[HanCinema's Digest] Culture Corner
Published on
Go with Grace into the heart of Korea's underground beauty scene, K-pop stars feel the pressure from trying relationships with China, traditional Korean wrestling (ssireum) is fighting to stay standing, and is the hanbok underappreciated on the world stage?
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"Grace Neutral Explores Korea's Illegal Beauty Scene"
Grace is a tattoo artist and activist who's interested in "ideas of alternative beauty and pushing ideas of positive body image". In this 35-minute short film, Grace explores Korea's underground beauty scene and highlights some of the pressures many South Koreans feel when confronting their own sense of self-worth and beauty. This is "Beyond Beauty" with Grace Neutral...
...WATCH ON YOUTUBE
"American designer collaborates on hanbok"
Although, as Kim Jae-hun notes in the introduction, Korea's traditional dress, the hanbok, has not been as widely received on the international stages as, say, Japan's kimono or China's qipao, this trend is poised to shift as more and more top fashion designers discover the beauty and elegance of Korea's hanbok, as well as its versatility. This is partly thanks to fashion designers like Lee Young-hee, who first showcased her country's traditional wears at the Paris Fashion Week back in 1994, but a lot of work still needs to be done to help promote this underappreciated part of Korea's proud heritage.
...READ ON THE KOREA TIMES
"Lee Kwang-soo, BTS, EXO In Trouble After China-Korean Conflict"
Do K-pop idols rely too heavily on Chinese audiences? In this post on Digital Music News, Daniel Adrian Sanchez examines the impact South Korea's relationship with countries like the US has on one of the country's biggest cultural exports. According to Hwang Ji-seon of Moutain Movement, Korean entertainers need to expand their platforms and should move away from being dependent on the Chinese market. Do you think South Korea's relationship with China is too volatile for K-pop stars to bank on? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below...
...READ ON DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS
"A Song for Ssireum: Traditional Wrestling Dies a Slow Death in South Korea"
Taekwondo is a popular national contact sport that is also loved and practised around the world, but what about Korea's traditional wrestling? Is Korea's old art of Ssireum at risk of dying out entirely? Karl Schutz writes that this form of wrestling in South Korea is "seeing a slow death" and is fast becoming an endangered national sport/cultural treasure. Karl visits Uiseong Middle School and talks with their ssireum team and coach about the future of the sport...
...READ ON KOREA EXPOSE