The Music of North Korea: Pathos and Passion

2012 08 02  music-north-korea  icon2The music of rare and exceptional artistic expression from North Korea will be showcased at the Korea Society as part of its Korean Traditional Music Series. Eun Sun Jung, an award-winning and talented young kayagŭm (12 and 25 string zither) artist from Seoul, Korea, presents some of the folk music of North Korea, selected for its vibrant folk music style and its contemporary interpretation of older traditions.

This includes the well-known folk songs of Paek Toraji (White Bellflower) and Hanopaekyôn (Living for Five Hundred Years), modern compositions for solo kayagûm based on North Korean folk songs by Hwang Kûm San and Ôm Chan Sôk. Ms. Jung holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Seoul National University, and has extensive professional performance experience touring in many cities in South Korea, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan and the United States. In 2011 she was selected as an Artist-in-Residence in New York City, sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

 

nysca 200px white

Made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts.

 

 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

6:30 PM  

The Music of North Korea: Pathos and Passion

 

The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor


 

Vegetarian Korean Cooking with Haelin Lee at Whole Foods Culinary Center

2012 07 25 Haelin Lee Whole Foods iconLearn to make two complete traditional vegetarian Korean meals during this two session hands-on workshop and demonstration at Whole Foods Market (Bowery Culinary Center). Chef Haelin Lee, a student of Blue House chef and Korean Master Jungyoung Sun, is a dynamic, young and accomplished traditional Korean chef, catering to clientele in the New York area. Chef Lee will demonstrate how to prepare various types of Korean banchan, or side dishes and how to incorporate them into flavorful main dishes with traditional spices and homemade sauces. Chef Lee will also provide hands-on instruction for a variety of seasonal desserts and appetizers.

In the first session, Chef Lee will demonstrate the preparation and serving of traditional Korean savory pancakes and sauce, a spicy bean sprout soup, flavorful side dishes, or banchan, that can be used as the elements in bibimbap (mixed rice dish), and a simple and elegant dessert of dried fruit and nuts.

The second session will build upon the skills taught in the first session, with the addition of techniques mandatory to create the traditional Korean appetizer Gujeol pan, or platter of nine-delicacies. In the hot summer months, Korean’s eat hot spicy foods to ‘sweat out’ the heat. Chef Lee will instruct students how to prepare a spicy and flavorful soft silken tofu vegetable stew, soondobu, with vegetable sides, or namul, and a cold and quick cucumber kimchi, oi kimchi. We complete the meal with a quick and simple sesame seed candy and dessert of yuzu orange with pomegranate seeds.

 

 

Whole Foods Market

The Bowrey Culinary Center 

95 East Houston Street 

 

Adoptees and the Politics of Belonging

 

 

2012 07 12 Eleana-Kim Icon

Since the end of the Korean War, an estimated 200,000 children from South Korea have been adopted into families in North America, Europe, and Australia. While these transnational adoptions were initiated as an emergency measure to find homes for mixed-race children born in the aftermath of the war, the practice grew exponentially from the 1960s through the 1980s. At the height of South Korea’s “economic miracle,” adoption became an institutionalized way of dealing with poor and illegitimate children. Most of the adoptees were raised with little exposure to Koreans or other Korean adoptees, but as adults, through global flows of communication, media, and travel, they have come into increasing contact with each other, Korean culture, and the South Korean state.

Since the 1990s, as Korean children have continued to leave to be adopted in the West, a growing number of adult adoptees have been returning to Korea to seek their cultural and biological origins. In this fascinating ethnography, Eleana J. Kim examines the history of Korean adoption, the emergence of a distinctive adoptee collective identity, and the phenomenon of adoptee returns to Korea in relation to South Korean modernity and globalization. Kim draws on interviews with adult adoptees, social workers, NGO volunteers, adoptee activists, scholars, and journalists in the U.S., Europe, and South Korea, as well as on observations at international adoptee conferences, regional organization meetings, and government-sponsored motherland tours.

Thursday, July 12

6:30 PM

Adoptees and the Politics of Belonging

with

Eleana J. Kim

Author and Assitant Professor of Anthropology, University of Rochester

Choi Min-Shik Tribute: Old Boy @ Museum of the Moving Image

2012 07 01  Old-Boy icon2The Korea Society presents a retrospective of the work of Choi Min-shik, one of Korea’s most recognizable contemporary actors, as part of our ongoing “Korean Cinema Now” program with MoMI (the Museum of Moving Image).

