Africa, bronze statues, Cold War, Matsudae Art Studio, North Korea, Pyongyang, revolution, social realism

The encyclopedic box 1.16 deals with North Korean politcs in Africa. Since the 1970s, Pyongyang's state-run enterprise, Mansudae Art Studio, has created and built large-scale statues, monuments and memorials throughout the continent, including in nations such as Senegal, Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe. These initiatives honour the fight against colonial rule, national sovereignty, or pan-African solidarity, reflecting the ideological underpinnings of North Korea's own revolutionary discourse. The statues are a way of getting the country's culture out there and making money, and they help the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to get political influence in places that like their anti-Western stance. The artistic style, which is distinctly North Korean, is known as socialist realism, and the subjects reflect local histories and leaders. The illustration of the DPRK's unique method of authoritarian soft power projection is through ideological art and monumentalism beyond its borders.

The encyclopedic box 1.16 deals with North Korean politcs in Africa. Since the 1970s, Pyongyang's state-run enterprise, Mansudae Art Studio, has created and built large-scale statues, monuments and memorials throughout the continent, including in nations such as Senegal, Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe. These initiatives honour the fight against colonial rule, national sovereignty, or pan-African solidarity, reflecting the ideological underpinnings of North Korea's own revolutionary discourse. The statues are a way of getting the country's culture out there and making money, and they help the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to get political influence in places that like their anti-Western stance. The artistic style, which is distinctly North Korean, is known as socialist realism, and the subjects reflect local histories and leaders. The illustration of the DPRK's unique method of authoritarian soft power projection is through ideological art and monumentalism beyond its borders.