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Category: Arts & Culture

Author Talks: Lee Chang-dong

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Author Photo: Oh Jung-mi

“Lee Chang-dong is a master storyteller of any form. This collection of his early works gives a deep, stark look at human stories from a Korea not too long ago. A gift to read.” —Steven Yeun, Academy Award nominee for Best Actor

Lee Chang-dong is one of South Korea’s most celebrated and influential directors. Known internationally for his films Burning, Secret Sunshine, and Poetry, Lee’s work is characterized by his meticulous eye for detail and his exploration of social issues and complex characters. Before turning to screenwriting and directing, Lee began his career as a writer of short fiction and novels. SNOWY DAY AND OTHER STORIES, translated into English for the first time by Yoosup Chang and Heinz Insu Fenkl, is a brilliant and unsettling collection that investigates themes of love, injustice, betrayal, and terror—on both an intimate and national scale.

Originally published in Korea in the 1980s, and drawn from the author’s own experiences, the stories in SNOWY DAY AND OTHER STORIES are haunting and deeply moving. As he does in his films, Lee dives deep into the mundane and the quiet, revealing our collective underlying pain, loneliness, and profound longing. In stunning prose, Lee moves swiftly between explorations of conflicts between family and memory, the powerful and the vulnerable, the rich and the poor, and conformists and rebels. The stories are visceral, contemplative, and thought-provoking. How is family memory preserved? How does danger and violence reverberate across generations?

In this episode of Author Talks, Lee Chang-dong discusses the English translation of his short stories.

 

Author Talks: Lee Chang-dong

Thursday, February 27, 2025


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

 

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Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness, and Longevity Michelle Jungmin Bang with Kathleen Kim

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Author Photo © Phoebe Miu

As a Korean-American, Michelle Jungmin Bang grew up in a family of doctors, then spent years traveling, researching, and training in nutrition and preventative care to write and illustrate Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness, and Longevity.

The book follows one person’s journey to heal. This book is an homage to Michelle’s Korean heritage and two decades of living in Asia. In its pages, readers will find an inspiring man who reversed his type 2 diabetes and regained his vision; free divers who continue to live strong, foraging and protecting the ocean through their 90s; Buddhist nuns who unlock the secrets of temple food; health patterns Michelle discovered across China, Japan, and Korea; and steamy and ice cold and budget-friendly sauna house methods that match the best luxury spas in the world. Embracing new science while preserving the old ways of living – eating local, eating in season, eating real food, and reconnecting to nature – could solve many pressing issues our modern world faces today on chronic disease, climate change, and food waste.

In her conversation with Kathleen Kim, Bang discusses her book Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness & Longevity and reflects on how we can eat for healing, live sustainably, reconnect with nature, form deeper relationships with the Korean concept of jeong (the warm, invisible connection between loved ones and places), and more.

 

Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness, and Longevity
Michelle Jungmin Bang with Kathleen Kim

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | 6:30 PM (EST)


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

 

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About the Speaker:

Michelle Jungmin Bang is an award-winning Korean American eco-entrepreneur, Chivas Venture Social Impact Fellow, and Harvard Business School graduate born into a family of doctors. She is a preventative care expert, speaker, and the author of Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness & Longevity. She is known for translating research into strategies that promote a radical shift in healthcare that embraces self-care or preventative care, which blends new science and old wisdom. Michelle is passionate about driving social impact and serves as a board director and founding member of various mission-driven organizations, most recently GrowNYC, an environmental non-profit focused on food access, agriculture, and green spaces. She lives with her family in Hong Kong and New York City and has been invited to speak at organizations, including Google.

 

About the Moderator:

 

Kathleen Kim is a NYC-based puppeteer and voice artist as well as an Emmy-nominated producer for her work on Sesame Street’s AAPI special “See Us Coming Together,” which introduced Ji-Young — the show’s first Asian-American Muppet character in its 50+ year history which Kim has the great honor of performing. Other performance credits include Saturday Night Live, Awkwafina’s Nora From Queens, The Today Show, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Helpsters on Apple TV+, and Mo Willems’ The Pigeon Explains.

