Jaha Koo, a theatre artist based in Berlin, has won the prestigious International Ibsen award for his productions that blend food, performance and cultural commentary. The recognition came as Koo continues touring "Haribo Kimchi," a show that uses an unlikely pairing of German gummy bears and Korean fermented vegetables to explore his identity as someone caught between two cultures.
Koo moved to South Korea to Berlin years ago carrying 10kg of his grandmother's kimchi. The jar fermented during the journey, swelling to such an extent that it exploded on his apartment balcony, leaving his new neighbours decidedly unimpressed. That mishap became the seed for his theatrical examination of cultural fusion.
In "Haribo Kimchi," Koo prepares an onstage banquet for two audience members while interrogating what it means to exist in the space between South Korean and European identities. The show uses the two foods as a lens. Haribo gummies, which originated in Germany roughly a century ago, represent the European culture Koo has adopted. Kimchi embodies his Korean heritage.
Koo describes a persistent tension in how he is perceived. Europeans often see him primarily as Korean, regardless of his years living on the continent. Yet when he returns to South Korea, he notes that he is not always regarded as fully Korean either. The show frames this duality not as a problem to solve but as a lived reality worth exploring through taste, performance and shared food.
The Guardian interview captures Koo discussing "jelliness" as a personal motto, a reference that appears to connect to the physical properties of both gummy bears and fermented foods, though the full context is not detailed in the available excerpt. His work has earned recognition for creating theatre that is simultaneously accessible and intellectually rigorous, blending sensory experience with cultural reflection.
The Ibsen award, named after the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, recognises outstanding contributions to theatre. Koo's win reflects his distinctive approach to performance art, one that treats the everyday objects and foods of cultural identity as legitimate subjects for serious artistic investigation.