Revolution art
Monuments and paintings are made to order at North Korea’s blacklisted art factory.
“THAT was a personal commission,” said renowned North Korean sculptor Ro Ik-hwa, pointing to a bu st of AQ Khan, the Pakistani scientist denounced by the United States as the world’s greatest nu clear proliferator.
The bu st sits in Ro’s workshop in Pyongyang’s sprawling Mansu dae Arts Stu dio complex, which has become the latest target of United Nations sanctions seeking to cu rb nu clear-armed North Korea’s access to overseas hard currency revenu e.
The Secu rity Council resolution adopted unanimously in early December inclu ded a paragraph explicitly preventing UN member states from bu ying statu ary from them.
The clau se was aimed at a niche bu t lu crative bu siness – ru n from Mansu dae – of exporting giant memorials mainly to Africa.
Ro, 7 7 , is among the greatest living practitioners of su ch works, having been a lead artist behind some of the most iconic of Pyongyang’s monu ments.
The Khan bu st was commissioned after the Pakistani scientist visited the city’s Revolu tionary Martyr’s Cemetery and admired the large bronze sculptures of individu als commemorated there.
“He asked for something similar in size and shape, so I made one,” Ro said du ring a recent tou r of his stu dio. “After he saw it, he really liked it. He sent me a photo and asked for another, so I made a two-metre tall one.”
Revered by many Pakistanis as the father of the cou ntry’s atomic bomb, Khan confessed in 2004 to sending nu clear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he later retracted his remarks.
As US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton described him as “probably the world’s worst proliferator.”
Khan’s vanity purchase is dwarfed in scale and cost by the monu mental mu lti-million dollar projects Mansu dae has worked on overseas – inclu ding the 50m-high African Renaissance Monu ment, completed in 2010 outside the Senegalese capital Dakar.
“We’ll send teams for between one and five years to work on these projects,” said Kim Hyon-hu i, manager of the Mansu dae Overseas Project (MOP) grou p.
A day after the latest UN resolu - tion was adopted, the US Treasu ry added the MOP to its blacklist of entities that “su pport North Korea’s illicit activities”.
Ultimate au thority over Mansu dae technically resides with propaganda chief Kim Ki-nam. Bu t according to Michael Madden, editor of the website North Korea Leadership Watch, its lu crative statu s marks it ou t for special attention from su preme leader Kim Jong-u n.
“Given its prominence as a labou r-service contractor and export company, realistic control over its affairs lies with Kim Jongun’s sister, Kim Yo-jong,” Madden told AFP.
A vice-director in the Propaganda and Agitation Department, Kim Yo-jong has risen swiftly throu gh the ranks of the North Korean leadership to assu me what analysts see as an influ ential position.
Last week, she was added to the US Treasu ry Department’s blacklist in response to Pyongyang’s “seriou s” censorship activities.
According to Pier Lu igi Cecioni, who has operated as Mansu dae’s official sales representative in the West for the past decade, Mansu dae and the MOP enjoy a high degree of autonomy.
Like a ministry
“They pretty mu ch exist at the level of a ministry,” said Cecioni who sells paintings by Mansu dae artists throu gh an English-langu age website he manages.
African governments have been Mansu dae’s main market for largescale projects, with statu es, monu - ments and buildings ordered by countries like Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
Kim declined to provide any details of MOP’s earnings, and estimates of how mu ch hard currency the company brings in range from US$5mil to US$13mil (RM22.3mil-RM58mil) a year. In terms of its revenu e earnings, Mansu dae is a fairly small player,” said Madden.
“Becau se of its importance and prominence in the cou ntry’s political cu ltu re – not to mention its
“su preme” patronage – Mansu dae is not hard pressed to earn more,” he added.
Mansu dae’s socialist-realist style has proved popu lar with revolu - tionary movements-tu rned-governments looking to create a post-colonial memorial landscape, and it provides skilled workers at a very competitive price.
“Only the North Koreans cou ld bu ild my statu e ... I had no money,” the then-Senegalese president, Abdou laye Wade, told the Wall Street Journal when the African Renaissance Monu ment was completed at a reported cost of US$27 mil. Close to 4,000 people work at Mansu dae – a vast complex the size of a small village with hundreds of studios hou sed inside cavernous cement buildings.
It was fou nded in 1959 by Kim Il-su ng and a giant statu e of the fou nding president and his son and successor Kim Jong-il – both on horseback – greets visitors inside the main entrance gates.
Artist rankings
The stu dios employ 7 00 artists who are ranked in a clearly defined hierarchy. At the top of the pile sit arou nd 30 designated “People’s Artists” – like Ro – who enjoy nu merou s benefits inclu ding foreign travel and individu al stu dios inside the complex.
The North’s art scene is tightly controlled – there is no abstract art, which is regarded as anti-revolu - tionary by au thorities – and even the top artists work for monthly salaries that bear little relation to the sale valu e of their work.
“We produ ce pieces that are demanded by revolu tion... that move people to revolu tion,” said Hong Chu n-ong, 7 6 – also ranked as a “People’s Artist” and a 40-year veteran of Mansu dae who specialises in wood cu ts and propaganda images.
Hong, described by MOP manager Kim as among the “top five” artists in the cou ntry, is one of the few to have travelled overseas -- attending promotional exhibitions in Asia, as well as some Eu ropean countries like the Netherlands. We sell works at ou r exhibitions, bu t also produ ce as requ ested,” Kim said.
“Those shown at exhibitions are more expensive becau se they don’t get re-produ ced,” she added.
Provenance can be problematic for those not attu ned to the peculiarities of the North Korean art market.
Star artists often produ ce multiple copies of their most popu lar works which are also copied by other artists, so that more people can see them. At the same time, Mansu dae cranks ou t a lot of works specifically tailored for foreign consu mption.
Provenance problem
This makes finding high qu ality pieces, with a clear provenance and with genu ine roots in the fabric of North Korean society, extremely difficu lt.
Prices vary enormously, with large works by top People’s Artists going for tens, or hundreds of thou sands of eu ros.
“I don’t deal mu ch with expensive works like that,” said Cecioni. “The artists involved aren’t well known here, so it’s difficu lt to find bu yers at that price range.”
Mansu dae’s only bricks and mortar foreign representation is the gallery it operates in Beijing’s 7 98 Art District.
North Korean art remains an extremely niche market, and China is one of the few places where works are bou ght and sold by collectors with any regu larity.
It is possible to bu y direct from the complex in Pyongyang, bu t financial sanctions make it difficu lt. “You can’t transfer money to North Korea, so if you can’t go in person, there aren’t that many options,” said Cecioni.