::corngrowth

gallery

In Goes, a town in Zeeland, The Netherlands, at the end of August 2017 an exhibition was held, showing more than fifty North Korean paintings, made between 1960 and 2007 by professional North Korean painters. All paintings were made on behalf of the North Korean state and are originally intended for domestic use in public buildings and hotels.

Art in North Korea is not free of obligation and is always in the service of the leader, who benefits from an idealized image of North Korea. The regime uses this well-painted socialist-realistic art to create and maintain an utopian North Korea. Essentially it's the glorification of the system by means of paintings with subjects like 'family', 'agriculture and industry', 'war and confrontation', with enemies like the US and Japan: propaganda wrapped as art!

The paintings were collected by the Dutch art collector Ronald de Groen. Ronald started collecting paintings at the end of the 1990's together with the Dutch Willem van der Bijl. Van der Bijl, a stamp dealer, had an official office in the North Korean city Pyongyang, allowing him to do business there legally. A big collection has been gathered by means of a North Korean intermediary.

I got the opportunity to capture all the exhibited paintings, so this one is the fourth one of a series of the by me selected images for uploading to Caedes. Although the last exhibited painting was made in 2007, think that this series will still show you an unique look at the closed/isolated North Korea.

Some details/description of the fourth one in this series:

Artist: unknown

Without title. Painted in 2001

Oil paint on canvas.

Youth is our future.

In North Korea the children are the bearers of the utopia that they are trying to create. Families are the foundation of the revolutionary society. Part of family life is the devotion to the Great Leader and gratefulness for his generosity and selflessness. Since the death of Kim II-sung in 1994 and the crisis that struck North Korea, there has a growing pressure on young people, demanding them to be grateful to their ancestors who bravely resisted the Japanese colonial oppressors and the imperialistic American aggressor. Their ancestors' sacrifices should never be in vain and therefore the young people should 'complete' the work which their ancestors started. This also counts for the new generation at the top of the North Korean regime and within the Kim family itself.