new biennial award that the art center launched this year. Artist Park S

Music of Yun I-sang and works by Japanese contemporary classical music composer Toshio Hosokawa are among the highlights at next year’s Tongyeong International Music Festival, March 29-April 7, taking place at the southern port city of Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province.　The Lucerne Symphony Orchestra raises the curtain on the annual music festival on March 29 with the Asian premiere of Heinz Holliger’s “Ostinato Funebre,” as well as Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C Minor Op. 67. Pianist Behzod

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will not be reuniting with its former music director Chung Myung-whun after all as the conductor withdrew from an upcoming engagement, citing health reasons.Chung has canceled all upcoming concerts until he recovers as advised by his doctor, according to a recent announcement made by management company Askonas Holt’s Martin Campbell-White. Maestro Chung Myung-whun speaks during a press conference in August to promote the concert commemorating the 120th anniversar

The yearslong patent battle between Samsung and Apple over the slide-to-unlock feature was perhaps one of the most explicit cases of how the human body -- human gestures, in particular -- have been privatized or incorporated into capitalism and technological development. Julien Previeux’s first solo exhibition in South Korea comprises works that tackle phenomena in which the contemporary world “buys” the actions of human bodies.An installation view of Julien Previeux’s first solo exhibition, “Pi

Hakgojae, one of the leading galleries in Korea, has opened a new gallery in the posh district of Cheongdam, south of the Han River. Hakgojae started in Insa-dong in 1988, which was then the center of the country’s art scene. In 2008, the gallery moved its headquarters to a traditional Korean-style building in Samcheong-dong.The opening of Hakgojae Cheongdam coincides with the gallery’s 30th anniversary. 　Fiona Rae’s “Sleeping Beauty will hum about mine ears” (Hakgojae)“Hakgojae Cheongdam will t

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on Friday kicked off “MMCA Residency Changdong Report 2018,” an annual exhibition that introduces works of artists currently under the nation-led museum’s residency program.Over 10 days, the artists will introduce works and performances produced during their residencies at a studio in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul.  Artist Sung Nak-hee’s 2018 work "Untitled Changdong2 (detail)" (MMCA)Seven artists from five different countries are currently under

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company’s “Three Stravinsky” is a set of three dances based on three compositions by Igor Stravinsky, one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.A follow-up project to last year’s “Three Bolero,” in which three choreographers reinterpreted composer Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero,” this piece also involved three choreographers: the company’s artistic director Ahn Sung-soo and colleagues Kim Jae-duk and Jung Young-doo. Each one selected a Stravinsky sc

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is taking tangible steps to return to normal after a yearslong struggle.The orchestra will embark Nov. 25 on a tour of five European cities -- Geneva, Udine, Lucerne, Grenoble and Paris -- and will perform at its final stop, Paris, Dec. 1. This is the first European tour for the orchestra in four years, which was left floundering after a bitter controversy over allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and irregularities. The Seoul-based orchestra has also started

The short-lived Korean Empire (1897-1910), also known as the Daehan Empire, an interregnum between Joseon and Japanese colonial rule, is often seen as a dark period in Korean history when the 600-year-old kingdom struggled to remain independent amid the onslaught of foreign powers, especially Japan. “Art of Korean Empire: The Emergence of Modern Art,” running through Feb. 6 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Deoksugung branch, looks at the period through art produced during

The Mariinsky Ballet will perform “Don Quixote” at the Sejong Center in Seoul from Thursday to Sunday, with ballerino Kim Ki-min and ballerina Viktoria Tereshkina in the lead roles. The production is Alexnader Gorsky’s version of the ballet, created in the early-20th century. It is a reinvention of choreographer Marius Petipa’s work, which premiered in 1869 at the Bolshoi Theatre. The Mariinsky Ballet’s Kim Ki-min performs as the poor barber Basilio in Gorsky’s “Don Quixote” (Mariinsky Theatre)

Achim Freyer’s “Das Rheingold” will kick off a two-year journey on Wednesday. The German producer’s latest opera -- the first installment of the Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner -- will premiere Wednesday at the Seoul Arts Center, where it will run until Nov. 18. The other three operas will be performed in the next two years. Singers perform during a rehearsal of Achim Freyer’s “Das Rheingold” on Monday at the Seoul Arts Center. (World Art Opera)Wagner’s Ring Cycle, or “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” is

