Scaler Lecture Series | BG Muhn Contemporary North Korean Art: Complexity within Simplicity at The Watermill Center

Art is huge in North Korea. The Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang is the largest government-supported art community in the world. Artists and artworks are highly regarded throughout the country. For the outside world, it remains an unexplored territory although there has been some limited, but growing, interest. Is there “art for art’s sake” in North Korea? Is all of the art produced there entirely propaganda and nothing else? How accurate is general perception of North Korean art in the West? Professor Muhn will share his insights gained through years of research on the subject. He will discuss the scope and variety of artistic expression of North Korean art and its meaning in the contemporary art world. His on-site, firsthand research including interviews of numerous artists, art historians as well as faculty members and students of the prestigious Pyongyang Art College will culminate in his forthcoming book on the subject.