Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea.[1][2] It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio.[3] As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated US$160 million overseas building monuments and memorials. As of 2015, Mansudae projects have been built in 17 countries: Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Germany, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Togo and Zimbabwe. The company uses North Korean artists, engineers, and construction workers rather than those of the local artists and workers. Sculptures, monuments, and buildings are in the style of North Korean socialist realism.[4][5][6][7]
| Mansudae Overseas Projects | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 만수대해외개발회사 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | |
| Revised Romanization | Mansudae Haeoe Gaebal Hoesa |
| McCune–Reischauer | Mansudae Haeoe Kaebal Hoesa |
Angola
editMansudae Overseas Projects constructed the President Agostinho Neto Cultural Centre in Luanda, Angola.[8][9]
Benin
edit
Botswana
editIn Botswana, it constructed the Three Dikgosi Monument, also called the Three Chiefs monument.[10]
Cambodia
editAngkor Panorama Museum was built next to the Angkor temples. The museum is operated jointly by APSARA and Mansudae. About half of 40 staff members are from North Korea. Unlike the earlier Mansudae's projects abroad, this time North Korea is attempting to make money by complementary sales of tickets and art. As of April 2016[update] the museum is projected to be completely handed over to Cambodians in twenty years, unless North Korean profits stay low, and the time needs to be extended. The number of visitors to the museum have been meager so far. However, Cambodian deputy director of the museum stated in an interview that in the present day it is very hard to make money with museums, and he remarked that marketing of the museum has not yet started.[11] As of January 2020, the museum has been shuttered indefinitely due to international sanctions compliance.[12]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
editIn the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has built a statue of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.[10]
Ethiopia
editThe Tiglachin Monument, also known as the Derg Monument, is a 50-metre-tall (160 ft) pillar erected in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was donated by North Korea in 1984.[13] The monument has fallen into neglect.
Germany
editReconstruction of Frankfurt’s Fairy Tale Fountain, an art nouveau relic from 1910 that had been melted down for its metal during World War II. Germany is the only western nation to have a North Korean-built structure.[14]
Mozambique
editIn Mozambique, Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the Samora Machel Statue in Independence Square, Maputo in 2011.
Namibia
edit
Namibia is the only country to have commissioned four public works by Mansudae Overseas Projects.[4]
- Heroes' Acre (inaugurated August 2002) with a statue of the unknown soldier near Windhoek, Namibia.[10]
- Okahandja Military Museum (inaugurated 2004, closed to the public), located in Okahandja, 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Windhoek
- The New State House of Namibia (inaugurated 2008) on a 40.4 ha site in Windhoek.[15][16]
- Independence Memorial Museum (inaugurated 2014), central Windhoek.[4]
Senegal
editIn Senegal, the company built the African Renaissance Monument.[10]
Togo
editIn the north of Togo, close to the village of Sara-Kawa, the late president Gnassingbé Eyadéma and some of his closest aides were in a plane crash on 24 January 1974. Eyadéma survived. A monument was erected with a huge statue of Eyadéma.
Zimbabwe
editNational Heroes' Acre is a 23-hectare (57-acre) burial ground and national monument in Harare, Zimbabwe. Work began on the site in 1981 and used by Zimbabwean and North Korean workers. It closely mirrors the design of the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery in Taesong-guyŏk, just outside Pyongyang, North Korea.[4]
The Joshua Nkomo Statue was constructed in 2010 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
References
edit- ^ Dannatt, Adrian (April 22, 2009). "Art in the DPRK". North Korea Economy Watch. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ "Mansudae Overseas Project Group of Companies". Naenara. Archived from the original on 2005-02-13. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
- ^ Pier Luigi Cecioni and Eugenio Cecioni, "The Mansudae Art Studio[permanent dead link], from The Hermit Country, published by Petra, Padua/Empoli, Italy, May 2007
- ^ a b c d Kirkwood, Meghan L. E. (2013). "Postindependence Architecture through North Korean Modes: Namibian Commissions of the Mansudae Overseas Project". A companion to modern African Art. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 9781444338379.
- ^ Winn, Patrick (August 3, 2011). "North Korea propaganda unit builds monuments abroad". Global Post. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ Baecker, Angie (2011). "Hollow Monuments". Art Asia Pacific (72). Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ "All Official Portraiture of North Korea's Reigning Kim Family Is Made By Mansudae Art Studio". Colors (87). 2013. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
- ^ "Agostinho Neto Mausoleum". The Angolan Market. May 28, 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ "Kim Yong Nam Visits Angolan Cultural Center under Construction". Korean Central News Agency. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Niang, Amy. "African Renaissance, reloaded: the old man, the behemoth and the impossible legacy". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ Mäkeläinen, Mika (2 April 2016). "Pohjois-Korean tuorein tulonlähde – taidekauppaa Angkorin raunioilla". YLE (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- ^ Sung-mi, Ahn (2020-01-05). "NK museum in Cambodia closes as workers repatriated". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
- ^ Pearson, James (2016-12-01). "U.N. decapitates North Korea's statue export business". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
- ^ Winter, Caroline (6 June 2013). "Mansudae Art Studio, North Korea's Colossal Monument Factory". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
- ^ New State House for New Nation in AllAfrica.com via New Era, 20 March 2008. (registration required)
- ^ MENGES, WERNER (June 5, 2005). "Heroes' monument losing battle". The Namibian. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
Further reading
editExternal links
edit
- Mansudae Art Studio, North Korea's Colossal Monument Factory
- Tycho van der Hoog: Monuments of power: the North Korean origin of nationalist heritage in Namibia and Zimbabwe. - Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2019
- Tycho van der Hoog: North Korean monuments in southern Africa: Legitimizing party rule through the National Heroes’ Acres in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Leiden, 2017