The long winter has come to an end, and now there are signs of spring peeking out. It is time to stretch and go out to enjoy the spring! Check out the wide range of cultural performances and plan your own culture trip.

◇ Kim Joong-up Museum Opening & The 4th Anyang Public Art Project Opening ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

kim Joong-up Museum Opening & The 4th Anyang Public Art Project Opening

The Kim Joong-up Museum cultural complex is scheduled to open on March 28. The Kim Joong-up Museum is located on the site of a former Yuyu Industries factory (4, Yesulgongwon-ro 103beon-gil, Seoksu-dong, Anyang-si), where relics of the ancient Anyangsa Temple, from which the place name Anyang was originated, have been discovered. To honor this historically significant place, Gyeonggi remodeled six factory buildings with designs by Korea’s master architect Kim Joong-up into a multi-function cultural complex that includes culture, art, education and the environment.

The 4th Anyang Public Art Project (APAP), which also opens on the same day, is also an event worthy of notice. Seeking to connect with a public that is still unfamiliar with the concept of public art, this event will show the relationship between ‘contemporary art’ and ‘publicness’ in diverse ways with the emotions and thoughts of contemporary people based on the topic ‘Public Story.’

The 4th APAP will enable citizens to become more familiar with public art by refurbishing the existing pieces and developing programs that offer various ways to see public artwork. There will be total of 19 pieces displayed at the 4th APAP, 15 of which were made by citizens. Five exhibitions will be open to public in celebration of the opening.

In addition, the APAP offers the APAP Tour Program in which visitors can enjoy pieces in the natural setting of the Anyang Art Park where the APAP takes place along with a professional docent’s descriptions. The special opening exhibition will take place at the Kim Joong-up Museum in the Anyang Art Park from March 28 to June 8.

■ Date & Time: March 28 (Friday)at 3 p.m.
■ Place: Anyang Art Park entrance
■ Exhibition: March 28 (Friday) to June 8 (Sunday)
■ Contact: 031-687-0548,0909

◇ Musical <The Man Who Walked through Walls> ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

Musical <The Man Who Walked through Walls>

What if you had the ability to walk through walls? ‘The Man Who Walked through Walls’ is a musical set in Montmartre, France. It is about an ordinary civil servant working in a post office who one day discovers the ability to pass through walls freely. His beautiful love story is told in a pleasant and cheerful way.

It is a sung-through musical without dialogue, and it is based on the short story written by Marcel Aymé, one of the leading writers in France. The premiere was first shown in 2006 in Korea, and it has received attention as the main character, Dutilleul, was played by the famous actors Park Sang-won, Um Ki-joon and Nam Kyung-ju.

‘The Man Who Walked through Walls’ has been acclaimed by audiences at every single performance, with Michel Legrand’s sweet music, the beautiful sets and lighting evoking the real Montmartre, and the wonderful acting of the entire cast. The upcoming performance will include leading stars of movies, drama and stage such as Lee Jong-hyuk, Michael Lee and Ko Chang-seok, as well as top-class musical stars such as Lee Jeong-hwa, Gang Yeon-jong, Sung Yeol-seok, Cho Jin-a, Shim Jae-hyun, Choi Su-jin, Son Seung-won, Jung Ji-hwan and Lee Gyeong-mi. Their progressed performance will exceed the expectations of audiences after their long wait.

■ Date: March 29 – 30 (Saturday – Sunday)
■ Place: Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theater
■ Price: VIP 110,000 won, R 99,000 won, S 77,000 won, A 66,00 won

◇ Concert Musical <Be Happy > ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

Concert Musical <Be Happy>

Sunlight pours through the window of a cafe in the afternoon. The owner has a hunch that something wonderful will happen that day. This ordinary cafe that seems so peaceful is soon filled, one by one, with extraordinary people: a chatterbox who must intrude on everything in the world; a suspicious and conceited woman who believes that the world revolves around her; a weird couple consisting of an innocent woman who seems as if nothing in the world worries her and an extremely timid man; and an escaped prisoner… “Today just came! We became happy by chance.”

‘Be Happy’ has accrued a huge fan base through consistent word-of-mouth since its premiere in 2007. All the songs in the performance are compositions, and five OST albums have been released. This musical is a love story of six men and women who seem completely mismatched until they all meet at a cafe one day. Towards the end of the performance, there is a unique scene called ‘Concert in a Musical’ in which the actors and actresses sing together with the audience.

