As per a famous saying, if you want to know about a country, study its art first. The same applies when someone wants to know about North Korea in detail. Every historian would recommend you go through its art trajectory, different themes, and styles of its creative and philosophical art pieces.
Just like any other nation, Korean art is not only creative but didactic as well. The journey of the nation’s art world has its seeds in its history and has been governed by traditional Korean culture.
Korean art is beautiful yet secretive and is often termed the ‘art of propaganda’ by the
western world.
Guide To North Korean Art; Its History, Themes, and Styles
Let us walk through a detailed guide to the history, themes, and styles of North Korean art.
History of North Korean Art
North Korean art goes back to 1945, marking the division of Korea into two parts. Thus, one can witness the significant impact of traditional Korean culture. Also, art has been highly influenced by the religious aspects of Daoism, Shamanism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.
In addition, the Korean world has received continuous inputs from the Chinese and Soviet blocs. However, the best aspect is that despite the influences also, Korean art still has to leave its own identity.
Themes and Styles of North Korean Art
The themes and styles of North Korean art revolve around prominent features, such as leadership, political strengths, a celebration of life, and social realism.
Political System
North Korean painters have been creating art revolving around the leadership and supremacy of the existing political system. These art pieces have a theme of legitimizing the North Korean political system and administration.
The paintings created portray the heroism among the leaders and a sense of excitement around serving the leaders. Also, one can witness the greatness of the ruling Kim family through these paintings.
Social Realism
Social realism is an imperative aspect of North Korean art pieces. Social realism is basically a word used for artwork, such as paintings, photographers, writers, and printmakers, which focus on the socio-political conditions of the working class.
The concept of social realism was adopted from the Soviet Union, and Korean art met the political conditions of the working class through its creative means. Social realism came to be known as ‘Juche’ in the context of North Korean art.
Juche’s ideology focuses on the need to continue the struggle for the reunification of the Korean peninsula. Also, as per the ideology, the paintings portrayed the positive aspects of laborers, farmers, workers, and all those who played essential roles in the Korean revolution.
The portrayal of Western Forces
The western world, especially foreign governments, has been portrayed as ‘negative elements’ who wish to have supremacy over the North Korean world. Also, in the world of the west, people have been categorized as imperialists.
On the other hand, revolutionary heroes, mainly from the ruling family of North Korea, have been portrayed as saintly beings who fought with the western world. In fact, the three main themes of the artworks found in North Korea are the current society’s happiness, the martyrdom achieved during the revolution, and the leadership’s genius.
Written Marvels
The written artworks found in North Korea are also marvelous. However, the themes adopted in the written world are no different from the creative paintings. As per the written artworks, Kim II-sung has been made famous as the creator and writer of ‘classical masterpieces.’
Some of the creations developed under his guidance include ‘The Flower Girl,’ ‘The Fate of a Self-Defense Corps Man,’ and ‘The Sea of Blood.’ All these written works are known to follow the Juche ideology immensely and, as per the Korean philosophy, are created with a high creativity quotient.
Final Words
North Korea is a fabulous county shrouded by mystery as they have concealed itself from the outer world to a great extent.
However, whatever art has managed to flow out of the country displays its rich leadership, hard-working middle class, and social realism quotient to a great extent. The need remains to research and follow the artworks religiously in order to understand their minutest detail.
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