N.K. leader portraits on display in Vienna
Amid heightened tensions here following the sinking of a South Korean Naval ship, apparently by the North in March, a little known side of North Korea is being shown at a venue far from the Korean Peninsula.
Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts, or MAK, offers an exhibition titled “Flowers for Kim Il Sung,” a first-ever comprehensive look at North Korean contemporary art outside of the country.
Through cooperation with Korean Art Gallery and the Paektusan Academy of Architecture, both in Pyongyang, the show features more than 100 oil, ink and watercolor paintings, 30 posters and some architecture models and photographs from the world’s most isolated communist country.
“It took a long time for the museum to persuade the skeptical North Koreans to let them include the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il portraits in the show,” Noever told the press. As a result, 16 portraits of the former and current North Korean leaders are seen at the show, for the first time outside of North Korea, according to the museum officials.
Persuading North Koreans, however, was not the only problem. The Austrian government also raised doubts about the exhibition, criticizing MAK for working with the Pyongyang regime. But Noever rejected suggestions that the museum is supporting the regime.
“The exhibition should in no way be viewed as a political statement, but rather purely as a unique opportunity to examine the idealizing art of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is hardly known at all. With this showing at the MAK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has broken through its isolation -- at least in terms of artistic production,” said Noever.
The works are created by artists who occupy a special status in North Korea, according to MAK. All are members of the state artist association, paid a monthly salary and have to produce a certain number of paintings.
The exhibition runs through Sept. 5 at MAK. For more information, visit www.MAK.at.
By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)
Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts, or MAK, offers an exhibition titled “Flowers for Kim Il Sung,” a first-ever comprehensive look at North Korean contemporary art outside of the country.
Through cooperation with Korean Art Gallery and the Paektusan Academy of Architecture, both in Pyongyang, the show features more than 100 oil, ink and watercolor paintings, 30 posters and some architecture models and photographs from the world’s most isolated communist country.
“It took a long time for the museum to persuade the skeptical North Koreans to let them include the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il portraits in the show,” Noever told the press. As a result, 16 portraits of the former and current North Korean leaders are seen at the show, for the first time outside of North Korea, according to the museum officials.
Persuading North Koreans, however, was not the only problem. The Austrian government also raised doubts about the exhibition, criticizing MAK for working with the Pyongyang regime. But Noever rejected suggestions that the museum is supporting the regime.
“The exhibition should in no way be viewed as a political statement, but rather purely as a unique opportunity to examine the idealizing art of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is hardly known at all. With this showing at the MAK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has broken through its isolation -- at least in terms of artistic production,” said Noever.
The works are created by artists who occupy a special status in North Korea, according to MAK. All are members of the state artist association, paid a monthly salary and have to produce a certain number of paintings.
The exhibition runs through Sept. 5 at MAK. For more information, visit www.MAK.at.
By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)
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