Korea Town

Korea Town focused on the nearby community of North and South Koreans living in New Malden, just two train stops down the line from Wimbledon.

29,000 people live in New Malden and more than 10,000 of these are Korean. This may be because the original South Korean embassy was here, along with Samsung’s first European headquarters, but nobody really knows.

Immersion in this unique neighbourhood involved meetings with streets, people, shops, cafes, hairdressers and Karaoke bars. Noraebang (karaoke) is a national obsession in Korea, and is a more private experience than in the West, taking place in small rooms hired out by the hour, singing to friends rather than the public. At New Malden’s epicentre, on either side of the station, lie the HAN and Sing Sing karaoke bars, important sites of research for this project.

This exhibition, and the related events, was a journey between cultures and geographies, including the walking route of three miles between Wimbledon Space Gallery and New Malden High Street, crossing the A3 and Beverley Brook, one of London’s forgotten rivers. There was also a link to the traditional Korean Sijo poetic form, which is older than the Japanese haiku, and usually three lines long:

You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine.
The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.
Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask?

And a nod to K-pop, the Korean Wave and corn tea (oksusu cha).

• http://events.arts.ac.uk/event/2017/1/19...
• http://blogs.arts.ac.uk/wimbledon/2016/1...
• http://londonkoreanlinks.net/2017/01/19/...
• http://lapolo.in/ual-korea-town-exhibiti...