North Korean art stirs Muscovites
By Leonid Petrov
After two months, an exhibition in Moscow of North Korean graphics, mosaics and
embroidery is coming to a close. Oddly entitled "And Water Flows Beneath the
Ice", the exhibition was a major project initiated and hosted by Russian
entrepreneurs at the trendy Winzavod Gallery, a revamped wine factory in
central-eastern Moscow.
All the pictures came from the Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang, a
government-run enterprise that employs more than 1,000 artists to create art
for export.
The late (and eternal) North Korean president, Kim Il-sung, is
known to have once said, "Abstraction in art is death," leaving no choice for
North Korean artists but to embrace socialist realism as their method.
Russians, who still remember when this artistic trend was the only one
permitted by the Communist Party, were given a chance to refresh their memory
exactly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is no surprise that
many felt a sense of familiarity and at times nostalgia for while visiting the
unusual exhibition.
During a short trip to Moscow last month, I met with colleagues, Russian
scholars and researchers of Korean studies at the exhibition. They came along
with their students, and we had a lively discussion about the hidden messages
and artistic value of each picture. It was good to share opinions on a
contentious topic such as North Korean art, and our feeling converged on many
things regarding the commonalities and differences between North Korean and
Soviet propaganda art.
First of all, socialist realism in art is a misnomer, since it depicts life as
it should be, not as it really is. For instance, in this exhibition, there was
an image of chubby children in Pyongyang Zoo feeding monkeys with ice-cream.
The abundance of rice, vegetables and rabbits on show in other pictures also
seemed a disservice to aid agencies diligently dispatching food and other
humanitarian relief to starving North Koreans. In the artwork, life in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was consistently depicted as affluent and
pleasant.
In fact, North Korea is a revolutionary state, struggling to achieve economic
success and advance its military power. This can be viewed and sensed through
the canvases dedicated to the heroism of builders working on the Taegyedo
Tideland Reclamation Project or soldiers engaged in constructing the Huicheon
Dam.
Heroism at war and in peaceful reconstruction is venerated and equated to the
revolutionary course of juche (national self-reliance) and songun
(military-first) politics. Thus, every picture, embroidery and poster carries a
condensed revolutionary message that must convince the viewer that the people
of North Korea are determined and invincible. Some may call it propaganda, but
in North Korea this genre is known as Chosunhwa (Korean painting).
In fact, there is very little of Korean tradition in Chosunhwa. Although
most pictures are created with watercolors and ink, the characters, actions and
settings are Stalinist Soviet or Maoist Chinese. Even where the North Korean
artists try to be experimental and use such materials as gouache or mosaic, the
results resemble the typical posters and murals once omnipresent in the streets
of Moscow and Beijing.
Only the embroidery works were genuinely traditional, and most viewers were
stunned by their elaborate composition and vibrant range of colors.
After discussing the merit of each exhibit, my expert friends and I agreed that
totalitarian societies do produce impressive pieces of art, which inspire awe
and overwhelm the target audience.
While the value of such art is transient and more akin to propaganda, the
technical side of it is so unquestionably powerful that it deserves recognition
and research, if not admiration.
Unfortunately for the North Korean artists and Mansudae Art Studio
entrepreneurs, the value of this art is restricted by the willingness of the
purchaser to help the juche and songun revolution. Otherwise,
mainstream North Korean art, which is dutifully devoid of abstraction, has very
limited export value.
That explains the usual commercial difficulties encountered by the North Korean
art exhibitions brought overseas by the North Korean Committee for Cultural
Relations with Foreign Countries. Among the rare buyers of the socialist kitsch
are maverick revolutionary zealots and some rich sympathizers from South Korea.
In Russia and China, former communist patrons of North Korea, the appetite for
hackneyed images and themes is dwindling. What leaves the strongest impression
from "The Water Flows Beneath the Ice" is not the contrived propaganda on the
walls but the artistic installation placed in the middle of the gallery.
Dozens of green combat helmets hanging from the ceiling form perfect lampshades
over the scarlet-red carpet hosting a lonely short-legged Korean traditional
table. A bowl of white rice on the table symbolizes the prosperity that songun
was designed to create and protect. The soft pink light gleaming from each
helmet resembles the cherished hope of the Korean people for peace, love and
harmony.
The bouquets of colorful firework shots projected on the screen at the end of
the gallery hall surmount the composition and instill a sense of triumphant
fulfillment. The aim is seemingly to capture the unbending spirit of Koreans
(in both the North and South), as well as their hardworking and peace-loving
character.
Overall, the "And Water Flows Beneath the Ice" was a bright and memorable
phenomenon for the cultural life of the Russian capital. Neither the
awkwardness of the premises (conditions in the old liquor factory demanded that
all visitors wore clumsy overshoes) nor the overpriced pamphlet (more than
US$30) spoiled the positive and inspiring atmosphere.
Although it is commercially and morally questionable as well as kitsch, the
unusual initiative has awakened in hardened Russian art-lovers a long-lost
belief in fairness and altruism: ideals that are highly valued by Koreans.
Leonid A Petrov PhD, lecturer in Korean studies, the University of
Sydney.
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