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Author Talks: Kim Suhyun & Anton Hur

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In a world where it can seem impossible to feel you are ever good enough, and where it’s easy to judge yourself by the unrealistic standards, I Decided to Live as Me offers guidance and encouragement for celebrating yourself and feeling comfortable in your own skin.

Kim Suhyun is a writer and illustrator based in Seoul. In her own life, she realized that her self-esteem was the biggest battle she was facing. Surrounded by friends, co-workers, and especially social media, she couldn’t stop herself from comparing her life to others and measuring her successes against them. Recognizing that this was a dilemma that many people were facing, she decided to write her book in the hopes that it can provide comfort and advice to anyone else who has ever felt the same.

With her charming illustrations and uplifting language, Kim has reached millions of readers who have found inspiration in her journey of self-love. I Decided to Live as Me teaches you that by freeing yourself from the pressure of other people’s expectations, you can focus on what truly matters: living not for anyone else, but for yourself.

In this episode of Author Talks, Kim Suhyun is joined by Anton Hur, who translated I Decided to Live as Me, to discuss her English debut.

 

Author Talks: Kim Suhyun & Anton Hur

Wednesday, February 5, 2025


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

 

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About the Speakers:

Kim Suhyun is a writer and illustrator based in Seoul. She loves drawing, so in college she studied design. She describes herself as “thoughtful but not too serious, lighthearted but not shallow.” Her books have sold more than two million copies in Korea, and I Decided to Live as Me is being published around the world in more than 12 languages.

Anton Hur is the author of Toward Eternity and the translator of Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny, Baek Sehee’s I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, Lee Seong-bok’s Indeterminate Inflorescence, Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets, and others. He was double-longlisted and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, a finalist for the National Book Award, and nominated for the Dublin Literary Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He resides in Seoul.

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Cho In Ho | In the Manner of Magnificence

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Opening Reception: Thursday, January 23, 2025 @ 5-7 PM | Exhibition: January 23 – April 18, 2025 | In the tradition of ink painting, the genre of landscape presents a view of nature that may appear simply descriptive. However, landscape is more than mere representation but an encompassment of all things of this word of different meanings, dimensions, and concepts, and an expression of an individual artist. |
Image Courtesy of the Artist |

Exhibition: January 23 – April 18, 2025 |

In the tradition of ink painting, the genre of landscape presents a view of nature that may appear simply descriptive. However, landscape is more than mere representation but an encompassment of all things of this word of different meanings, dimensions, and concepts, and an expression of an individual artist.

While firmly rooted in tradition, Cho In Ho reinterprets and reiterates the landscape from multiple and moving perspectives. Painting the recognizable locations in present-day Korea using only muk (black ink), Cho reconstructs and transforms what he learned from nature, offering a visual journey through space and time.

 

 

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 10 AM – 4:30 PM
By Appointment Only

The Korea Society Gallery is open only by appointment. The appointment must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled visit. To make an appointment, please contact info@koreasociety.org.

 

  Cho In Ho | In the Manner of Magnificence

 

@ The Korea Society 
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor, NYC

**Pre-registration is now required for all Korea Society events, and an ID is required for security.**

For more information, please contact info@koreasociety.org or call (212) 759-7525.

 

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ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Cho In Ho is Professor in Department of Oriental Painting, College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University. He has also served as Research Director at Seoul National University Art Conservation Center and Director of Conservation Science at Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies. Most recently, Cho was a Visiting Scholar at Oregon State University.

Cho has exhibited his work in Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Italy, and Canada, and was awarded the National Academy of Arts of the Republic of Korea Award in 2023. Cho received B.F.A., M.F.A., and Doctor of Fine Arts from Seoul National University.

