London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Life in the Dolphin Pool – an illustrated talk on North Korea at SOAS

Last year, the British Council held an exhibition of photographs of North Korea, a body of work that was the output of a long-planned collaboration with the DPRK authorities. LKL reviewed the exhibition here. If you had gone to the exhibition on a Friday lunchtime, you might have had a guided tour of the works given by British Council director Andrea Rose.

If you missed out on it completely, there’s now a chance to catch up:

Life in the Dolphin Pool

An Illustration of life in North Korea
The British Korean Society and the SOAS Centre of Korean Studies
Invite you to a talk by Andrea Rose
7 pm Tuesday 17 February 2015
Room G3 SOAS Main Building, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG
(Nearest Underground station – Russell Square)

Nick Danziger DPRK photo
Preparing for the Arirang Games. Photo credit Nick Danziger

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 geo-political entity – as a land of incomprehensible systems and beliefs.

But North Korea is a real country of 23 million inhabitants. In 2013, Andrea Rose, Director of Visual Arts at the British Council, was invited by the North Korean authorities to visit the country to explore the possibilities of cultural collaboration between the UK and DPRK. Much of the visit was taken up with meeting people and encouraging them to talk about their lives – fishermen, teachers, farmers, artists, train operators, generals, poets, students and footballers.

This illustrated talk focuses on the lives on those she met, and the context in which they live, and hopefully restores some humanity to people whom the west has caricatured as little more than victims of oppression. The talk will start at 7.15pm and will last 45 minutes; followed by Q & A session.

Wine, soft drinks and nibbles will be served after the talk.

This event is free to attend but booking is essential.
To reserve a place, please e-mail your name to [email protected]

(automatically generated) We didn’t review this event, but someone else did, here.

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