Art Under Control in North Korea

by Jane Portal (Author)

2 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-1861892362

ISBN-10: 1861892365

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Nuclear bombs and geopolitical controversy are often the first things associated with North Korea and its volatile leader Kim Jong-II. Yet behind the secretive curtain of this isolated nation also lies a little-known and slowly expanding world of art.

Art Under Control in North Korea is the first Western publication to explore the state-controlled role of art in North Korea. This timely volume places North Korean art in its historical, political, and social contexts, with a discussion on the state system of cultivating and promoting artists and an examination of the range of art produced, from painting and calligraphy to architecture and applied art. Portal offers an incisive analysis that compares the dictatorial control exerted over artists by North Korean leaders to that of past regimes. She also examines the ways in which archaeology has been employed for political ends to legitimize the present regime.

Art Under Control in North Korea is an intriguing and vibrant volume that explores the creation of art under totalitarian rule and the ways art can subvert a dictatorial regime.

Art Under Control in North Korea

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Editorial Reviews

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"Timely . . . If only all political histories were accompanied by such engaging visual material."

(Reena Jana Bookforum 2005-06-01)

"Examines the country's art, architecture, archaeology, and culture with vigor and immediacy. . . . Concise and brilliant."

(Richard Byrne American Prospect 2005-12-20)

"Fascinating study of the interface between art and politics in North Korea."

(John Gittings The Guardian 2006-10-27)

"A valuable pioneering work. It contains much information not easily available to the Western reader outside of university libraries, and benefits from the author's exposure to the North Korean art scene and her conversations with Korean art workers. The generally judicious choice of plates supports the text at ever turn and, in the excellent reproductions, gives a good rendering of the originals. Above all, the dispassionate and knowledgable handling of the material is welcome in a field where comment is largely either adulatory or denigrating."

(Susan Pares Asian Affairs 2006-11-01)

"Well-illustrated and transparently written, it is a useful introduction to North Korea's peculiar art world. . . . Portal succeeds in keeping her political distance and avoiding the hyperboles and generalizations so often seen in publications on this country. . . . Art Under Control in North Korea is a very good introduction to the peculiar socio-economic situation of North Korean art and its recent history."

(Ken Vos Museum Anthropology 2007-03-27)

About the Author

Jane Portal is curator in the Oriental Antiquities department at the British Museum, London. She is the author of Korea—Art and Archaeology and Chinese Love Poetry.

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Reaktion Books (August 15, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1861892365
ISBN-13: 978-1861892362
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 2 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,250,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12349 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Criticism
- #401125 in Books > Textbooks

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a fascinating book with important information on north korea

ByMerrily Bairdon February 7, 2006

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It is quite a delight these days to read a book on North Korea that manages to be politically relevant and insightful without focusing on the country's drive to acquire nuclear weapons, its appalling human rights record, or the self-absorbed behavior of its current leader, Kim Chong-il. This refreshingly different approach is what Jane Portal offers in her 2005 publication, "Art Under Control in North Korea." Portal, an assistant curator of Asian Art at the British Museum and author of a previous book on the history of Korean art, has worked hard to provide a political context for the arts in North Korea, and, overall, has proven herself a reliable scholar on this front.

That a study of the arts in North Korea should be so important is due to two circumstances: in nearly all cases, the visual, performing, and written arts are controlled by the state and the official micromanaging them since the early 1970s at least is none other than Kim Chong-il. The fact that art exists to serve the state is tackled in an introduction that puts the North Korean arts scene into historical context by offering valuable comparative background on the USSR, China, and Nazi Germany, and there then follow two more chapters that review North Korea's history. From Chapter 4 forward, Portal takes a close look at how art has been used to promote the cult of the two Kims--Kim Chong-il and his late father Kim Il-song. The changing themes and styles in art, the institutions set up to create the art, and timelines for the dedication of particularly important public works of art are all dealt with in a neutral, businesslike manner.

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Government Art...

ByMichael Valdivielsoon May 26, 2010

Format: Paperback

Art Under Control In North Korea, by Jane Portal, is a wonderful book on the development of propaganda in North Korea under the Communists. The first chapter deals with art made for governments, with heavy focus on the USSR and China which both influenced Kim Il-kwang and North Korea's system of government.
The second chapter deals with the history of Korea and its art. The third focuses on North Korean politics and society starting in 1953 and, of course, how that shaped the art world within the nation. The fourth chapter deals with the Cult that built up around Kim and the fifth chapter, one I found very interesting, was the changing and shaping of Korea's history by the Northern government. The last chapter, which I also found interesting, dealt with the history of the art schools and major artists of North Korea.
I would suggest reading Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea after finishing this book for a more first hand account of North Korea and its society.

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