Exhibition "(Not) It Is Possible to See:
North Korea" Automatic translate

The best contemporary photographers from around the world will present their work at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography at the exhibition ((Not) Possible to See: North Korea, which will open to viewers on June 22.

Wong Guafeng. English lesson at Pyongyang International Football School. North Korea. 2014

More than 70 photographs specially selected for exposure in Russia are united by the main idea - to show the possibilities of photography in the study of the image of one of the most closed states. The exhibition is supplemented by reportage shots made by Soviet photographers in the middle to the second half of the 20th century, making it possible to show the range of perception of the DPRK in different cultural and temporal contexts.

“Photography is a way to explore the world, including inaccessible parts of it. She always performed this function and even today, despite the ability to quickly travel distances, we learn a lot only thanks to the images and related texts. This is especially true for closed states, access to which is limited or impossible for political reasons. But as a result, the image is formed only thanks to the media, often mythologizing itself and North Korea, perhaps the most striking example. The difficulty is that, even after entering the country, it is almost impossible to shoot there, a person with a camera is constantly monitored. Therefore, the authors who decided to say something about the DPRK through photography, are forced to look for ways to do this, ”commented the idea of ​​the exhibition on the chief curator of the Center for Photography named after Lumiere brothers Natalya Grigoryeva-Litvinskaya.

Matyazh Tanchich 3DPKR, Hwang Sung Seo, 13, Kang Chol Ho, 45, Taekwondo trainer, An Song Il, 15, Schoolchildren’s Palace Keson. 2014

“(Not) it is possible to see: North Korea” is the work of modern authors, each of which in its own way solved creative issues within strictly established frameworks. The exposition included the works of such authors as Wong Guofeng (China), Martin Parr (Great Britain), Philip Chansel (France), Alice Welling (Netherlands), Eric Luffforge (France), Matt Pash (Great Britain), Matyazh Tancic (Slovenia), Oliver Wainwright (Great Britain), Eddo Hartman (Netherlands). All of them visited the DPRK recently, and each in his own way was able to see a closed society, focusing on the details, often elusive to the naked eye.

The seemingly familiar things fall into the frame - architecture, interiors, mass festivities, group and single portraits, hidden everyday life. But through these stories, the authors study the themes of mass and individual, staged and real, the possibilities of editing, and turn to the topics of frozen time and communication between people.

The exposition also includes photographs taken during the years of friendship between the USSR and the DPRK, when photography played a colossal role in shaping the ideologically verified image of a "friendly socialist country." The combination of modern and archival materials, showing similarities and differences in themes, subjects and display methods, also raises the question of the boundaries of photography and the possibilities of perception. “Such a comparison makes it possible to show how different a role photography can play in relation to ideology. The works of modern authors become a kind of optics for reportage series and reveal new meanings of images, ”says Olga Annanurova, curator of the project.

Matt Pash. Girl from Pyongyang 2012

Many of the series included in the exhibition were shown in the framework of personal and national exhibitions of leading museums and galleries in the world. In particular, Wong Guofeng’s works were exhibited at the Seoul Art Museum (SeMA) (South Korea), the De Sarthe Gallery in Beijing, Matyazh Tanchich - at the Pékin Fine Arts Art Gallery (Hong Kong), Philippe Chansel and Alice Velingi - as part of the Les Rencontres photo festival d’Arles (Arles, France), Eddo Hartman - at the Huis Marseille Museum of Photography (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and the Seoul Art Museum (SeMA) (South Korea). Also, the works of Matthias Tanchich, Philip Chanselia and Alice Velinga were included in the group exhibition "Perspectives of North Korea" at the Museum of Modern Photography at Columbia College (Chicago, USA).

The exhibition “(Not) It Is Possible to See: North Korea” opens on June 22 and runs through September 3, 2017.

Eddo Hartman, Philip Chansel, Alice Velinga, Matyazh Tanchich and Matt Pash will be present at the opening of the exhibition on June 21.

Oliver Wainwright Locker Room. May 1st Stadium. 2015

Philip Chansel. Mansude Hill. Celebrating the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung. April 15, 2012

Alice Welling Not Retreating. North Korea. 2013-2014

Eric Luffforge. Metro Pyongyang. North Korea 2014