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Last updated: May 7, 2020

Angola – Agostinho Neto Mausoleum, Luanda, photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, Memorial Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto (19882325368), CC BY 2.0

North Korea’s art export

Artwork from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has always been a trademark for modern socialist realism. Although North Korea is well known for being the most secretive nation in the world, the largely unknown nation is certainly not shy when it comes to publicizing their statues, monuments, grand festivals, and celebrations. In particular, a North Korean based construction company known as Mansudae Overseas Project, has been designing fine art for decades, helping art to become one of North Korea’s most important and most successful exports. While many other North Korean barriers remain up, fine art from the country has managed to make its way to foreign countries that are located as far away as Africa.

About Mansudae Overseas Project

Established in 1959, the Pyongyang based art studio has a total of 4,000 workers, 1,000 of whom are highly skilled artists. The Mansudae Overseas Project has handled so much work over the years that it is currently classified as one of the largest and most successful art production studios in the world. The studio used to operate under the guidance of then-leader Kim Jong-Il who was known to have a deep and keen interest in art and theater performance.

The outside of the Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang, North Korea, photo: Nicor, Propaganda at Mansudae Art Studio, CC BY-SA 3.0

Different departments inside the studio

The Mansudae Overseas Project features many departments, making it the most prominent and well-known studio in North Korea. Some of the departments include woodcutting, ceramics, painting and of course sculptures. Although the studio has helped to create monuments such as the Monument to the Founding of the Korean Workers Party¹ all over the country, it is the international commissions that the studio is most well known for.

International exports since the mid-1970s

Since the mid-1970s, the international chapter of The Mansudae studio has been offering cheap labor for the creation of outstanding and huge monuments such as the African Renaissance Monument in Senegal, as well as the Heroes Acre war monument in Namibia. The Mansudae Overseas Project has managed to attract a steady list of international clients although Germany is the only country in Europe that has ever commissioned the studio to create a monument (Frankfurt’s Fairy Tale Fountain).

Conclusion

Although The Mansudae Overseas Project has earned an estimated 160 million US dollars in the last 10 years, the studio has been criticized for poor working conditions that it exposes workers to and the low pay. The artists who work steadfastly do not get any returns as money from art sales is re-directed to the North Korean government. Additionally, some artists have criticized some of the monuments claiming that they are a little too ‘North Korean’ for their liking.

Videos: Interviews with artists in Mansudae Art Studio

Sculptures

In Angola

In Benin

In Botswana

Botswana – The Three Dikgosi Monument, photo: US Army Africa, Three Dikgosi Monument – March 2010, CC BY 2.0

In Cambodia

In Democratic Republic of the Congo

In Ethiopia

Ethiopia – Tiglachin Monument, 50m, errected in 1984 in Addis Ababa, photo:
Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa, Statue at Tiglachin Memorial, CC BY-SA 2.0

In Germany

Frankfurter Märchenbrunnen, Frankfurt, Germany, photo: dontworry, Theaterbrunnen-ffm001, CC BY-SA 3.0

In Mozambique

The Mansudae Overseas Project – Mozambique – Maputo-Machel-Cathedral, Independence Square, Maputo, constructed in 2011, photo: Cornelius Kibelka from Berlin, Germany, Samora Machel statue 2011, Maputo, Mozambique (23782903242), CC BY-SA 2.0

Mozambique – Maputo-Machel-Cathedral, Independence Square, Maputo, constructed in 2011, photo: Fritz Joubert, Maputo-Machel-Cathedral, CC BY-SA 4.0

In Namibia

Namibia – Independence Memorial Museum, Windhoek, inaugurated 2014, photo: Diego Delso, Museo de la Independencia, Windhoek, Namibia, 2018-08-04, DD 08, CC BY-SA 4.0

In Senegal

Senegal – African Renaissance Monument (Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine), Dakar, photo: Peal1903, Monument de la Renaissance africaine, CC BY 3.0

In Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe – National Heroes Acre, photo: CC BY 2.0 by Tips For Travellers

Zimbabwe – National Heroes Acre, photo: CC BY 2.0 by Tips For Travellers

More

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Related readings

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Party_Founding

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