Cuckoo
By Jaha Koo
Presented in partnership with Under the Radar
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A journey through the last 20 years of Korean history told by a bunch of talkative rice cookers.
One day when his electric rice cooker informed him that his meal was ready, South Korean artist Jaha Koo experienced a deep sense of ‘Golibmuwon’ (고립무원). Twenty years ago a major economic crisis hugely impacted Jaha Koo’s generation of South Korean youth. ‘Golibmuwon’ is the untranslatable Korean word for the feeling of helpless isolation that arose for many. In bittersweet and humorous dialogues with Jaha’s clever rice cookers, Cuckoo takes you on a journey through the past two decades of Korean history, combining Jaha’s personal experiences with political events and reflections on happiness, economic crises, and mortality.
In English & Korean, with English subtitles.
Photo: Eunkyung Jeong
Jaha Koo – Concept, Direction, Text, Music, and Video
Hana, Duri, Seri & Jaha Koo – Performance
Idella Craddock – Cuckoo Hacking
Eunkyung Jeong – Scenography & Digital Support
Dries Douibi – Dramaturgical Advice
Bart Huybrechts – Technique
Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek – Production
CAMPO – Executive Producer
Bâtard Festival – Co-production
Support provided by CAMPO, STUK, BUDA, DAS, SFAC & Noorderzon/Grand Theatre with the support of the Flemish Community.
Cuckoo contains footage of suicide, mature language, and explicit content. It is recommended for mature audiences.
This production contains strobes and flashing lights.
Jaha Koo
Jaha Koo (he/him, born in 1984) is a South Korean theater/performance maker, music composer and videographer who lives and works in Gent (BE). His artistic practice oscillates between multimedia and performance, encompassing his own music, video, text and robotic actors joining him on stage. Koo is well known for his ambitious Hamartia Trilogy, on which he worked over six years. This trilogy of solo works 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. In personal stories about family, growing up, migration, combined with political and societal-historical issues, he touches universal themes that find resonance in different countries and contexts all over the world. Currently, Jaha Koo is travelling with his new creation, Haribo Kimchi, that premiered in June 2024.
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