MANSUDAE WORKSHOPS
The Mansudae Workshops (or the workshop of Mansudae) is the largest "factories" of works of art in the world. Like all that can be visited in the country, the figures are impressive: 120 000 m2, more than 4 000 employees including 1 000 artists, 13 sections (embroidery, ceramics, making statues...), manufacturing workshops of alloys and paper... Everything is inspired by revolutionary or Korean style; besides, abstraction, which is considered as counter-revolutionary, is ban. Depending on the time of year and according to the given authorizations, it is possible to visit some workshops. The ceramics and embroidery workshops are the most visited by tourists and highlight the know-how of the artists. It is quite possible to be interested in what is done in the workshops and to ask questions to artists about their work and their artistic techniques, it is much appreciated. If you are lucky enough to visit the ceramics section, pay attention to the local method of obtaining high precision and vivid colour patterns.
The workshop, which opened in 1959, is entirely at the service of the regime. First of all, it is here that all official representations of the Kim clan are developed and verified. The best examples are certainly all the giant statues of Kim across the country, in the image of the Grand Mansudae monument as well as the portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il present in all the private and public spaces: all come from Pyongyang workshops. In addition to this activity, the Mandudae Workshops are the principal architect and masterpiece of symbolic monuments of the country such as the monument to the Foundation of the party or the equestrian statue of Chollima. The artists are all civil servants and do not perceive any profit outside their monthly salary, the entirety of the profits generated by the workshops (estimated at 13 million euros in 2017) are donated to the State. The only distinction to know more about the hierarchical rank and fame of artists is the number of people working in the same room: an individual workshop is reserved for the best artists.
Individuals can acquire locally produced works in the Workshop’s shop. This is definitely the place with the widest selection of hand-painted propaganda posters with the DMZ shop. An overseas delivery service is available for larger pieces that cannot be transported by train or by plane. Price is available on request. Another possibility is online shopping: the Workshops are represented abroad by an Italian citizen, Pier Luigi Cecioni, who comes to provide on-site and sells the works online.
Mansudae Workshops in China. Travellers travelling to North Korea via Beijing will be able to visit the L’Espace 798 in the Chinese capital. This vast area has a large number of galleries, one of which is dependent on the Mansudae Workshops. It is possible to buy many works (paintings, statues...) at relatively interesting prices (North Korean newspapers are also on sale at a price lower than those in Pyongyang!). The same items are also purchased at Dandong, on the Chinese border: be ready to bargain firmly.
In addition to Beijing, some international cities have already exhibited works from the Mansudae Workshops such as Dandong in China, but also London in 2007, or Brisbane in 2009. It is possible to find works created by the artists of Pyongyang in Frankfort, who commissioned for the reconstruction of a fountain, but also, among other things, in Botswana, Angola, and in Senegal where the monument of the African Renaissance is held or the panoramic Museum of Angkor. The North Korean regime gladly sells "tailor-made" works abroad: the cost of manufacturing is very competitive and the final margin is substantial. It is a nice way for accumulating currencies.