■ Date: March 29 – 30 (Saturday – Sunday)
■ Place: Goyang SPART Complex & Park Oulim Theater
■ Price: R 40,000 won, S 30,000 won, A 20,000 won
■ Contact: 1661-4405

◇ Children’s Play <Why Why Question Man> ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

Children’s Play < Why Why Question Man >

Why is the sky blue? Why do caterpillars turn into butterflies? Why do I have to eat carrots? Why does the moon become full? Children have an endless series of ‘whys’ in their heads. In April of 2014, the Sadari Theater Company transforms <Nannannandaemang> by the Kazenoko Kyushu Theatre Company, the most famous and familiar overseas children’s theater company in Korea, into the Korean version for its debut at the Gwacheon Community Center. The leading director of theater drama, Nakajima Ken, the original staff, actors and actresses of the Sadari Theater Company as well as the staff actively collaborate to make the audience laugh and form bonds. The play offers humor and forms bonds among adults who have faced difficulties in answering children’s questions, and among children filled with endless curiosity who constantly ask questions. A seven-year-old child named Ho-young who loves to ask questions becomes the guardian of justice and superhero Question Man, going off for a great adventure on a small faraway island to defeat the monster Baku. Go on an exciting journey with Question Man, watching his deeds, battles and changes. The comic action drama <Why Why Question Man> includes interesting characters in mysterious countries met by Question Man, such as Question Mark Guru, Scary King, Ding-dong Clang, and Mr. Mystery. The various transformations and presentment of tangram are also fun to watch.

■ Date: April 3– 5 (Thursday to Saturday)
■ Place: Gwacheon Civic Center Little Theater
■ Price: 15,000 won
■ Contact: 02-509-7700

◇ Play < Sambong Barber Shop > ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

Play < Sambong Barber Shop >

Based on Ha Il-kwon’s popular webcomic <Sambong Barber Shop>, the play <Sambong Barber Shop> examines lookism through a somewhat absurd set-up. The ugly heroine Jangmi is always compared with her pretty best friend. Stressed by this fact, she one day hears a rumor that there is a ‘”beauty virus” spreading around, making ugly people feel shame and driving them to fits, which terrifies her. Then she sees a mysterious, good-looking barber named Sambong on TV who carries around a huge pair of scissors to treat the afflicted. Concerned that she may catch the virus, Jangmi volunteers to work part-time at the Sambong Barber Shop. As she helps Sambong, she begins to relieve her stress over lookism. The play <Sambong Barber Shop> is receiving particular attention since it dramatizes the side effects of lookism that have recently emerged in Korea from a fresh perspective.

■ Date: March 7 (Friday) – April 27 (Sunday)
■ Place: Bundang Theater
■ Price: 35,000 won
■ Contact: 031-707-8219

◇ Gum Nanse’s <Concert with Explanation – Carnival of Classic> ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

Gum Nanse’s <Concert with Explanation -Carnival of Classic>

How can teenagers become familiar with classical music? If they listen to a performance with explanations by a prominent conductor and musicians, they will be inspired by the experience and become music lovers even after they grow up. Leonard Bernstein, music director of the New York Philharmonic, guided innumerable teenagers around the world toward classical music through such explained concerts. Conductor Gum Nanse, who makes classical music interesting by providing familiar and fun explanations, is also known as the ‘Leonard Bernstein’ of Korea. Also referred to as a “maestro who sings of happiness,” Gum Nanse visits Seongnam to present wonderful classical music to local teenagers and their families in celebration of spring. Gum Nanse’s <Concert with Explanation -Carnival of Classic>, which will take place in the Grand Theater of the Seongnam Civic Center on March 29 at 5 p.m., will be a special concert in which Gum Nanse will conduct and explain the performance of the Chamber Ensemble playing <The Carnival of the Animals>, a famous piece composed by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The humorous and satirical collection of musical pieces based on animals such as < Introduction and Royal March of the Lion >, < Hens and Roosters >, < Wild Asses: Swift Animals >, < Tortoises >, < The Elephant >, < Personages with Long Ears > and < The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods > guide teenagers and their families into a world of healing and relaxation.

■ Date: March 29(Saturday)
■ Place: Seongnam Civic Center Grand Theater
■ Price: R 12,000 won, S 10,000 won
■ Contact: 031-736-8305

◇ Exhibition <From Horse to Christo> ⓒ G-Life Editing Team

Exhibition <From Horse to Christo>

‘From Horse to Christo’ is the title of the book written by Nam June Paik in 1981. In this book he examines the methods by which humanity delivered messages on horses in times when the means of communication had not been separated from the means of delivery. He mentions the changes that would be brought by the new media environment of televisions.

He also emphasized the power of spirit through extrasensory perception (ESP) as a true means of communication, anticipating an era of televisions and videos. Seeing through the attributes of information technology that seeks new and quick things, Paik saw the “mind” as the true method and means of communication that moves actual human behavior. <From Horse to Christo> displays the works of Paik who broke new ground in communication art by focusing on the emergence of new media and changes in the human environment.

This exhibition will provide an opportunity for the audience to think about the true meaning of communication in today’s media environment represented by internet and smartphones.

■ Date: March 8 (Saturday)- June 22 (Thursday)
■ Place: Nam June Paik Art Center
■ Contact: 031-201-8500

ⓒGyeonggi G-News | Reporter Han Jin-hee 

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201403171056337055C059&s_code=C059