10 — 12.05, 14.05, 15.05
Aromas waft over from a steamy simmering soup, a knife blade hisses through spring onions, mushrooms sizzle on a scorching fire. In Haribo Kimchi, we find ourselves in a pojangmacha, a typical late-night snack bar seen on the streets of South Korea. There, we meet several lost souls: a YouTuber, an eel, a toad and a rice cooker. They take us on a culinary journey, exploring food culture as a language that reveals the structure of society. In a series of poignant absurdist anecdotes, they recount the diaspora of Kimchi culture, cannibalism during the great famine, the sour pain of unadulterated racism and the deep umami taste of home. Following the success of his Hamartia Trilogy (2021), which delved into the far-reaching imperialism in East Asia, South Korean theatre maker and composer Jaha Koo returns to Kunstenfestivaldesarts with a new creation. His patented hybrid style combines music, innovative video and robotic performers to craft a reflection on cultural assimilation with all its conflicts and paradoxes. In an exceptional performance that plays with all the senses, Koo forever alters our perception of food.
Presentation: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Le Rideau
Concept, text, direction, music, sound & video: Jaha Koo | Performance: Jaha Koo, Seri, Toad & Haribo | Dramaturgy: Dries Douibi | Scenography and media operation: Eunkyung Jeong | Artistic advice: Pol Heyvaert | Technical coordination: Korneel Coessens | Technicians: Bart Huybrechts & Babette Poncelet | Cuckoo hacking & toad development: Idella Craddock | Production coordination: Wim Clapdorp
Production: CAMPO | Coproduction: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Le Rideau, Theater Utrecht, SPRING Performing Arts Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Théâtre de la Bastille, Tangente St-Pölten, & Espoo Theatre, Kampnagel International Summer Festival, Sophiensaele, Meet You Festival, Bunker, National Theatre and Concert Hall Taipei, The Divine Comedy International Theater Festival/Teatr Łaźnia Nowa, Perpodium
With the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest
Performances in Brussels with the support of the Korean Cultural Center of Brussels
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
