May 31, 2023
Evergreen

The artist tracking North Korea’s statue-building projects in Africa

Onejoon Che hopes to understand the significance of the Mansudae Art Project

From building statues for dictators to training liberation fighters, North Korea has had an active presence on the African continent for more than four decades. Western press has highlighted the odd features of these North Korean-built statues in Africa and the brutality that North Korean-trained African soldiers once unleashed on dissidents in Zimbabwe.

However, there has been no genuine attempt to look at North Korean activity in Africa from the African perspective. Onejoon Che, a South Korean visual artist and filmmaker, is trying to change that trend.