Jaha Koo Wins International Ibsen Award: 'Jelliness Is My Life Motto'

South Korean artist Jaha Koo has received the prestigious International Ibsen award in Oslo, cementing his reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary theatre.

"Jelliness is my life motto," Koo said — a phrase that captures both his playful sensibility and the thematic core of a body of work built on fusion: of South Korean and European culture, of food and performance, of the mouthwatering and the thought-provoking.

What is Jaha Koo's theatre about?

Koo's shows are captivating hybrids in which cooking, cultural commentary and personal history share the stage. In his current touring production, Haribo Kimchi, he examines how the unlikely fusion of two foods represents his own cultural identity — while preparing an onstage banquet for two lucky audience members.

The premise grows directly from lived experience. When Koo moved from South Korea to Berlin, he brought 10kg of his grandma's finest kimchi. The fermented vegetables did not survive the journey intact: the jar became "bloated like a dead whale" and exploded on his balcony. His new neighbours were unimpressed.

Why Haribo and kimchi?

The pairing is pointed rather than random. Haribo gummies originated in Europe roughly a century ago — in Bonn, Germany — and Koo has now spent many years living on the continent. Yet Europeans still consider him foremost as Korean. When he returns to South Korea, he is not always seen as Korean there either.

That double displacement is the engine of his work. Haribo Kimchi turns the snack bar into a space where belonging is staged, tasted and questioned in real time.

What does the Ibsen award mean?

The International Ibsen award, presented in Oslo, honours artists who push theatrical form in significant new directions. For Koo, it marks international recognition of an idiosyncratic practice that refuses easy national categorisation.

His work spans food, K-pop and even a robotic eel — a menagerie of cultural artefacts through which he interrogates what it means to live between South Korea and Europe.

With Haribo Kimchi currently on tour, the award is likely to widen the audience for a theatre-maker who cooks his questions onstage and serves them to spectators, two plates at a time.