Korean Cultural Center in Belgium successfully held Jeong Dae-gyun baritone recital on April 19 On April 19, a recital by baritone Jeong Dae-gyun was held at the Multi Hall of the Korean Cultural Center. Jeong Daekyun, baritone, is a student musician at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, a higher classical music education institution, and has already been confirmed for the first round in the vocal category of the Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition which is taking place in May. The Korean Cultural Center supports the holding of concerts inviting Korean musicians thanks to an ongoing exchange with the Music Chapel. Yesterday's concert drew so much attention that bookings were finalized within a week after the news about this concert was just announced. The multi-purpose hall of the Center can accommodate up to 120 spectators and is a space for various performances such as dance and tradition. And the Korean Cultural Center's classical music program is particularly popular. About 120 people attended Jeong Dae-gyun's baritone performance and enjoyed various vocal pieces. Marie Datchary was the accompanying pianist for this performance. The first part of the show featured songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams. And the songs of Henri Duparc were introduced. Finally, the show reached its climax with songs by Franz Schubert. Then, baritone Dae-gyun Jeong performed two encores to the applause of the audience, including a Korean song "A boat song." This song is a Korean song composed by Jo Nam-joo. After the encore, when baritone Jeong Daegyun asked the audience which song they would like to hear as the last song, the audience shouted “A boat song” with one voice. It was an enjoyable performance to confirm that not only Korean classical musicians, but also Korean vocal music tracks can be enjoyed by music lovers living in the classical music house.

The Korean Cultural Center invited the National Contemporary Dance Company to hold performances of <Mechanism> and <Everything falls dramatic> On the 16th April, the Korean Cultural Center invited the National Contemporary Dance Company to hold <Mechanism (choreography by LEE Jae-young)> and <Everything falls dramatic (choreography by HER Sungim) as the first cultural event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Korea-EU diplomatic ties in 2023. These performances, held at the Royal Flemish Theater (KVS), attended by 440 spectators, there were also local dance school students and spectacle & festival related people among spectators. In this cultural event, which was held in a 'double bill' method to introduce two works at the same time, choreographer HER Seong-im, who shows an unrivaled presence in Europe and Korea, and a solid structure and directing skills, expand a new art world by going back and forth in various genres. Choreographer LEE Jae-young participated. HER Sungim's <Everything falls dramatic> embodies the natural yet fearful concept of 'death' in a unique and engaging way. She participated in the work as a choreographer and dancer, expressing the essence of death in simple and powerful movements. LEE Jae-young's <Mechanism> recognizes the joints of the body as an 'axis' and applies various movements derived from these axes to the choreography. The process in which small and simple joint movements are transferred to other parts and amplified into three-dimensional movements is expressed in understated dynamics.

"School Visit; School Source Rixensart, Ecole de Biéreau, BEP International school, and ISB International school" In February and March, we had the 4 parts of the school visit with the Source Rixensart school, the Biéreau school, the BEP International school, and the ISB International school. These days are a great pleasure to share Korean culture. First, the students were able to feel and experience the beauty of the Hanbok. The Hanbok is a traditional Korean costume beautifully woven with fine fabrics and various colors. We had a wonderful experience touching the beautiful fabric and trying on accessories and Hanbok. Then we held a Korean design calligraphy workshop where the students learned to write their name in Hangeul and learned the Korean language. We spent time drawing different lines with Hangeul strokes and drawings, so that everyone has experience as a designer. They made wonderful items and were very happy with the results. Next, we explained our exhibit on "Who Am I: 'Self-Portraiture', a self-reflective art form in which the artist's gaze is directed inward to their inner self or ego rather that outward toward external objects, was continuously examined throughout the story. All the students were very interested. We also tasted the typical Korean apricot juice (plum juice) and a wide variety of Korean snacks. The students also learned more about various Korean drinks and took a great interest in Korean desserts. During their visit, they showed a lot of interest and motivation to learn about Korean culture and we hope to welcome them again soon. Would you also like to organize a school visit to our centre? Please contact us at info@kccbrussels.be to make an appointment.

The epilogue of the event "4 Korean films at Anima, the country's largest anime film festival, <Going Well..> director Lee Hye-jeong met the audience" is provided in Korean. Thanks.

KCC book club 'Cursed Bunny', Bora Chung Last week on March 9, we held our first book club of this year at the KCC. This time, we discussed Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny (Honford Star), which was translated by Anton Hur and shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. Cursed Bunny is a collection of 10 widely diverse short stories, often with a dark twist, that draw on a variety of genres, such as fairy tales, legends, horror and revenge stories, and science fiction. We explored the themes that recur throughout the book, linking these different stories together. We all loved this collection! All the participants were enthusiastic about the unexpected turns in the stories’ plotlines; some enjoyed the uncompromising bleakness of the world that was depicted in “Scars”, others found pleasure in the deeply disconcerting setting of the story “Frozen Finger”, where an unreliable narrator constantly puts both the main character and the reader on the wrong track. In all these stories, however much their genres seem to be far removed from reality, problematic issues of modern society and modern history come to the surface. And it is these confusing problems that the author, Bora Chung, sought to come to terms with in her stories, and that we in our reading group have been discussing: how problematic is womanhood and the female body for the characters in this book and for the context we ourselves live in? What does it mean for women to be “eaten by society”? How do greed and capitalism affect people? Can androids endowed with artificial intelligence genuinely be human? And if so, what does that suggest about the human experience? In this book club, we tackled many challenging questions that were raised throughout our reading and discussing this book, and once again, it was a challenging, stimulating but also highly entertaining meeting of minds. A big thanks to those who participated, our moderator Wenzel who also wrote this review, and Waterstones Brussels for their collaboration and promoting Korean literature! Review by Wenzel Van Deun, Moderator