Jeong-dong Culture Night Enjoy the autumn evening in one of Seoul’s most historic districts
Jeong-dong is a street embedded with treasures of early modernity. Another appeal of the neighborhood is its the autumn foliage, most vibrant in late October. This is just when Jeong-dong Culture Night takes place, from October 29 to 31.
For three nights, many of the cultural sites and museums of Jeong-dong street are open until as late as 10 PM. Many waive admission fees, too. That’s only the beginning of what this festival has to offer, so visit the homepage, find out for yourself, and enjoy the thick of autumn in one of the most beautiful locations Seoul has to offer.
VENUE: Jeong-dong area PERIOD: Oct. 29-31 MORE INFO: See this link. GETTING THERE: City Hall Station (Line 1, 2), Exit 1
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Celebrating its 11th season, the Gwanghwamun International Art Festival aims to provide all Seoul residents a chance to enjoy arts and culture. Featuring visual art exhibits, performances of music and dance and more, the festival taks place largely outside in public parks, allowing for greater public access. This is a participatory affair with hands-on programs, including handprints you can make under artisan direction. In light of this year being Korea’s 70th anniversary of independence, the theme for this festival will be “Gwanghwamun Love Song,” featuring a beautiful musical piece and work of art called “Love Story.” Other things to see are the 2015 Asia Contemporary Young Artist Award (Oct. 21-Oct. 26), 2015 GIAF Invitation Exhibition (Oct. 28-Nov. 2) and ART & PLAY (Oct. 24-25), a participatory event to be held in Gwanghwamun Plaza.
VENUE: Sejong Center, Sejongno Park, Gwanghwamun Plaza PERIOD: Thru Nov. 2 MORE INFO: T. 02-723-9484~7 GETTING THERE: Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5)
Kyungridan Alley Street Beer Festival
Come and enjoy the unique culinary culture of the Gyeongnidan district at Saturday’s Kyungridan Alley Street Beer Festival. The heart of Korea’s craft beer scene, the vibrantly multicultural Gyeongnidan is now one Seoul’s hottest dining destinations. The festival features a flea market (1 PM to 5 PM), musical performances (3 PM to 10 PM) and, of course, plenty of great beer at discount prices. If you collect six stamps from local businesses, you can get a specially designed eco bag.
VENUE: Gyeongnidan neighborhood DATE: Oct. 24 MORE INFO: See this Facebook page GETTING THERE: From Noksapyeong Station (Line 6), Exit 2, head towards Namsan 3rd Tunnel and then turn right on the road to the Grand Hyatt Seoul.
Vadim Repin & Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Korea and Australia celebrate 54 years of diplomatic ties with a performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has grown into a leading global orchestra, especially stepping up its game under its two most recent conductors, Vladimir Ashkenazy and David Robertson. Russian violinist Vadim Repin will join the stage as a guest performer.
VENUE: Seoul Arts Center DATES: Oct. 30-31 ADMISSION: KRW 50,000-250,000 MORE INFO: T. 02-552-2505 GETTING THERE: Nambu Bus Terminal Station 남부터미ë„ì— (Line 3), Exit 5. Transfer to shuttle bus, or green bus No. 4429.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) With Certified Trainer Katherine Singer (in English)
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is an approach to speaking and listening that enables us to communicate more effectively what is in our heart. It helps us stay connected with what is alive in ourselves and others from moment-to-moment, and promotes compassionate connection and resolution of differences in a peaceful manner. It enhances our ability to respect and value everyone’s needs and make life more wonderful for ourselves and others.
VENUE: NVC Center, Samcheong-dong, Seoul DATES: Oct. 24, 25, 10AM to 4PM MORE INFO: T. 02-325-5586, www.krnvc.org COST: KRW 200,000. To register, click here. GETTING THERE: Click here.
RAS-KB Excursion: Walking through Joseon Dynasty Seoul
For all of the time that we spend in Seoul many of us are not aware of the many historical sites that present themselves to us everyday. Today’s excursion will help point out some of the many sites that are available.
This excursion is organised to explain to residents and visitors to Seoul the vast cultural heritage and history in and around the extensive royal compounds. While walking through historical compounds and buildings we will be shown how Seoul massive palace compounds were organized and contiguously linked, from the five major palaces, to the 15 detached palaces and their service palace compounds. The palace compounds originally extended from Deoksugung to the present Seoul National University Hospital in the Daehangno area, with insightful explanations of the history and reasons for their designs, uses and aesthetic layout. We will see little known nooks of virtually forgotten royal compounds.
VENUE: Seoul DATE: Oct. 25, 9AM to 3:30PM COST: KRW 20,000 for members, KRW 25,000 for non-members MORE INFO and GETTING THERE: See this link.
EVERYDAY KOREANS
Sunset at the Chaeseokgang Cliffs, Byeonsanbando National Park. Photo by Robert Koehler, editor-in-chief, SEOUL.
NOTIFICATIONS
Seoul Selection’s Free Book Giveaway – Our free book give-away continues! Check out the list in last week’s newsletter here.
Seoul Selection Offline Bookshop Sale –One of the greatest repositories of Korea-related English-language books anywhere, Seoul Selection is offering a 10% sale on any and all books published by Seoul Selection purchased from our OFFLINE bookshop next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Looking for Translators – Seoul Selection is looking for a few good translators (Korean to English) for general translation work. Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to Kyehyun at atoz@seoulselection.com. Experienced translators only.
Seoul Selection eBooks – You can purchase some Seoul Selection titles in ebook format via Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Apple’s iBookstore. Titles include Ask a Korean Dude, Moon Tides, Doing Business in Korea, Once Around the Sun, and seven volumes of our Korean Film Directors series: BONG Joon-ho, IM Kwon-taek, KIM Jee-woon, LEE Chang-dong, LEE Man-hee, PARK Chan-wook, and SHIN Sang-ok.
Send Your Event Info – If you would like to advertise any upcoming events you are organizing, please send us the press release material at pubco@seoulselection.com by the preceding Friday in order for it to appear in the following Tuesday’s issue.
Freelance Contributors Wanted – SEOUL Magazine needs writers who are fluent in both Korean and English. Writers should have a strong interest in Korean culture and be able to interview Koreans. Send your resume and writing samples to english@seoulselection.com.
