Haribo Kimchi

Jaha Koo / Theater Utrecht & CAMPO

Wed 15 Apr ’26 and Thu 16 Apr ’26

A culinary journey in which we explore food culture as a form of language that reveals the structure of a society.

coming soon

Wed 15 Apr ’26

and

Thu 16 Apr ’26

coming soon

Wed 15 Apr ’26

21:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

To wishlist

coming soon
Thu 16 Apr ’26

21:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

To wishlist

coming soon

Through a series of absurd and moving anecdotes, Jaha Koo takes us on a culinary journey, exploring food culture as a form of language that reveals the structure of a society. The drifting aromas of a steaming, simmering soup, the sharp sound of a knife quickly slicing spring onions, the sizzling and crackling of mushrooms on a blazing fire.

In Haribo Kimchi, we find ourselves in a pojangmacha, a typical late-night street food stall scattered across the streets of South Korea. There we encounter a number of lost souls: a YouTuber, an eel, a toad and a rice cooker. They take us on a culinary journey, exploring food culture as a form of language that reveals the structure of a society. Through various absurd and touching anecdotes, they speak about the diaspora of kimchi culture, cannibalism during the great famine, the sour pain of unfiltered racism, and the deep umami taste of home.

Korean spoken with NL and ENG surtitles

Credits

concept, text, direction, music, sound & video Jaha Koo performance Gona, Haribo, Eel, Jaha Koo & twee gasten dramaturgy Dries Douibi scenography, collaboration investigation & digital support Eunkyung Jeong artistic advice Pol Heyvaert technical direction Korneel Coessens techniek Bart Huybrechts, Babette Poncelet & Jasse Vergauwe production coordination Wim Clapdorp engelse revisie Jason Wrubell animation snale Vincent Lynen

coproduction CAMPO, Theater Utrecht, SPRING Performing Arts Festival (Utrecht), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussel), Rideau de Bruxelles, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Théâtre de la Bastille (Parijs), Tangente St. Pölten – Festival für Gegenwartskultur, &Espoo theatre (Espoo), Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel (Hamburg), Sophiensaele (Berlin), Meet You Festival (Valladolid), Bunker (Ljubljana), National Theatre and Concert Hall Taipei, The Divine Comedy International Theater Festival / Teatr Łaźnia Nowa (Krakau) & Perpodium with support from de taxshelter van de Belgische Federale Overheid via Cronos Invest & de Vlaamse Overheid

The prototype of the eel was developed as part of the Innovation:Lab pipeline, in co-production with Theater Utrecht and creative technologists Adriaan Wormgoor & Willem Vooijs.

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In the press

“Jaha Koo cleverly blends his childhood memories with Korean culinary art.” ★★★★ de Volkskrant

“Haribo Kimchi is a performance that is both refined and deeply felt, about living in a country that is not your own. Not only love, but also melancholy passes through the stomach.” ★★★★ de Standaard

“After this performance, kimchi will never taste the same again.” ★★★★ 8WEEKLY

“A performance that uniquely blends Korean culinary art with personal stories and reflections on comfort food, identity and migration.” pzazz

About the makers

After the Hamartia Trilogy (2021), in which he delved into the far-reaching imperialism in East Asia, South Korean theatre maker and composer Jaha Koo returns with Haribo Kimchi, his newest creation. In his characteristic hybrid style—combining music, advanced video and robot performers—the artist reflects on cultural assimilation with all its conflicts and paradoxes. In an exceptional performance that engages all the senses, he permanently transforms our perception of food.

Ghent-based CAMPO is a pioneering arts centre that produces and presents theatre, dance and performance by emerging makers and international voices. Bold and full of surprises, CAMPO works and presents internationally, as well as across three venues in Ghent: CAMPO nieuwpoort, CAMPO victoria and DE BOMA.

Theater Utrecht is the city theatre company of Utrecht and creates distinctly engaged theatre focused on existential themes—always through new stories and new forms. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from personal stories, literature and music to fashion houses, pop culture and clubs, our makers experiment freely with new techniques, narrative forms and relationships with audiences, deliberately exploring the outer limits of theatre.