2026 Hanbok Re:Imagine In collaboration with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, the Korean Cultural Center to the European Union and Belgium presents the <2026 Hanbok Re:Imagine> project. <2026 Hanbok Re:Imagine> goes beyond presenting Hanbok simply as traditional clothing. The project invites students within Belgium’s fashion education landscape to engage with Hanbok and reinterpret it through their own design language. Through this process, the project considers how Korean traditional culture can find new expression in fashion and reach a global stage through a new generation of designers. The project begins on 21 September, with an open lecture featuring Ha Eun Chang, Founder of OUWR. The lecture will be followed by a practical workshop for participating students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. Over approximately ten weeks of regular classes, the students will design and create works inspired by the aesthetics of Hanbok from their own perspectives. The completed works will be presented in an exhibition opening this November. This project views Hanbok not simply as a tradition to be preserved, but as a creative resource for contemporary fashion and design. Through the work of students at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, one of the world’s leading fashion schools and the institution that produced the renowned Antwerp Six, the project explores the contemporary value of Hanbok and the diverse ways it can be reinterpreted.  — [OPEN LECTURE] Reimagining Hanbok: From Coachella to your closet Ha Eun Chang is a Hanbok designer and the Founder and Principal Director of OUWR. Her work includes BLACKPINK’s stage costumes for Coachella 2023 and NewJeans’ Hanbok editorial for VOGUE Korea. She has also collaborated on various projects with Kim Tae-ri, Bae Suzy, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, bringing the traditional aesthetics and distinctive forms of Hanbok into contemporary design. The open lecture will take place on 21 September. Drawing on Ha Eun Chang’s work and practice, the lecture will explore the forms and aesthetics of Hanbok and consider how these traditional elements can be reinterpreted and developed within fashion and design today.  Programme – The Language of Hanbok: Form & Aesthetics – Reimagining Hanbok for Contemporary Fashion – Inside OUWR: From Tradition to Global Stage – Open Discussion & Q&A Practical Information – Date & Time: 21 September 2026, 18:00 – Venue: Aula Pand, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (Mutsaardstraat 31, 2000 Antwerpen) – Speaker: Ha Eun Chang (Founder of OUWR) – Admission: Free – Audience: Open to everyone  – Registration: Link / No registration required *Advance registration is recommended to ensure the smooth running of the event. 

<2026 Europe day - Discover Korea in the EEAS open day> Experience the Magic of Korea at the 2026 EEAS Open Day! The Korean Cultural Center is excited to participate in the EEAS Open Day 2026.  Join us at Place Schuman to celebrate cultural exchange through the dynamic energy of K-pop and the timeless beauty of Korean traditions. 🗓️ Program Details 1. [Stage] K-pop Cover Dance Showcase (14:30 – 15:00) Feel the rhythm with two incredible teams, Asone and The Collective! Don’t miss their powerful performance on the main stage. 2. [Workshop] Korean Traditional Craft Atelier (14:00 – 16:00) Drop by our booth to create your own Korean hair accessories (Approx. 10 mins): ●Daenggi Experience: Try on and learn about traditional hair ribbons. ●Ikseongwan Making: Craft the majestic royal headwear of the Joseon Dynasty. ●Jokduri Making: Create a decorative traditional bridal coronet. 📍 Event Information ●Date: Saturday, May 9, 2026 ●Venue: EEAS Building (Place Schuman 9, 1000 Brussels) ●Admission: Free Discover the unique charms of Korea in the heart of the European quarter.  We look forward to seeing you there!