 

Songs of Love from Hawai‘i: Screening and a Director’s Talk

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Embark on a captivating musical journey weaving three compelling stories from Hawai‘i’s Korean diaspora with performances by remarkable musicians, including the Grammy Award-winning violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill, the world renowned violinists Chee-Yun and Ignace Jang, and Keola Beamer.

Songs of Love from Hawai‘i weaves together three stories from the long history of Korean diaspora in Hawai‘i, blending historical narratives with soul-stirring musical performances. From the fascinating tapestry of Korean immigrant history in Hawai‘i to a poignant life of Lim Ok Soon, a young Korean woman who came to Hawai‘i in 1912 as a picture bride, to a heartfelt musical tribute to the souls who found their resting place in Molokai’s Kalaupapa, the film weaves a powerful elegy amidst the islands’ natural beauty.

After premiering at the 43rd Hawaii International Film Festival and airing on PBS Hawai‘i, the film had a successful nationwide theatrical run in Korea in 2024.

On Korean American Day, join us for a special screening of the film, followed by a conversation with filmmaker Jinyoung Lee.

 

 

 

Songs of Love from Hawai‘i: Screening and a Director’s Talk

In-Person: Monday, January 13, 2025 | 6 PM
Video Release of Director’s Talk: Tuesday, January 14, 2025


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

 

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About the Speaker:

 

Jinyoung Lee is an award-winning journalist-turned-filmmaker. Her debut film, The Words of Wisdom from the Rainbow State (2021), was screened at the 41st Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. Her latest project, Songs of Love (2024), skillfully merges cultures through music, combining rare historical photographs with enchanting performances by world-renowned musicians. Lee has won accolades from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea’s Digital Contents Competition and won the Best Emerging Filmmaker Award from the Liberty International Movie Festival and the Tagore International Film Festival.

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Maybe Happy Ending: A New Broadway Musical

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Image credit: MurphyMade | 

Inside a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, Oliver lives a happily quiet life, listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a Helperbot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow Helperbot neighbor Claire asks to borrow his charger, what starts as an awkward encounter leads to a unique friendship, a surprising adventure, and maybe even…love?

Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award, MAYBE HAPPY ENDING, starring Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, is the offbeat and captivating story of two outcasts near the end of their warranty who discover that even robots can be swept off their feet. Helmed by the visionary director and Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Parade, Once on This Island), with dazzling scenic design by Dane Laffrey (A Christmas Carol) and book, music, and lyrics by the internationally acclaimed duo Will Aronson and Hue Park, MAYBE HAPPY ENDING is a fresh, original musical about the small things that make any life worth living.

Join us for a conversation with the cast members Helen J. Shen and Marcus Choi of this enchanting new Broadway musical.

 

Maybe Happy Ending: A New Broadway Musical

Monday, November 18, 2024 | 6:30 PM (EST)

 

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

 

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About the Speakers:

Helen J Shen is an actor, musician, and writer who has quickly established herself as a force within the theater industry. Helen starred in MCC Theater’s musical The Lonely Few by Zoe Sarnak and Rachel Bonds, directed by Trip Cullman and Ellenore Scott, following their acclaimed performance in the show’s world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in 2022. Recently, she captivated audiences in Anna K. Jacobs and Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson’s musical Teeth at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Sarah Benson. Helen’s regional credits also include starring in Anna Ouyang Moench’s Man of God at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and as Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard at ACT of Connecticut. Helen earned a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan, receiving the esteemed Earl V. Moore Award. Maybe Happy Ending is her broadway debut.
 

Marcus Choi recently played the role of “George Washington” in Hamilton on the Philip tour. Broadway credits include original companies of Wicked, Flower Drum Song, Allegiance and The Times They Are A Changin. Revival of Miss Saigon and Sweet Charity starring Christina Applegate. Select TV: Blue Eye Samurai, Luke Cage, The OA, FBI, Chicago PD, Blind Spot, Homeland.