Director Lee Kyung-sung’s “Love Story” is a play that is faithful to the theater’s fundamental function: imagination.“Love Story” follows on the heels of Lee’s 2017 work “Walking Holiday,” inspired by a walking tour of the Demilitarized Zone, which highlighted the reality of the divided Korean Peninsula.“Love Story,” however, is different as it provides a look at the physically unreachable land beyond the border. Actor Woo Bum-jin, actress Sung Soo-yeon and actor Na Kyung-min perform in “Love St

Park Su-geun’s 1961 work “People at the Marketplace” will be auctioned on Nov. 21 at K Auction’s November sale.Park is a Korean painter known for his artworks that portray the daily life of the Korean people in the mid-20th century. Park Su-geun’s “People at the Marketplace” (K Auction)The estimated price for “People at the Marketplace” is 4 billion won-5.5 billion won ($3.5 million-$4.9 million), the auction house said. The work was owned by a foreign collector for about 40 years before it was

The Seoul Arts Center on Wednesday began a run of director Lee Su-in’s “A Black Box,” a 2017 play written by Lee Kang-baek.The story was inspired by a real picture of King Gojong that was presented to a US president’s daughter, who is known to have made belittling remarks about it. A scene from “A Black Box” (SAC)Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of US President Theodore Roosevelt, mentioned the picture in her autobiography, titled “Crowded Hours.” In the book, she wrote that King Gojong and t

Two acclaimed orchestras based in Munich will perform in Seoul later this month, in what are perhaps the most awaited concerts of the season. Their performances will feature pianists Sunwoo Ye-kwon and Evgeny Kissin, internationally acclaimed artists who enjoy huge popular following here. The Munich Philharmonic’s concert with pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon takes place on Nov. 22 at Sejong Center. The concert will highlight two symphonic works: Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 and Mah

Violinist Yang In-mo on Monday released his first album under the Deutsche Grammophon label. The album is a live recording of a May 3 recital at Kumho Art Hall, where he performed all 24 caprices by Paganini.The latest album is imbued with his personal style, Yang, winner of the 2015 Paganini Competition, explained. “I think it was possible because it is Paganini. If I were to play Beethoven, it would have been totally different. (In other compositions) there is always a given formality (one is

Korean cellists Lee Sang-eun and Lee Jeong-hyoun won first prize at Isang Yun Competition 2018, Tongyeong International Music Foundation announced Saturday. Third prize went to Russian cellist Lev Sivkov, and Chun Yeh-jin won the Seong-Yawng Park Special Prize. There was no winner of the Isang Yun Special Prize this year, as participants who were to perform Yun’s cello concertos all failed to proceed to the final round. The special prize is given to an artist who wins a prize with a Yun composit

Actor Shin Sung-il died of lung cancer Sunday. He was 81.Shin was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer in June 2017 and was undergoing chemotherapy when his condition recently deteriorated.Shin was born Kang Shin-yeong in Daegu in 1937. He attended Kyungbock High School, an elite school in Seoul, but gave up going to college due to his family’s financial circumstances. In 1957, he joined director Shin Sang-ok’s studio, where he adopted the stage name Shin Sung-il at the director’s suggestion. Shin

Strong theatricality and musicality sum up the Korean National Ballet’s “Mata Hari.” The ballet company unveiled “Mata Hari” to the public and press Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the opening performance at the Seoul Arts Center the same evening. “Mata Hari” runs until Sunday.  The Korean National Ballet’s principal dancer, Kim Ji-young (right), performs with Lee Jae-woo during a “Mata Hari” press call Tuesday afternoon at the Seoul Arts Center. (Yonhap) The Korean National Ballet’s principal dance

Artist Han Jeong-sun’s exhibition “Untamed Thoughts” showcases her allegorical paintings, which deal with wildness and breaking free of constraints, at a local cultural center called The Forest in Nowon, Seoul. In Han’s view, capitalist societies with their repetitive daily routines have deprived contemporary people of their identities and their dignity. She sees contemporary civilization as a force that flattens individuality and represses the beast that is the human spirit. “Alice in Wonderlan