  Book Talk with Translator Clare Richards Date & Time: 16 April 2026 (Thu), 7:00 PM Venue: Korean Cultural Center  Reservations: link The Korean Cultural Centre in Brussels will host a book talk with translator Clare Richards, as part of the Korean Literature Exhibition. She translated Another Person by Kang Hwagil and The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin into English — both works featured in the exhibition — and will share insights into Korean literature and translation drawn from her experience as a literary translator. Another Person is a psychologically incisive novel that follows Jina after she reports her abusive partner and finds herself exposed to intense public scrutiny. As competing narratives emerge and online commentary multiplies, the novel explores how truth becomes refracted through collective interpretation and how identity can be destabilised by the judgements of others. Clare Richards’s translation delicately conveys the novel’s chilling atmosphere and psychological subtlety, while preserving the tonal precision of the original. The Healing Season of Pottery is a gentle and restorative novel about a protagonist who, after enduring dyslexia, depression, and unemployment, gradually reconnects with others and with herself through the slow, repetitive work of clay in a pottery studio. Richards’s translation captures the novel’s quiet emotional texture and sense of healing, showing how its themes of pain, recovery, and connection can speak to readers across languages and cultures. Moderated by exhibition curator Eugene Kim, this book talk will bring together the curator’s perspective and the translator’s experience to explore how Korean literature reaches readers around the world through translation, as well as the linguistic and cultural questions that arise in the process. The talk will also explore how the exhibition’s engagement with contemporary sensibilities is reflected in the practice of translation.   About the Speakers: Clare Richards | Translator A Korean-to-English literary translator whose work includes novels and essays by authors such as Kang Hwagil, Kim Keum Hee, and Yeon Somin. She co-translated the official BTS book Beyond the Story, and her translation of Kang Hwagil’s The Lake won the Twelfth Jules Chametzky Translation Prize, among other recognitions for her work in translation. Alongside her translation work, she is an active teacher and mentor, and speaks and writes on autism, neurodivergence, and literary translation. Eugene Kim | Curator & Moderator A UK-based scholar specialising in transnational literature and aesthetics. She completed her PhD in English Literature at Kingston University. She is Editor-in-Chief of Nabillera, an online magazine dedicated to Korean literature in translation. Her work bridges academic research and public humanities through curation, translation, and international literary events.

K-Book Literary Night 2025: A Book Talk with Author Un-su Kim The Korean Cultural Center Brussels is pleased to present K-Book Literary Night 2025: A Book Talk with Author Un-su Kim, inviting one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Korean literature to share his work with European readers. Un-su Kim is the author of The Cabinet, The Plotters, and Hot Blood—novels that balance literary depth with genre-driven tension and have earned lasting admiration both in Korea and internationally. His writing explores the unseen structures that shape our world, the understanding of others through strangeness, and the human gray zones where humor and darkness coexist. These qualities have resonated strongly with European audiences. His debut novel The Cabinet received the Munhakdongne Novel Award in 2006, marking a powerful entrance into the literary world, while Hot Blood was adapted into a feature film in 2022, bringing the vivid energy of Busan’s underworld to the screen. Notably, The Plotters has been translated into more than fourteen languages and was shortlisted for the prestigious French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (International Fiction category), further expanding his international recognition. This book talk will explore two key axes that define Kim’s work: “understanding others through strangeness” and “the human truths revealed through Korean noir.” The event will offer an opportunity to hear directly from the author about his creative process, character building, narrative sense of place, and the philosophical questions embedded in his fiction. Following the discussion, a Q&A session will allow the audience to engage directly with the author and delve deeper into the themes, characters, and worlds of his novels. Date: Wednesday, 3 December 2025, 19:00 Venue: Korean Cultural Center Brussels Admission: Free (reservation required – link to follow) We invite you to join this meaningful evening of literary exchange, exploring new dimensions of Korean literature and hearing directly from Un-su Kim as he reflects on strangeness, shadow, and the essence of the human experience.

The Korean Cultural Center in Belgium is excited to introduce its new K-Book Curation Service at the library. This service offers a curated selection of newly released books, organized by themes and trends, to make it easier for visitors to explore and enjoy Korean literature. Library Opening Hours: Daily 12:00 – 19:00 Loan Period: 2 weeks Who Can Borrow: All library members Many new books have arrived, so don’t miss the chance to discover exciting stories and immerse yourself in Korean culture.