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Author Talks: Yeon Somin

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Author photo credit: © Han Sehee

Rising Korean literary star Yeon Somin makes her English-language debut with The Healing Season of Pottery, a feel-good story about a young woman finding solace and a sense of self through art. The winner of the prestigious Korea New Writers Award (for Lazy Kinko), Yeon’s latest, translated by the award-winning Clare Richards, is being published in eighteen countries. As elegantly molded and deeply satisfying as pottery itself, this shimmering work of comfort fiction shows that there is bravery in seeking peace, slowing down, and reawakening the creativity that makes us feel most alive.

Jungmin is thirty years old, alone, and completely at a loss for what to do with her life. She quits the TV news writing job that burns her out, but the months afterward, holed up in her barren apartment, hardly make things better. One day, her emotions boiling over, she runs out of her house screaming, and stumbles upon a new world: a neighborhood pottery studio with a kindhearted teacher she didn’t know she needed. Soyo Workshop colors Jungmin’s life with purpose and community, tools to help her heal. In the center of this newfound delight is Gisik, a magnetic new friend whose relationship just so happens to be falling apart. The soothing environment of the studio makes her feel enormously comfortable, but she can’t help but wonder if it might be worth it to disrupt her newfound peace.

In this episode of Author Talks, the author discusses her English debut.

 

 

Author Talks: Yeon Somin

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

 

 

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About the Speaker:

Yeon Somin is a rising literary talent in Korea who has made her mark in both literary and television writing. She has received multiple accolades for her writing since her career as a novelist took off in 2022, when she received the prestigious Korea New Writers Award for her debut work, Lazy Kinko. Yeon is an active contributor to the Brunch writing community and has worked as a freelance television writer for major networks, including SBS, MBC, and YTN. During her free time, she finds solace in the art of pottery. The Healing Season of Pottery is her second novel, and her first to be translated around the world.

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Author Talks: Jungeun Yun & Shanna Tan

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Welcome to Marigold Mind Laundry, where we wash away the stains from your heart.

In this enchanting tale—a blockbuster bestseller in Korea—the enigmatic owner of a magical laundromat that erases people’s painful memories must learn to find her own peace before she can truly help others.

Born with mysterious powers she does not know how to control, young Jieun accidentally causes her family to vanish. She vows to live a million lives in search of them. One night, she brings the Marigold Mind Laundry into existence. Its service: to remove the deepest pain from our hearts. Jieun listens while customers share their unhappy memories. As they speak, she transfers their sadness onto T-shirts as stains. After a spin in the washing machine, the stains become flower petals that soar into the air, and Jieun’s customers find solace. And as Jieun listens to her customers’ stories, she learns that the will to heal is not a rare gift, but a power we all possess—if only we are open to it.

Joyous and inspiring, Marigold Mind Laundry, offers wonderment and comfort as it teaches us to tap into the magic that lives within us all.

In this episode of Author Talks, the author Jungeun Yun and translator Shanna Tan discuss the English publication of Marigold Mind Laundry.

 

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Author Talks: Jungeun Yun & Shanna Tan

Friday, November 1, 2024

 

 

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About the Speakers:

Jungeun Yun is the author of more than ten books, including Live the Way You Want, Even If I Don’t Know How to Be an Adult and To Travel or To Love; and she hosts a podcast The Path of Books with Jungeun Yun. Her debut novel Marigold Mind Laundry was the No. 1 bestselling novel in Korea in 2023 and is due to be published in over 20 countries. Jungeun Yun lives in Korea.
 

Shanna Tan is a Singaporean translator working from Korean, Chinese and Japanese. Her translations include Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum and Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun.

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Artist Talk: Hayoon Jay Lee with Seph Rodney

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In the modern tradition of abstract art, artists look beyond what we physically see. Using color, shape, line, and texture, they express strong emotional content without constraints of representation.

Hayoon Jay Lee uses rice as object, motif, metaphor and visceral biomorphic forms, meticulously and meditatively arranging individual grains of rice into a surface with modeling paste to create physical and emotional topographies. In this Artist Talk, Lee will be in a conversation with art critic Seph Rodney about her art and career.
Courtesy of Artist | 

In the modern tradition of abstract art, artists look beyond what we physically see. Using color, shape, line, and texture, they express strong emotional content without constraints of representation.

