A one-day conference at the Center for Korean Studies titled The North Korean Diaspora: Art and Politics will provide a showcase for the work of noted "defector artist" Song Byeok.
The conference, organized by Professor Harrison Kim of the UH History Department, will take place Wednesday, April 17, 2019. An exhibit, The Iconoclast: Art of Song Byeok, will be on display at the Center April 17 and 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Song is one of the most acclaimed Korean artists living today. He was for two decades a propaganda artist for the North Korean government. Since defecting from the North in 2002, he has turned his prolific creativity to producing powerful, satirical art using motifs drawn from North Korea’s ruling culture. He has been featured in the Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC News, Reuters, the Huffington Post, The Guardian, and CNN.
The artist will be one of the participants, with other experts, in the conference on the North Korean diaspora from 2 to 5 p.m.
The North Korean diaspora includes close to half a million persons living in South Korea, China, Europe, and elsewhere. Moving beyond the identities of refugees and defectors, this conference will explore the culture and politics of this diaspora through activism and art. It will take up such issues as the ethnographic history of the North Korean diaspora, the terrain of activism by and for the North Korean people, the importance of political positions in art, and the conservative proclivity of politics in North Korean diasporic communities.
The Conference Schedule
2:00 p.m. — Welcome: Tae-Ung Baik (Center for Korean Studies, William S. Richardson School of Law, UH Mānoa)
2:05 p.m. — Introduction of the Conference: C. Harrison Kim (History, UH Mānoa)
2:15‒2:45 p.m. — Diaspora
“Leaving Home: The North Korean Diaspora”
Sandra Fahy (Anthropology, Sophia University, Japan)
2:45‒3:15 p.m — Activism
“Fighting for the North Korean People: Human Rights and Politics”
Henry Hyun S. Song (Activist, United States and South Korea)
3:30‒4:00 p.m. — Art
“My Journey from North Korea and the Political Potency of My Art”
Song Byeok (Artist, South Korea and Germany)
4:00‒5:00 p.m. — Questions and Answers
This event is organized by UH Mānoa’s Center for Korean Studies and is supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2015-OLU-2250005).
For further information, including information regarding access for the handicapped, telephone the Center at (808) 754-2103.