SEOUL Weekly: Traversée

Traversée
Exhibit of drawings on Hanji paper marks release of ‘Sketches of Korea’

To celebrate the launch of “Sketches of Korea,” Elodie Dornand de Rouville and Benjamin Joinau will be holding an exhibit opening/book signing party at Itaewon’s Paik Hae Young Gallery at 6 PM on May 15.

The exhibit, “Traversée,” is a series of drawings on hanji paper by artist Elodie Dornand de Rouville, inspired by her own illustrations for “Sketches of Korea.”

About “Sketches of Korea“:

Kimchi, K-pop, taekwondo, Samsung – the images that most people get when they think of Korea don’t stray much beyond the usual ones. But there are so many more fascinating sides to Korea.

A cultural anthropologist with over 20 years of personal experience in Korea, author Benjamin Joinau introduces readers to the various faces of Korea outside those that Koreans typically like to present, guided by Elodie Dornand de Rouville’s refreshingly original and detailed illustrations—Korean society through the eyes of two foreigners.

Check out the book’s Facebook page here.

VENUE: Paik Hae Young Gallery 
DATE: May 15, 6 PM
MORE INFO: See this link.
GETTING THERE: See map here.
 

A miscellany of high-quality hyperlinks from the week, courtesy of SEOUL editor-in-chief Robert Koehler

• Korea is about more than kimchi.
• Korea’s creative economy drive lacks diversity, experts say.
• Karl Lagerfeld does Korea.
• TMZ is under fire for mocking the accent of a member of a visiting Korean girl group.
• Jeju-do has a new hiking trail.
• Harper’s Bazaar gives us a guide to K-pop.
• Biking on the Hangang River near World Cup Park.
• Busan seen from Mt. Cheonmasan.
• Spring amid the green tea and barley.
• Another week passes at Robert Koehler’s photo blog.

Seoul Station Overpass Opened to Pedestrians

The overpass near Seoul Station – scheduled to be turned into a park – will once again be opened to pedestrians for a single day this Sunday (May 10) from 11 AM to 3 PM. Temporary grass gardens and benches will be placed on the bridge, and local cafes, eateries and bookshops will operate mobile booths as well. The real star here, however, are the views over Seoul Station, the surrounding plaza and this very dynamic part of downtown Seoul.

VENUE: Seoul Station Overpass
DATE: May 10, 11 AM to 3 PM
GETTING THERE: Exit 4 or 5 of Hoehyeon Station, Line 4

Trust Your Hair to Hair & Joy

Located near the entrance of Hongik University, HAIR & JOY is a hair salon where English is freely spoken and international customers can feel at ease. Have you ever had your hair ruined because you couldn’t communicate with your local hair stylist? Well, HAIR & JOY is the place for you. No more waiting for your hair to recover after a botched styling.

Expats will be well accustomed to HAIR & JOY’s Western-style reservation system, and its top-quality staff are experts when it comes to dealing with Western hair. CEO Sungtae “Johnny” Jung was the art director of London’s “Rush Salon” for three years and was nominated for “best hairdresser” in The Guardian. All the salon’s other designers are bilingual and have completed the Tony & Guy London Full Course and Vidal Sassoon Academy’s Advanced Course.

MORE INFO: T. 363-4253, 010-5586-0243, www.hairandjoy.com
GETTING THERE: A 3–4 minute walk from Exit 8 of Hongik University Station, Line 2

Slava’s Snowshow

Imagine snowflakes falling and a blizzard stirring inside a theater in the middle of May. Such a magical spectacle can be experienced at Slava Polunin’s “Snowshow.” During the performance, eight clowns reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin will draw the audience to the world of comedy, fantasy and fairy tales. The highlight of the event is definitely the playful whimsy added by the presence of snow — about a one-ton truckload will be used to captivate both children and adults.

VENUE: LG Arts Center
PERIOD: May 14-30, 20:00 on weekdays, 14:30 & 19:00 on weekends
MORE INFO: T. 02-2005-0114, www.lgart.com
ADMISSION: KRW 40,000-80,000
GETTING THERE: GS Tower B1 floor is directly connected to Yeoksam Station 역삼역 (Line 2), Exit 7. Take the LG Arts Center elevator from there.

Phantom

The fascinating and tragic plot found in the 1910 novel “The Phantom of the Opera” inspired the creation of two musicals based on the same story. Though overshadowed by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” which first opened in 1986, Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit’s 1991 musical “Phantom” has also gained much critical acclaim. The latter rendition focuses more on the personal story arc of Erik, the Phantom, offering a more three-dimensional villain. For the Korean production, singers Park Hyo-shin and Ryu Jung-han and musical actor Kai will star as the Phantom, while Im Sun-hae, Lim Hye-young and Kim Soon-young will star as Christine.

VENUE: Chungmu Art Hall
PERIOD: Thru July 26
MORE INFO: T. 02-2230-6600, www.cmah.or.kr
ADMISSION: KRW 50,000-140,000
GETTING THERE: Sindang Station 신당역 (Line 6), Exit 9. Walk 50 meters in the direction of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza.

RASKB Excursion: Tea-making and Food in Jirisan

Korean tea can only be made from late in April until the end of May. After that, the leaves of the tea bushes lose their flavor. This visit to an individual tea-maker offers a unique opportunity to participate in the processes by which tea is made, and to taste the freshly dried leaves in the beautiful surroundings of Mt. Jirisan.

VENUE: Jirisan, Jeollanam-do
DATE: May 16-17
COST: KRW 249,000 for members and KRW 299,000 for non-members
MORE INFO: See this link.
GETTING THERE: See link above.
 

Beautiful Mt. Dobongsan, seen from the rooftop cafe of the Hotel Academy House, Bukhansan National Park. Photo by Robert Koehler.

Survey on Korean language learning – Jini Shim, a visiting graduate student at the Academy of Korean Studies, is conducting a survey on the user preference of Korean language study methods. If you have a few moments to spare, please click on over to the surveys and fill them out: English/Korean.

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.