The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

111 The selection of prints in APT6 ranges in date from the late 1980s to the present. They illustrate technical skill and encompass typical subject matter, including rural landscapes, labour, the workplace and the city. They provide a particular picture of DPRK, as they encompass conceptions of daily life, work, family, propaganda and the ‘Fatherland’. Portraits In APT6, a display of portraits is placed in proximity to the monumental mosaic Work team contest . The succession of faces is positioned deliberately in counterpoint to the topic of the mosaic, which is realised in the manner of chuchehua . Dating from as early as 1956, these works illustrate an intimate perspective. Portraits result from the artist’s personal attachment to the sitter, as practice or as studies for incorporating into future work. Here, it is worth noting that the artists’ painting in oil has been influenced by the Japanese occupation of the country, when artists were exposed not only to Japanese but also to European schools of painting. The platform of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art offers an important context for bringing this selection of works together. APT6 presents the chance to consider the many forms that art takes in the DPRK today, and to exhibit these for the first time in Australia. The most satisfying aspect has been the opportunity to work with the various artists at the Mansudae Art Studio, and to develop this suite of new works on show here. Nicholas Bonner Endnotes 1 Jane Portal, Art Under Control in North Korea , The British Museum Press and Reaktion, London, 2005, p.124. 2 Author’s unpublished notes from artist interviews conducted at the Pyongyang studio, July 2009. 3 Author’s unpublished notes. 4 Author’s unpublished notes. 5 Author’s unpublished notes. Further reading: Philippe Chancel, North Korea (including texts by Michel Poivert and Jonathan Fenby), Thames and Hudson, London, 2006. Jane Portal, Art Under Control in North Korea , The British Museum Press and Reaktion, London, 2005. Pier Luigi Tazzi, The Hermit Country: Today’s Art from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , Petra, Padova, Italy, 2007. Yoo Jae-kil, ‘The past of North Korean art: Focusing on before and after 1950’ and Kim Chan-dong, ‘Northern Korean art today’, in Kwangju Biennale 2000: Man + Space [exhibition catalogue], Kwangju Biennale Press, Kwangju, 2000, pp.340–85. Kim Chang Gil North Korea (DPRK) b.1943 Portrait of merited artist Hong Bu Un 1980 Oil on canvas / 35.5 x 25.4cm / Collection: Nicholas Bonner, Beijing Won Song Ryong North Korea (DPRK) b.unknown Figure of harmony 1981 Oil on canvas / 58.5 x 42.5cm / Collection: Nicholas Bonner, Beijing Opposite Kang Jae Won North Korea (DPRK) b.1947 Going to work undated Linocut on paper / 43.5 x 81cm / Collection: Nicholas Bonner, Beijing Next page Hwang In Jae (attrib.) North Korea (DPRK)/China b.1943 Potato flower smell in the Daehongdan Highland (detail) 1999 Linocut on paper, ed. 1/5 / 41 x 80cm / Collection: Nicholas Bonner, Beijing