Tag: contemporary Korea

The Illusion of Pastness: Hanbok on Screen

  Korean visual entertainment—including films, K-dramas, and K-pop music videos—is the result of highly sophisticated planning and production. These productions captivate a global audience by synthesizing music, narrative, and styling to deliver striking visual aesthetics and compelling emotional narratives. Costume is central to this production system, and it plays an instrumental role in the aesthetic […]

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Across Languages: New Voices in Korean Poetry

  Across Languages: New Voices in Korean Poetry brings together acclaimed South Korean poets Lee Jenny, Yoo Heekyung, Oh Eun, and Shin Hae-uk with award-winning literary translators Archana Madhavan and Stine An, for a Korean–English bilingual reading and conversation to share the dynamism and innovations of language in Korean poetry culture. Through poetry and discussion, […]

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K-pop Fandom: Performing Deokhu from the 1990s to Today with Areum Jeong

K-pop fandom’s practices and activities are a primary productive force, instrumental in shaping the genre’s immense global appeal, as well as its cultural influence, politics, and future potential. Over the last thirty years, the K-pop fandom has grown, intensified, and diversified, while its activities have taken on new social, technological, and economic manifestations, some of […]

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From Learning to Creating in Korea with Tyler and Nidhi

Learning the Korean language opens the doors into a completely new depth of understanding Korean culture, and perhaps a career you never imagined having. Join acclaimed media figures Tyler Rasch and Nidhi Agrawal—familiar faces from major Korean broadcast networks including JTBC, KBS, and MBC—for a reflection on their personal journeys living in Korea and learning […]

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Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared | The Curatorial Roundtable

Chaekgado: Scholar’s Accoutrements in a BookcaseJoseon dynasty, 19th century© National Museum of Korea |  The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art presents Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared, the first U.S. exhibition of significant works from the renowned Lee Kun-Hee Collection. On view through February 1, 2026,  Korean Treasures features over 200 works, including a dozen […]

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Modern Architecture in Korea: Travels through Terra Incognita

Photo by JongOh Kim |  Modern architecture in Korea is characterized by open and dynamic attitudes formed through a unique set of historical circumstances. Through colonial rule, war, and poverty, it was cut off from its older building traditions, emerging only in the latter half of the twentieth century as part of a condensed process […]

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

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 […]

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Author Talks: Kim Suhyun & Anton Hur

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 […]

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Maybe Happy Ending: A New Broadway Musical

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 […]

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The Rise of Korean Contemporary Art with Peter Kahng

Join us for an engaging discussion with Peter Kahng, an expert on the intersection of global art markets and contemporary Korean art. As a lecturer at Stanford University specializing in “Global Art Markets in Asia,” Peter Kahng will provide a unique perspective on the thriving contemporary art scene in Korea. Explore how Korean art movements, […]

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