Mansudae Overseas Projects (original) (raw)

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North Korean monument construction company

Mansudae Overseas Projects
Chosŏn'gŭl 만수대해외개발회사
Hancha 萬壽臺海外開發會社
Revised Romanization Mansudae Haeoe Gaebal Hoesa
McCune–Reischauer Mansudae Haeoe Kaebal Hoesa

Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea.[1][2] It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio.[3] As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated US$160 million overseas building monuments and memorials. As of 2015, Mansudae projects have been built in 17 countries: Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Germany, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Togo and Zimbabwe. The company uses North Korean artists, engineers, and construction workers rather than those of the local artists and workers. Sculptures, monuments, and buildings are in the style of North Korean socialist realism.[4][5][6][7]

Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the President Agostinho Neto Cultural Centre in Luanda, Angola.[8][9]

Statue of Béhanzin in Benin

In Benin, the company has built a statue of Béhanzin.[10]

In Botswana, it constructed the Three Dikgosi Monument, also called the Three Chiefs monument.[10]

Angkor Panorama Museum was built next to the Angkor temples. The museum is operated jointly by APSARA and Mansudae. About half of 40 staff members are from North Korea. Unlike the earlier Mansudae's projects abroad, this time North Korea is attempting to make money by complementary sales of tickets and art. As of April 2016[update] the museum is projected to be completely handed over to Cambodians in twenty years, unless North Korean profits stay low, and the time needs to be extended. The number of visitors to the museum have been meager so far. However, Cambodian deputy director of the museum stated in an interview that in the present day it is very hard to make money with museums, and he remarked that marketing of the museum has not yet started.[11] As of January 2020, the museum has been shuttered indefinitely due to international sanctions compliance.[12]

Democratic Republic of the Congo

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In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has built a statue of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.[10]

The Tiglachin Monument, also known as the Derg Monument, is a 50-metre-tall (160 ft) pillar erected in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was donated by North Korea in 1984.[13] The monument has fallen into neglect.

Reconstruction of Frankfurt’s Fairy Tale Fountain [de], an art nouveau relic from 1910 that had been melted down for its metal during World War II. Germany is the only western nation to have a North Korean-built structure.[14]

In Mozambique, Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the Samora Machel Statue in Independence Square, Maputo in 2011.

Independence Memorial Museum (Windhoek)

Namibia is the only country to have commissioned four public works by Mansudae Overseas Projects.[4]

In Senegal, the company built the African Renaissance Monument.[10]

In the north of Togo, close to the village of Sara-Kawa, the late president Gnassingbé Eyadéma and some of his closest aides were in a plane crash on 24 January 1974. Eyadéma survived. A monument was erected with a huge statue of Eyadéma.

National Heroes' Acre is a 23-hectare (57-acre) burial ground and national monument in Harare, Zimbabwe. Work began on the site in 1981 and used by Zimbabwean and North Korean workers. It closely mirrors the design of the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery in Taesong-guyŏk, just outside Pyongyang, North Korea.[4]

The Joshua Nkomo Statue was constructed in 2010 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

  1. ^ Dannatt, Adrian (April 22, 2009). "Art in the DPRK". North Korea Economy Watch. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Mansudae Overseas Project Group of Companies". Naenara. Archived from the original on 2005-02-13. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  3. ^ Pier Luigi Cecioni and Eugenio Cecioni, "The Mansudae Art Studio[_permanent dead link_], from The Hermit Country, published by Petra, Padua/Empoli, Italy, May 2007
  4. ^ a b c d Kirkwood, Meghan L. E. (2013). "Postindependence Architecture through North Korean Modes: Namibian Commissions of the Mansudae Overseas Project". A companion to modern African Art. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 9781444338379.
  5. ^ Winn, Patrick (August 3, 2011). "North Korea propaganda unit builds monuments abroad". Global Post. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  6. ^ Baecker, Angie (2011). "Hollow Monuments". Art Asia Pacific (72). Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  7. ^ "All Official Portraiture of North Korea's Reigning Kim Family Is Made By Mansudae Art Studio". Colors (87). 2013. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  8. ^ "Agostinho Neto Mausoleum". The Angolan Market. May 28, 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Kim Yong Nam Visits Angolan Cultural Center under Construction". Korean Central News Agency. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  10. ^ a b c d e Niang, Amy. "African Renaissance, reloaded: the old man, the behemoth and the impossible legacy". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  11. ^ Mäkeläinen, Mika (2 April 2016). "Pohjois-Korean tuorein tulonlähde – taidekauppaa Angkorin raunioilla". YLE (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  12. ^ Sung-mi, Ahn (2020-01-05). "NK museum in Cambodia closes as workers repatriated". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  13. ^ Pearson, James (2016-12-01). "U.N. decapitates North Korea's statue export business". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  14. ^ Winter, Caroline (6 June 2013). "Mansudae Art Studio, North Korea's Colossal Monument Factory". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  15. ^ New State House for New Nation in AllAfrica.com via New Era, 20 March 2008. (registration required)
  16. ^ MENGES, WERNER (June 5, 2005). "Heroes' monument losing battle". The Namibian. Retrieved 11 October 2012.