Hayoon Jay Lee uses rice as object, motif, metaphor and visceral biomorphic forms, meticulously and meditatively arranging individual grains of rice into a surface with modeling paste to create physical and emotional topographies.

In this Artist Talk, Lee will be in a conversation with art critic Seph Rodney about her art and career.

 

Artist Talk: Hayoon Jay Lee with Seph Rodney

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 | 6:30 PM (EDT)


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

 

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About the Artist:

 

Hayoon Jay Lee is an interdisciplinary artist who frequently combines installations, performances, sculptures, videos and paintings. Born in Daegu, South Korea, Lee obtained both a BFA and MFA in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Among other awards, Lee received a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship award from the U.S. Department of Education and a Full Fellowship Artist in Residency Award from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Her work can be found in the collections of the Zimmerli Museum; Asheville Museum; the Gwangju Contemporary Museum of Art; the Henan Museum in Zhengzhou, China; Hollis Taggart Gallery; and many private collections.

 

About the Moderator:
 

Seph Rodney, PhD, was born in Jamaica, and came of age in the Bronx, New York. He is a former senior critic and opinions editor for Hyperallergic, and now regularly contributes to The New York Times. He has written for CNN, NBC, Art in America, American Craft Magazine and penned catalog essays on Gary Simmons, Lisa Corinne Davis, Pope.L, Teresita Fernandez, Sarah Oppenheimer, and Meleko Mokgosi, among others. His book, The Personalization of the Museum Visit, was published by Routledge in May 2019. In 2020 he won the Rabkin Arts Journalism Prize and in 2022 the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant. He is also a curator of contemporary art and has co-curated Get in the Game, a show on sports that is the largest exhibition that SFMoMA has undertaken.

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Artist Talk: Annette Hur

Posted on by Yurim Oh

In the modern tradition of abstract art, artists look beyond what we physically see. Using color, shape, line, and texture, they express strong emotional content without constraints of representation. With her bold colors and brushstroke Annette Hur deliberately positions her paintings in between abstraction and figuration, dealing with the conflicts of the real lived experience and how her body remembers and processes it. “Anchoring to nothing, my ever-flowing identity as an immigrant female”
Courtesy of Artist | 

In the modern tradition of abstract art, artists look beyond what we physically see. Using color, shape, line, and texture, they express strong emotional content without constraints of representation. With her bold colors and brushstroke, Annette Hur deliberately positions her paintings in between abstraction and figuration, dealing with the conflicts of the real lived experience and how her body remembers and processes it.

“Anchoring to nothing, my ever-flowing identity as an immigrant female in the United States created the journey to investigate my self-perception, longing and belonging. The urge to release myself from the past traumas conflicts with the yearning for home and the loved ones who are no longer with me. This collision between reality, dreams, and desires resonates through layers of violent hues of colors and boundless yet determined brushstrokes. Water-in nature- as a universally symbolic capricious element, operates as a metaphor for perpetual journeys and reflecting the passing of time.”

 

Artist Talk: Annette Hur

Tuesday, October 15, 2024


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

 

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About the Artist:

 

Annette Hur was born in South Korea and lives and works in Brooklyn. Her recent exhibitions include solo/group exhibitions at Hesse Flatow, Home Gallery, Ross + Kramer, Assembly Room, Wallach Gallery, Gavin Brown Enterprise, RegularNormal, Urban Zen, Times Square Space in New York; Phillips Auction Seoul & Hong Kong; Long Story Short LA, Helen J Gallery, Los Angeles; Unit London, London. Hur was a nominee for Rema Hor Mann Grant, a resident of BOLT Residency at Chicago Artists Coalition and she holds a BA from Ewha Women’s University, a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and MFA from Columbia University.

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