May 2021
Bus Conductor
Linocut by Hwang In Jae
THE LINOCUT
Hwang In Jae captures the pride of a worker going about her work in this North Korean linocut. It is a beautiful piece rhythmic and gently handled. The celebration of manual work is something we rarely portrayed in the west, we see it is as mundane subject matter and not of visual interest, however, in North Korea it is a tool to inculcate the lessons of socialism.
Hwang In Jae told us the piece should show that ‘we all sacrifice ourselves for the common good, we go out of our way to do jobs for others without reward’. Koryo Studio keep the first print and we have just a few of these pieces left, the commission was one of the artists last work before he died.
If you are interested in other North Korea linocuts, make sure to have a look at our range of unique commissions by heading here. Any questions, be sure to let us know!
SUBJECT MATTER
Looking after your equipment is regarded as sacrosanct in the DPRK to the extent that machines that perform well will receive medals and therefore the people who have looked after the machine is by default rewarded.
In this case, Hwang In Jae depicts the trolley bus conductor cleaning her bus.
Pyongyang public transport is made up of the metro, buses, trolley buses (using overhead electric wires but not running on tracks) and trams. For a drive along the streets of Pyongyang via trolley-bus click here
