Haribo Kimchi

South Korean director and composer Jaha Koo has established himself on the international scene with a highly hybrid and personal style, weaving together music, video, and robotic performers to reflect on cultural assimilation, with all its conflicts and paradoxes. In 2026 he received the International Ibsen Award, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the world for the performing arts, becoming the first Asian artist to obtain it. With Haribo Kimchi he makes his debut at the Romaeuropa Festival, presenting an experience that engages all the senses.
Here, food and sound become narrative material: the surprising taste of seaweed soup, the sharp sound of a knife slicing cucumbers, the bubbling of mushrooms over an open flame, the unmistakable aroma of kimchi (fermented cabbage, a symbol of Korean tradition). From this point, the scene unfolds as a pojangmacha, the typical Korean street food stall that animates the night streets of South Korea.
In this suspended space between everyday life and imagination, Koo introduces three unlikely characters (a snail, a gummy bear, and an eel) who guide us through a culinary and identity-driven journey, where food becomes a refuge for those who feel distant from their roots. Through intimate and surreal anecdotes, the performance traverses the history and culture of kimchi, recounts the bitter violence of racism, the shame of attempts to “blend in,” and the stubborn desire to preserve the taste of home.
The result is a poetic and gripping performance, crossed by a bittersweet melancholy: like a marinade, like an ingredient that continues to reveal itself slowly, bite after bite.