When Jaha Koo was recently honoured in Oslo with the prestigious International Ibsen award, he was greeted with a congratulatory packet of Haribo gummy bears. It was a fitting gift for an artist whose current touring production, Haribo Kimchi, examines cultural identity through the unexpected combination of German sweets and traditional South Korean food. The Norwegian government-backed prize, which comes with a substantial 2.5m kroner reward, places Koo alongside past recipients such as Lola Arias and Forced Entertainment. Based now in Belgium, Koo uses the metaphor of gummy candy to describe his life abroad, adopting "jelliness" as his personal motto. When pushed, he explains, jelly shrinks and changes form before recovering its shape, much like the resilience required to navigate life outside one's homeland.

While Haribo represents a newer discovery encountered after moving to Europe, kimchi remains a foundational part of his identity. He recalls a disastrous early move to Berlin where a 10kg stash of his grandmother's fermented cabbage fermented so intensely it exploded on his balcony. In his show, Koo prepares an onstage banquet for audience members while exploring the concept of the kimchi diaspora, emphasizing that diverse global ingredients do not make a recipe inauthentic. The set itself is designed to resemble a Korean pojangmacha, a movable snack cart that offers a soul-comforting space for people of all backgrounds. With its translucent red glow reminiscent of Haribo packaging and pop-up shop culture, the bar serves as a symbol of lives in transit and the rapid pace of change in South Korea.

Koo’s theatrical approach blends sensory storytelling with deeply emotional cuisine, treating every item on the menu like a musical score. Audience members sitting at his bar are treated to a somaek cocktail alongside dishes like cold seaweed soup, which carries traditional links to Korean birthday rituals and ocean myths. Alongside him on stage are unusual co-stars, including a robotic eel that slithers around and delivers a ballad, as well as a giant gummy bear and a singing snail. The choice of an eel reflects the creature's migratory life cycle of leaving its birthplace before returning home to die. Designed by Eunkyung Jeong with dramaturgy by Dries Douibi, the production recently had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh international festival.

Food has long served as a powerful metaphor in Koo's work, reflecting the importance of shared meals in South Korean culture where the word for family, sikku, translates to people who eat together. His earlier production Cuckoo, which was also revived in Oslo, utilized hacked talking rice cookers to explore the severe socioeconomic fallout of the late 1990s financial crisis and subsequent IMF intervention. While Haribo Kimchi offers a gentle and warm atmosphere, Cuckoo tackled raw themes of unemployment, societal pressure, and isolation with sharp political critique and catchy electro-pop music. Through these culinary and mechanical performances, Koo continues to bridge distinct cultures while examining the economic and personal strains of modern life.