Jaha Koo / CAMPO

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Rice cookers which talk? Creatures which devour memories? And what has this got to do with Shakespeare? Nothing, really. Nevertheless, Jaha Koo continues to grapple with that towering figure in Western art, as well as with Ibsen, Chekhov and a few others.

Born in 1984 in South Korea, Jaha Koo now works in Belgium as a theatre-maker, performer and music producer. He is known for his sharp and at times personal analysis of South Korean society. In his documentary works he combines historical facts with episodes from his own biography. In 2015, he performed «Lolling and Rolling» at the Theater Spektakel, the first part of a trilogy looking at the impact of the past on the present. In «Cuckoo», the second piece, he had three rice cookers discuss the inconsistencies of a globalised economy. Now he presents the third part of the trilogy: And again, a rice cooker makes an appearance – but the lead is played by theatre itself: Why is contemporary Korean theatre often oriented towards the Western world and what does this have to do with self-censorship? In his search for answers, Koo encounters his grandmother. She stands for a generation which prefers to look back, whereas Koo’s perspective is faced forward – into a future that is aware of the past. (af )