"The High Peak of Peace" by Jong Jong Yo, painted sometime in the 1970s or 1980s | Image: OCI Museum of Art
A stream pours through a cloud-covered valley, majestic mountains towering above. A worker, arms crossed and forehead wrapped with cloth, poses for a portrait. The tentacles of two squid spill off a dish, alongside the rigid bodies of fish also waiting to be cooked.
The phrase “North Korean art” typically evokes images of colorful socialist propaganda. But a new exhibition in Seoul aims to turn that assumption on its head, showcasing DPRK paintings that reflect the interests and talents of artists more than the dictates of the state.
A stream pours through a cloud-covered valley, majestic mountains towering above. A worker, arms crossed and forehead wrapped with cloth, poses for a portrait. The tentacles of two squid spill off a dish, alongside the rigid bodies of fish also waiting to be cooked.
The phrase “North Korean art” typically evokes images of colorful socialist propaganda. But a new exhibition in Seoul aims to turn that assumption on its head, showcasing DPRK paintings that reflect the interests and talents of artists more than the dictates of the state.
Shreyas Reddy is a correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter.