‘Jelliness is my life motto’: jackpot theatre prize winner Jaha Koo on kimchi, K-pop and his robotic eel

Key points

• South Korean-born theatre artist Jaha Koo received the International Ibsen award in Oslo, which comes with 2.5m kroner (£200,000).
• Koo's touring show Haribo Kimchi explores his cultural identity by fusing the German gummy bears with Korean kimchi while he cooks an onstage banquet for audience members.
• Koo's earlier production Cuckoo examines the impact of South Korea's late 1990s financial crisis and the $58bn IMF rescue package, using hacked talking rice cookers on stage.

South Korean-born theatre artist Jaha Koo has been honoured with the International Ibsen award in Oslo, a prize founded by the Norwegian government that rewards its winner with 2.5m kroner (£200,000). Past recipients include Lola Arias, Taylor Mac and Forced Entertainment. Koo, who is now based in Belgium, met with the Guardian the day after the ceremony.

Koo's current touring production, Haribo Kimchi, examines how the fusion of Haribo gummy bears and kimchi represents his cultural identity. He prepares an onstage banquet for two audience members during the show, which was part of this summer's Edinburgh international festival.

Kimchi and cultural identity

Koo describes himself as part of a kimchi diaspora. He says kimchi was there before he was born and was waiting for him, and that recipes can differ around the world without being inauthentic. Preparing the dish in Belgium, he says, sums up how he stays true to his roots while adapting to a new environment.

His life motto is jelliness. Koo says that when you push jelly it can shrink and change form but recovers its shape after a few seconds, and that this is the same resilience he needs while living outside Korea. He only started eating gummy bears after arriving in Europe, and in the show he explains how their smiley faces cheer him up when he is feeling down.

But he was also an artist who questioned the theatre and society of his own time.

— Jaha Koo

Cuckoo and other works

Koo's earlier production Cuckoo, which he revived in Oslo, uses rice cookers as a symbol of economic imperialism and social pressure. It examines the longterm impact of Korea's late 90s financial crisis and the neoliberal shift after the International Monetary Fund intervened with a $58bn rescue package. The show describes a spike in unemployment, inequality and isolation, and includes an account of his close friend's suicide.

His other works include Lolling and Rolling, about the tongue surgery some South Koreans pursue to pronounce the English R, and The History of Korean Western Theatre. Koo says he wants to put technology on stage and argues that understanding our time requires perspectives beyond the human, including nature, animals and robotics. His next project will examine K-pop, whose fans have used the genre as political protest, notably against former President Yoon's martial law attempt in 2024.