Choi Min-shik had numerous television roles, but his big break came in 1999 when he played a cold-blooded North Korean soldier in Swiri (Dir. Kang Je-gyu) and suddenly gained a reputation as one of Korea’s finest actors. His acting dominates the silver screen, but his characters have more than charisma. In Failan, he played a thug, married to a Chinese woman out of convenience, but who sheds tears of regret when his “fake” wife dies. In Strokes of Fire, which won the Best Director Prize at the 55th Cannes Film Festival, he played the famous nineteenth-century Korean painter Jang Seung-up. In 2004, Choi returned to Cannes when director Park Chan-woo’s bloody revenge epic, Old Boy, won the Grand Prix-award. Choi’s impassioned and robust acting can seize an audience’s heart, and he is now known to film buffs worldwide.

This Choi Min-shik tribute will be presented at the newly renovated Museum of the Moving Image, home to New York City’s finest, state-of-the-art screen. Films are free with museum admission. This tribute is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Taxi 10 minutes from The Korea Society or NQ Train Outbound to 36th Ave., 36th Street and 35th Avenue, Astoria.

 

nysca 200px white

Made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts.

 

 

Old Boy 
2003, 120 min. 

Director: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Choi Min-shik, Kang Hye-jung, and Yu Ji-tae 

Director Park Chan-wook’s flamboyant colors and giltzy cinematography and Choi Min-shik’s unforgettable performance made Old Boy an international hit.

 

Sunday, July 1, 2012 
4 PM

 

 

The Museum of the Moving Image
35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria
From midtown, taxi or N/Q Train outbound to 36th Avenue

 


 

Far From Forgotten

2012 06 29 Far-From-Forgotten icon

In June of 2010, 10 Korean War veterans, now in their 80s and living in Long Island New York: Sal, Robert, Bill, Bob, Eugene, Frank, Arthur, John, Joseph, and Henry, visit Korea to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. The documentary Far From Forgotten, traces these veterans’ emotional return to the DMZ and war memorial, where they realize that the DMZ that they visited after 60 years is not a reminder of the war but a place where we learn to find peace and plan for a hopeful future. Directors Jia Lim and Michael Unger will be present to introduce the film and several veterans who served in the Korean War.

 

Far From Forgotten

with

Michael Unger
Director, Far From Forgotten

and

Jia Lim
Director, Far From Forgotten

 

Friday, June 29, 2012 | 6:30 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017


 

 

Gallery Talk: Collecting art in North Korea w/ Katherine Zellweger

2012 06 07  gallery-opening iconFeast or Famine features 23 original posters from the Katharina Zellweger Collection. Zellweger collected over 100 posters during her tenure as the director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation program in Pyongyang from 2006 to 2011. This selection, rarely seen outside of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, centers around issues related to agriculture, animal husbandry, and food production. Created for a domestic audience and produced by government-run studios, the posters were designed to rally the population behind nationally promoted, food-related projects. The posters are original, hand-painted watercolors created to be copied and distributed in public campaigns.

 

June 7—August 24, 2012

Feast or Famine: DPRK Agrarian Posters from the Zellweger Collection

Gallery Opening
Thursday, June 7, 2012

Feast or Famine: DPRK Agrarian Posters from the Zellweger Collection

 

 

Feast or Famine features 23 original posters from the Katharina Zellweger Collection. Zellweger collected over 100 posters during her tenure as the director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation program in Pyongyang from 2006 to 2011. This selection, rarely seen outside of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, centers around issues related to agriculture, animal husbandry, and food production. Created for a domestic audience and produced by government-run studios, the posters were designed to rally the population behind nationally promoted, food-related projects. The posters are original, hand-painted watercolors created to be copied and distributed in public campaigns.

 

Gallery Talk: Collecting Art in North Korea
by Katharina Zellweger

What do foreigners residing in Pyongyang do when they are not at work? During the five years Katharina Zellweger spent in North Korea (2006 – 2011), she was asked the question many times. For her, many Saturday afternoons were spent scouting for North Korean propaganda posters on a wide variety of topics, from agricultural to public health, politics or culture. In North Korea, these posters are commonly displayed on billboards and panels throughout the country similar to advertising in the industrialized world, or, depending on the message, distributed to schools, factories, cooperative farms, and offices.

Following the gallery opening, Zellweger will discuss her experiences collecting poster art in North Korea and talk about some of the projects and campaigns they represent.


