An exhibition of new photographs by the British photographer Nick Danziger opens at the British Council in London today and will be on show until 25th July...
North Korea - or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as it is known locally - is one of the most isolated countries in the world. Few foreigners are able to visit it and few North Koreans are able to travel abroad. Our knowledge of this singular state is therefore particularly limited, with debate often centring on the idea of North Korea as an abstract geopolitical entity – as a land of incomprehensible systems and beliefs.
But North Korea is a real country of 23 million inhabitants. This exhibition sets out to provide a view of the people and the country that we hope will inform future discussion. The photographs were taken by Nick Danziger who, together with the writer Rory MacLean, travelled to North Korea in August 2013 under the auspices of the British Council, and with the support of the Central Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, DPRK. They visited the cities of Pyongyang, Nampo, Wonsan and Sariwon, each day taken up with meeting people and encouraging them to talk about their lives, so that a picture emerges of individuals whose smallest pleasures are not all that different from people elsewhere, however strange or limiting their circumstances may appear to us. Profiles of 12 of these individuals are published in the catalogue accompanying this exhibition, together with an expanded selection of photographs and commentary on life and culture in North Korea.
The British Council has been running a teacher training programme in the DPRK for the past 13 years. This is the first cultural project we have undertaken with citizens of the country, and we hope that it might lead to greater people-to-people exchange and dialogue in the future.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Above the Line: People and Places in the DPRK (North Korea) 14 May – 25 July 2014
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:30 – 18:00
British Council HQ, 10 Spring Gardens, London, SW1A 2BN (MAP LINK)
Guided tours: A tour of the exhibition, conducted by one of the exhibition team, will be conducted every Friday at 1pm for the duration of the exhibition. Tours have a capacity of 20 people and you can book your place by emailing AboveTheLine@britishcouncil.org. Tours will last approximately 30 minutes and are free of charge.
The exhibition consists of 81 colour photographs and is accompanied by a catalogue containing 205 pages and 137 colour illustrations, with a specially commissioned introduction by the former ambassador to the DPRK, John Everard; as well as texts by Rory MacLean and Andrea Rose. The catalogue is available to buy at the British Council reception and online via Cornerhouse.
CONTACTS
Enquiries: Stephanie.farmer@britishcouncil.org / catherine.jay@britishcouncil.org
