Blanca Barthe
Ramos
Methodology of
study and analysis - 1º TI
5th
December 2014
How does the artistic production produced by /
sponsored by the government in the last twenty years reflect official ideology
and political values?
This essay
analyzes how since 1994, North Korean government has been using painted art as
a way to emphasize North Korean’s patriotic feeling.
Have you
ever wonder how can a painting cause such an effect that you will ever use them
as a way to influence on people? Well many governments have discovered that
art, and not only painted but anything that is visual, can create an impact in
their citizens.
In my
opinion, I think that for a better understanding of this relation between
painted art and politics ideology, it would be a good idea to develop both of
the issues separately to later on come to understand what this sum up can mean.
Firstly we must
be aware of the country situation; from my point of view a better knowledge of
the context where the matters are occurring will help to understand why they
are happening there. To start by off one need to know the name of the country
of which this essay is going to be about: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK). This automatically tells us that the regimen imposed is a dictatorship,
even though many countries claim that is an absolutely monarchy. Since 1948
(when DPRK was officially proclaimed) there has been three main leaders in this
authoritarian system. These three figures were: Kim Il-Sung (1948-1994), Kim
Jong-Il (1994-2011) and Kim Jong-un (2011-today).
1994 was
the year when Kim Il-sung passed away and Kim Jong-Il followed the succession. One
of the things that Kim Jong-Il inherited was the personality cult. Being seen
as a god is an important aspect to be considered due to the fact that in the
old days most of the artistic representation was related with devotion. This
aspect will be developed later on once we have understood what art really
represents for society.
I would
like to start by trying to explain how art can affect a country’s ideology. Art
is normally definite as “the expression
of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as
painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their
beauty or emotional power.”[1]
To clarify this “emotional power”
I have chosen a quote extracted from Eleanor
and Park by Rainbow Rowell, it
says: “She never looked nice. She looked
like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you
feel something.”[2]
So the mayor issue on this would be if art can make you feel something, it can
also make you think different, or even inspire you to better things. Then, how
cannot a dictatorial government be afraid of something so apparently by chance
harmless but at the end so powerful?
It would be
expected then that the authorities would take this possible weakness for them
and turn it into their strength. As it was something logical and expected it is
exactly what the North Korean government did. By this I mean, art became a way
of advertising their ideology.
So
understanding that visual art can be a potential weapon for people’s mind, how does
the government use it to its own benefit? Going back to the personality cult
that Kim Jong-Il developed in his years of leadership and even after his death
(2011) it is understandable that because he was seen as a god, art production
would tend to be all around this image. And what does the image of the Great
Leader represent? His ideology, so what it was commonly known as art derived in
ideological propaganda.
“Of course everything is ideology” said Peter Noever, president of MAK (Museum in Vienna)
at a North Korean exposition. “I think
that no piece of art is free of ideology, but I also think that none is only
ideology.” [3]
However
when it comes to art produced by the own government it shows the aesthetic of
Socialist Realism art style which frequently displays militaristic themes,
always representing their own communism ideology or also as they called it
“Juche”.
This visual
art wants to make society feel devotedly loyal to the system that is shown.
Luckily not
all artists tend to think the same way and there is a reduced group of
revolutionary artists that try to fight against this. Unfortunately, DPRK is
also well-known because of its communist censorship. North Korean government
would not let any loose end to be left, so they made a severe regulation for
art as well.
In the
first place every artist has to join the Artists’ Union in order to be
permitted to portray the leaders and this piece of work would be catalogued as
“Number One works”. And those who dare not to follow the rules and spread their
own “revolutionary art” (as the government will say) will be strictly punished.
This art
production sponsored by the authority can be easily compared to the ones used
by the Soviet Union. Racial pride is exposed claiming that North Koreans have the
purest race. Happy farmers, proud soldiers, laborious workers and smiling
children along with their blessing president are other typical themes. And it
also arouses the reunification of the Peninsula of Korea by remembering their
restorative victory in the Korean War, something that never actually happened.
To conclude,
I would like to cite the famous playwright William Somerset: “Culture is not just an ornament; it is the expression of a nation’s
character, and at the same time it is a powerful instrument to mould
character.”[4]
Such is the
case that art in DPRK is used as an educational instrument to instill in their
personality cult ideology and Communism politics. Although art might seem
harmless once you realize the power that it can actually have it all depends on
the way you are going to dominate. In the instance of North Korea, art has been
controlled by the main strength of the State and used for their blessing by
producing/sponsoring it.
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