Mingle to Communicate and Mingle to Become Friends (같이 놀아야 소통하고 같이 놀아야 친구가 되죠)

November 13, 2018

Tuesday, November 13, 2018 | 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM | 1152A Vari Hall, York University

In this talk, Mahub Lee discussed his cultural project, initiated to bring together Koreans and immigrants through art, music, and film, not limited by national boundaries and languages. Despite the growing number of immigrants including migrant workers, international marriage, and refugees in South Korea, the Korean society is not ready to accept them as members of society, according to Lee. His cultural project began to overcome such misunderstandings and differences.

Mahbub Lee, born in Bangladesh, came to South Korea in 1999 as a migrant worker. While witnessing difficult conditions and discriminations against migrant workers, Lee joined labor movements and engaged in media activism. Later he took part film projects as a director and an actor: The Deported (2007), Bandhobi (2009), The Returnee (2009), City of Crane (2010), Love in Korea (2010), among others. He is an author of his autobiography, I am an Earthian (2010). He was a director of Asia Media Culture Factory, a cultural organization for diversity, and Free port, a migrant art center where he organized Seoul Migrant Art Festival. Now he is a movie distributor in M$M International.

This talk was organized by Mihyon Jeon (Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University) and Hong Kal (Visual Art and Art History, York University) as part of the Korean Office for Research and Education (KORE) funded by the Academy of Korean Studies. It is co-presented by the Consulate General of Republic of Korea in Toronto, YCAR, and Centre for the Study of Korea (CSK).