A painting of Mount Paektu, a special place for Korean people, was being sold for $2,460 at an art show in Beijing.
A painting of a fancy young woman was being bought for $5,190. There were cheap and colorful landscapes for sale for people who don’t want to spend a lot of money.
The person selling the art didn’t try to hide who made it, even though there were strict rules. The dealer said the goods were painted in North Korea, and now there are rules against selling them.
The person selling the art had mixed gray and white hair and didn’t want to say his name. He worked for a gallery that says it’s the best place in China to buy art from North Korea. The gallery, The Paintings Say Arirang, also has a studio for artists from North Korea in the outskirts of Beijing.
The North Koreans live in a guarded area and they show a very positive, peaceful picture of life in their country. The Arirang studio says they will make very beautiful portraits for a good price.
The gallery is being criticized for using aggressive sales tactics, which experts say is possible because China doesn’t enforce U. Nrules very strictly. Sanctions against North Korea to stop them from building nuclear weapons. Sure, here is the simplified text: A. The United Nations has approved a large number of products from North Korea, such as weapons, coal, and art. The United Nations It has also tried to stop North Koreans from working in other countries so that North Korea can’t take their money to pay for its nuclear program. The United Nations in a report said Arirang broke rules by selling North Korean art and having North Korean artists perform.
China has often said no to the U.N throughout its history. To control people who break the rules about sanctions, and last year blocked a decision by the United Nations. a decision that would have made the rules stricter. The United Nations It was said that Arirang did not answer when asked for information.
The UN found Arirang to be easy. The gallery wants to attract a specific group of people who like the unique art style of North Korean artists.
Arirang was started by Jin Zhe, who is Korean and loves art. He was born in China near North Korea, and he wrote this on Arirang’s website. Jin is the son of a famous painter. He worked at a radio station in China for many years before he went to Pyongyang and became interested in North Korean art. Jin, the person in charge of Arirang, could not be contacted for a statement.
An Arirang worker said on the phone that the studio was open and invited a tour of the whole building. She also mentioned that the studio was selling unique portraits made by artists from North Korea. The worker, a woman named Shen, later said that the base wasn’t open because they didn’t have enough customers.
AP journalists went to the place where paintings are made, but the guards didn’t let them in.
On WeChat, the art gallery talks a lot about how North Korean artists create beautiful art because they are not influenced by money.
“They don’t care who has more money, they just care about looking good,” said Arirang on WeChat. “They believe that making art is important for our souls and culture, not just for making money. ”
This kind of art is really special because it looks so real, it’s worth a lot of money, and it’s something that people want to collect.
In many places, art is considered a way for people to show themselves. But in North Korea, there are very strict rules. Artists in North Korea work for the government to make art that praises the country and its beliefs.
Their work also gives money to North Korea.
“Song Byeok, an artist who used to paint propaganda posters in North Korea, says that all artists there are controlled by the government. ” North Korean art is controlled by the Kim family and does not have its own unique identity.
Posts on Arirang show a little bit of what the artists’ lives are like in China. In a picture, they hold up beer glasses while cooking on a hot barbecue. Some people show them playing ping pong or visiting old buildings and busy market streets.
Jin wrote on WeChat that almost 1,000 paintings were created in Arirang’s “painting base. ” The artists work very hard and often don’t take breaks, the gallery’s director said.
“It makes you feel calm and carefree,” Jin repeated what one artist said.
Another person told Jin that they couldn’t sleep until they finished their work, Jin said.
BG Muhn, a North Korean art expert at Georgetown University, said that artists are treated well and respected in North Korean society.
“They don’t think they are making propaganda art,” said Muhn, who has met artists on nine trips to North Korea. “They believe they are creating art for the country, to help the country and the people. ”
For many years, North Korean art was mainly made for people in North Korea. In the 1990s, North Korea’s biggest supporter, the Soviet Union, collapsed. North Korea really needed money, so it asked its artists for help.
The government sent artists to Africa and the Middle East to make sculptures and paintings honoring their leaders. Those efforts made a lot of money. At that time, the private art market became interested, especially when South Korea started to encourage trade with North Korea. Many paintings were brought into South Korea through Chinese dealers.
After Kim Jong Un became the leader in 2011, the government in Pyongyang started allowing artists to be more creative. They were told they didn’t have to make pictures that make state leaders look great anymore. Business was very successful: The Mansudae studio in North Korea built a museum in Cambodia and was paid to build statues of soldiers and dictators in Senegal, the Congo, Angola, and many other places in Africa. North Korea made a lot of money selling art.
The success went away when the U.N in 2016 and 2017, the government put restrictions on North Korea because they did nuclear and missile tests. Investigators asked an art seller in Italy some questions and took some paintings in South Korea. Pyongyang’s art sales went down and then stopped completely when North Korea closed its borders because of the pandemic.
But it looks like North Korea might not be as isolated as before. China and North Korea have become closer while their relationships with Western countries have become less friendly. Moscow is trying to be friendly with Pyongyang, and Kim is going to Russia in September to talk about selling weapons while there is a conflict with Ukraine.
Art and cultural sharing are starting again, Jin wrote recently.
Jin wrote on WeChat that art is a big way for people to learn about North Korea. “With continuous hard work and by learning new things, North Korean artists will definitely travel abroad and be known around the world. “