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The Australian Government has refused to let the country of five artists from North Korea. They were supposed to arrive at the Triennale of Contemporary Art Asia-Pacific region, which recently opened at the Art Gallery State of Queensland (Brisbane). The exhibition organizers accused the government of censorship.

painters was denied a visa on the grounds that the Mansudae studio, in which they work, is a "propaganda tool" of the North Korean regime. All workshops located in the capital, Pyongyang, employs nearly a thousand artists. Some of them are engaged exclusively in writing portraits of "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung, but the studio also produced a great number of ordinary landscapes and traditional "Korean paintings, executed in ink on paper. Works of Mansudae were first shown to the west in 2007, at an exhibition in Italy.

Triennale in Brisbane, which involves twenty-five countries, presents an opportunity to see the entire 69 pieces of North Korean artists - is the most significant review of the country of Juche art, organized abroad. According to one of the organizers of the exhibition, a British businessman Nick Bonner (Nick Bonner), brought to Australia the product is anything but political. Only one work (a large mosaic depicting a scene at the steel plant) has been made in the style of socialist realism. Other paintings, says Bonner, were written by artists "for themselves. One of the works, which is the illustration of a children's tale, "supplemented by" 40 pictures of North Korean children.

In 2002, Australia froze relations with North Korea, and in 2006 imposed sanctions on the DPRK, including a ban on the issuance of entry visas. According to the Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood (Tony Ellwood), the exhibition organizers had hoped that artists would be an exception, because their work helps to better understand the North Koreans. But Foreign Minister Stephen Smith (Stephen Smith) claims that the issuance of visas to the painters of the studio Mansudae exposes Australia in the wrong light.

«According to reports, the studio produced nearly all allowed the DPRK Government works of art, including works that clearly can be attributed to the propaganda," - said in a statement.

«I'm just in my head does not fit, as could be called paintings in oil and ink, which we ordered, propaganda - resents Nick Bonner. - We're talking about art. When the artist to make it possible to create a piece, but not allowed to talk about it - this is censorship ».

Tony Ellwood said that pictures of Korean artists enjoy great attention from visitors Triennale. They cause the most problems. "I do not know, came to anyone of the representatives of the Government on our show - he said. - We certainly have no right to go against the will of the leadership. But we are very disappointed ».

North Korea - one of the most closed countries in the world. Nevertheless, from time to time it allows the government to hold cultural and sports activities that allow little to melt the ice in relations with other states. In 2008, for example, arrived in Pyongyang New York Philharmonic Orchestra. North Korean athletes (including gymnasts and football players) to periodically participate in international competitions.

sanctions against the DPRK have been used in connection with its refusal to halt development of nuclear weapons. The country closed its embassy in Australia last year, "for financial reasons».

article prepared by Julia Maksimova, AI

Source: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk , artinvestment.ru