 

Korean Flavor Exposed with Angelo Sosa

2012 06 05  angelo-sosa icon

Restaurateur and Top Chef contestant Angelo Sosa brings Korean spices to his award-winning cuisine in his first cookbook, Flavor Exposed, 100 Global Recipes from Sweet to Salty, Earthy to Spicy. A collaboration with renowned food and health writer Suzanne Lenzer, Flavor Exposed was inspired by Sosa’s travels in Asia, and lists recipes according to his own “Flavor Map” of ingredients.

Sosa, a student of chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Alain Ducasse, will demonstrate recipes from the new cookbook, and explain how to incorporate Korean flavors into one’s own cooking. Attendees will sample scrumptious fusion dishes from Social Eatz, Sosa’s celebrated restaurant.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

6:30 PM | Talk and Cooking Demonstration

Korean Flavor Exposed with Angelo Sosa

Choi Min-Shik Tribute: Chi-hwa-seon @ Museum of the Moving Image

2012 06 03 stroke-of-fire iconThe Korea Society presents a retrospective of the work of Choi Min-shik, one of Korea’s most recognizable contemporary actors, as part of our ongoing “Korean Cinema Now” program with MoMI (the Museum of Moving Image).

Choi Min-shik had numerous television roles, but his big break came in 1999 when he played a cold-blooded North Korean soldier in Swiri (Dir. Kang Je-gyu) and suddenly gained a reputation as one of Korea’s finest actors. His acting dominates the silver screen, but his characters have more than charisma. In Failan, he played a thug, married to a Chinese woman out of convenience, but who sheds tears of regret when his “fake” wife dies. In Strokes of Fire, which won the Best Director Prize at the 55th Cannes Film Festival, he played the famous nineteenth-century Korean painter Jang Seung-up. In 2004, Choi returned to Cannes when director Park Chan-woo’s bloody revenge epic, Old Boy, won the Grand Prix-award. Choi’s impassioned and robust acting can seize an audience’s heart, and he is now known to film buffs worldwide.

This Choi Min-shik tribute will be presented at the newly renovated Museum of the Moving Image, home to New York City’s finest, state-of-the-art screen. Films are free with museum admission. This tribute is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Taxi 10 minutes from The Korea Society or NQ Train Outbound to 36th Ave., 36th Street and 35th Avenue, Astoria.

 

nysca 200px white

Made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts.

 

 

Chiwaseon
2002, 120 min.

Director: Im kwon-taek
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Ahn Sung-kee and Yu Ho-jeong 

A powerful performance in this historical costume drama brought Choi Min-sik international recognition.

 

Sunday, June 3, 2012 
3 PM

The Museum of the Moving Image 
35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria 
From midtown, taxi or N/Q Train outbound to 36th Avenue 

 
Film free with museum admission at The Museum of the Moving Image.

 

 


 

Choi Min-Shik Tribute: Failan @ Museum of the Moving Image

2012 05 20  failan icon2The Korea Society presents a retrospective of the work of Choi Min-shik, one of Korea’s most recognizable contemporary actors, as part of our ongoing “Korean Cinema Now” program with MoMI (the Museum of Moving Image).

Choi Min-shik had numerous television roles, but his big break came in 1999 when he played a cold-blooded North Korean soldier in Swiri (Dir. Kang Je-gyu) and suddenly gained a reputation as one of Korea’s finest actors. His acting dominates the silver screen, but his characters have more than charisma. In Failan, he played a thug, married to a Chinese woman out of convenience, but who sheds tears of regret when his “fake” wife dies. In Strokes of Fire, which won the Best Director Prize at the 55th Cannes Film Festival, he played the famous nineteenth-century Korean painter Jang Seung-up. In 2004, Choi returned to Cannes when director Park Chan-woo’s bloody revenge epic, Old Boy, won the Grand Prix-award. Choi’s impassioned and robust acting can seize an audience’s heart, and he is now known to film buffs worldwide.

This Choi Min-shik tribute will be presented at the newly renovated Museum of the Moving Image, home to New York City’s finest, state-of-the-art screen. Films are free with museum admission. This tribute is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Taxi 10 minutes from The Korea Society or NQ Train Outbound to 36th Ave., 36th Street and 35th Avenue, Astoria.

 

nysca 200px white

Made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts.

 

 

Failan 
2001, 116 min.

Director: Song Hae-sung
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Cecilia Cheung and Jeong Dae-Hoon

Choi Min-sik plays the perfect outsider in Song Hae-sung’s tale of a down-and-out gangster who finally finds love.

 

Sunday, May 20, 2012 
3 PM

 

The Museum of the Moving Image 
35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria 
From midtown, taxi or N/Q Train outbound to 36th Avenue 

 
Film free with museum admission at The Museum of the Moving Image.