North Korea leaves its mark on Africa with huge sculptures

Angola – Agostinho Neto Mausoleum, Luanda

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 in foreign countries that are located as far away as Africa.

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 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 Party all over the country, it is the international commissions that the studio is most well known for.

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).

Although The Mansudae Overseas Project has earned estimated 160 million US dollars in the last 10 years, the studio has been criticized for the 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.

Angola – Agostinho Neto Mausoleum, Luanda

Benin – Statue of Béhanzin

Botswana – The Three Dikgosi Monument

Cambodia – Angkor Panorama Museum, Siem Reap

Democratic Republic of the Congo – Monument to Laurent-Désiré Kabila

Ethiopia – Tiglachin Monument, 50m, errected in 1984 in Addis Ababa
By Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa (Statue – Tiglachin Monument (1984)) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Common

Ethiopia – Tiglachin Monument, 50m, errected in 1984 in Addis Ababa

Germany – Frankfurter Märchenbrunnen, Foto Wikipedia | dontworry | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mozambique – Maputo-Machel-Cathedral, Independence Square, Maputo, constructed in 2011, Cornelius Kibelka
By Cornelius Kibelka from Berlin, Germany (Pai Samora) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Mozambique – Maputo-Machel-Cathedral, Independence Square, Maputo, constructed in 2011, Fritz Joubert
By Fritz Joubert (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons