Exhibition shows a glimpse of N. Korean beauty

Ary Hermawan ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 04/25/2008 12:15 PM  |  Potpourri

OBSERVING A PAINTING: Korean women dressed in traditional attire observe a painting at the North Korean Painting Exhibition at the National Gallery in Jakarta. The exhibition, which will run from April 23-26, is part of a cultural exchange agreement between North Korea and Indonesia that was signed in April last year. (JP/Ary Hermawan)A classical music performance by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Pyongyang earlier this year ushered in a new era of diplomacy between two hostile nations, the U.S. and the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.

It also sent a message to the world that amid stiff political talks and negotiations, the socialist republic, which startled Asia-Pacific countries when it tested its first nuclear devices in 2006, has now resorted to art as a means of communication.

As part of a cultural exchange agreement between Indonesia and North Korea that was signed in April last year, more than 100 paintings by four renowned North Korean painters are currently being exhibited at the National Gallery in Jakarta, from April 23 to 26.

"These are the first Korean official and artist delegates to come to Indonesia," Ministry of Culture and Tourism Secretary General Wardiyatmo said, adding that Indonesia would send its delegates to North Korea next year.

Among the North Korean delegates attending the opening ceremony of the exhibition were the country's director for cultural exchange at the committee for foreign cultural relationships, Pak Song-ok, an official from the committee, Kim Yong-gum and artist Kim Hyok.

The cooperation agreement was only recently signed but the friendship between the two Asian countries stretches back to the year 1964, when Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, made a state visit to North Korea. Then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il, who succeeded his father, made a return visit to Jakarta the following year.

At the time, Sukarno cordially gave his North Korean counterpart an orchid, which he insisted be named "Kimilsungia" after the senior Kim. It has since become one of North Korea's national flowers and is considered a symbol of friendship between the two countries: North Koreans annually hold the Kimilsungia Flower Festival to respect their former leader.

The paintings brought to Jakarta display the romantic images of North Korea; its beautiful landscapes, its people and its culture. The four artists -- Huang Byong Ho, Cho Jim, Rim Pa and Sam U Yang -- used different mediums, from canvas to embroidery, combining traditional Korean and Western styles of painting.

The idyllic landscapes of mountains and forests are the major theme of the exhibition, which attempts to show the soft and tranquil side of the socialist country.

Such paintings as Twin Falls of Mt. Paektu, Peak of Mt Kumgang and At a Pasture present the comforting beauty of nature untouched by the hands of modernity, reminiscent of Indonesia's Mooi Indie landscape paintings, which were much loved by president Sukarno, who shared socialist values.

The other paintings depict the daily lives of North Korean families, especially the women and their children in their colorful traditional attire, Choson-ot, or Hanbok in South Korea.

The exhibition also includes the patriotic images of Korean soldiers, as displayed in a painting entitled To Defend the Fatherland.

"This (exhibition) is to show that North Korea is more than what has been broadcast by the media, with the nuclear issue or the disharmony with the U.S.," the Foreign Affairs Ministry's director general for Asia-Pacific and African affairs, Primo Alui Joelinato, said at the opening of the exhibition.

He said Indonesia deemed the friendship and cooperation agreement with North Korea important in maintaining stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

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