Exhibitions

Artists of the North Korean Mansudae Art Studio in galerie son

Only a few steps away from the North Korean embassy, galerie son is exhibiting from the end of August a small selection of works by some of the most renowned artists of the Mansudae Art Studio of North Korea. The paintings and prints were chosen in Pyongyang and show a variety of styles and techniques in dealing with the subject of landscape, which has become very popular with the Mansudae-artists since the Seventies. Water, be it the sea, a lake, river or waterfall, plays a central role in most of the works, as does the mountainous Korean landscape. The association of artists Mansudae should not at all be understood as a variant of the Chinese artists’ village Dafen, which produces copies of paintings on an industrial scale. Although the Mansudae Art Studio also produces “utilitarian” art – for example official sculptures and paintings that are often commissioned from Africa – it is at the same time a pool of about 1.000 artists working individualistically, who have gone through a long period of training and demanding studies.
This exhibition is the first step in a long-term project of galerie son, which intends to bring a few North Korean artists to work over a longer period of time in Berlin. Later, an exchange is intended to take place with South Korean artists, a rapprochement similar to the one that took place between artists from East and West Germany after the fall of the Wall: an approach in the field of art as a small miracle!

excerpt from a text by Verena Alves-Richter

As part of BERLIN's LONG NIGHT OF MUSEUMS on August 25th and
BERLIN ART WEEK 11-16 September, 2012