Informazioni
We find ourselves at a pojangmacha, one of South Korea’s typical nighttime street food stalls. Amid the aroma of seaweed soup, the sound of a knife slicing cucumber, and the sizzle of mushrooms on a hot griddle, South Korean artist Jaha Koo takes us on an intimate, surreal culinary journey that speaks to anyone who has lived far from their own culture. On stage, we meet three unusual characters—a snail, a gummy bear, and an eel—who, with irony and tenderness, explore the pain of racism, the evolution of kimchi (a traditional dish made from fermented vegetables), and the meaning of what we call home. Combining music, performance, and multimedia, this production engages all the senses and transforms personal memories into a melancholic, bittersweet reflection on identity and cultural assimilation.
Jaha Koo is a South Korean theater/performance maker, music composer and videographer. His artistic practice oscillates between multimedia and performance, encompassing his own music, video, text and robotic objects. His most recent project, the Hamartia Trilogy, includes Lolling and Rolling (2015), Cuckoo(2017), and The History of Korean Western Theatre (2020). The trilogy represents a long-term exploration of the political landscape, colonial history and cultural identity of East Asia. Thematically, it focuses on structural issues in Korean society and how the inescapable past tragically affects our lives today. Haribo Kimchi, Jaha Koo’s last performance, premiered in 2024. Koo majored in Theatre Studies (BFA, 2011) at Korea National University of Arts and earned a master’s degree (MA, 2016) at DAS Theatre in Amsterdam.
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Calendar
Highlights
Credits
Concept, text, direction, music, sound & video: Jaha Koo
Performance: Gona, Haribo, Eel, Jaha Koo & two guests
Dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
Scenography, research collaboration & media operation: Eunkyung Jeong
Artistic advice: Pol Heyvaert
Technical coordination: Korneel Coessens
Technique: Bart Huybrechts, Babette Poncelet & Jasse Vergauwe
Production coordination: Wim Clapdorp
English proofreading: Jason Wrubell
Snail animation: Vincent Lynen
Production: CAMPO
Coproduction: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Rideau de Bruxelles, Theater Utrecht, SPRING Festival (Utrecht), Festival d’Automne à Paris, Théâtre de la Bastille (Paris), Tangente St. Pölten – Festival für Gegenwartskultur, & Espoo Theatre (Espoo), International Summer Festival Kampnagel (Hamburg), Sophiensaele (Berlin), Meet You Festival (Valladolid), Bunker (Ljubljana), National Theatre and Concert Hall Taipei, The Divine Comedy International Theater Festival / Teatr Łaźnia Nowa (Kraków) & Perpodium
With the support of: the tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest & the Flemish Government
The prototype of the eel was developed as part of: Innovation:Lab's funnel in coproduction with Theater Utrecht and creative technologists Adriaan Wormgoor & Willem Vooijs
Cover: © Bea Borgers
