Jaha Koo explains the food, migration and music behind his Ibsen Award-winning theatre

Jaha Koo has described how food, migration and music shape his theatre in an interview published on 10 October, following his receipt of the 2026 International Ibsen Award in Oslo on 26 September. For audiences encountering his touring show Haribo Kimchi, his account explains why a Korean snack bar, gummy sweets and a robotic eel share the stage.

The award organisation identifies Koo as its 2026 winner and says the ceremony was held at Oslo’s National Theatre. The Guardian’s interview, published after the ceremony, focuses on the cultural experiences behind his work and the production he plans to make next. The award recognises an established body of theatre work; the interview offers Koo’s own explanation of its recurring concerns.

How Haribo Kimchi turns food into theatre

Haribo Kimchi takes its name from two foods that Koo connects to different parts of his life. He told The Guardian that he began eating Haribo gummy bears after arriving in Europe, while kimchi had been part of his life since before he was born. In the show, the foods help him describe a cultural identity shaped by living between South Korea and Europe.

Koo said Europeans tend to see him primarily as Korean, although he is not always seen as Korean when he returns to his original homeland. He described making kimchi in Belgium as a way of retaining a connection to his roots while adapting to what is available there. Recipes can vary with local ingredients, he said: “Kimchi can be very diverse.”

A robotic eel also appears in Haribo Kimchi. Koo told The Guardian that he was drawn to the eel’s journey away from its birthplace and back again, making it another way to consider departure and homecoming. The show had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival this summer, according to the newspaper. The award organisation says it first premiered in June 2024 at Tangente St. Pölten in Austria.

What Koo means by ‘jelliness’

Koo calls one of the show’s ideas “jelliness”. He compared a sweet that changes shape under pressure and then recovers with the resilience he needs while living outside Korea. It is his metaphor for adapting to a different environment, rather than a claim that cultural adjustment is simple. The award organisation likewise describes Haribo Kimchi as a work about assimilation and the experience of not fully belonging.

The mix of ordinary objects and political questions extends beyond this production. The award organisation lists Lolling and Rolling, Cuckoo and The History of Korean Western Theatre as Koo’s Hamartia Trilogy, dated 2015, 2017 and 2020 respectively. It describes those works as examining colonial history, cultural identity and political structures in East Asia.

In Cuckoo, talking rice cookers become part of Koo’s account of the long-term effects of South Korea’s late-1990s financial crisis. He told The Guardian that the show addresses unemployment, inequality and isolation associated with that period. Those observations are his account of the work and its subject; the interview does not measure the wider social effects of his productions.

Koo’s planned production about K-pop

Koo’s next project is identified by the award organisation as Born to be K to be POP. It says he is developing the work with LOD muziektheater in Ghent and that a premiere is scheduled for early summer 2027. The date is a plan, and the organisation does not present the production as completed.

The Guardian reports that Koo does not plan to perform in the new show and that its cast will consist of singers. He told the newspaper that he wants to examine both K-pop’s cultural influence and what he calls the industry’s “dark side”. The award organisation says the project will use K-pop to explore popular culture, fandom and power across borders.

Koo is based in Ghent, Belgium, according to the award organisation, which lists him as an associate artist of LOD muziektheater, Theater Utrecht, CAMPO and the Seoul Performing Arts Festival. That network and the planned collaboration place the proposed K-pop work within his continuing practice across countries. For now, its stated premiere remains the next scheduled milestone.