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Let's wash our hands

Let's wash our hands

June 2020

Let's Wash Our Hands!

North Korea Coronavirus Propaganda Poster

A unique North Korean propaganda poster commissioned by Koryo Studio

     Let’s Wash Our Hands!

     손을 깨끗이 씻읍시다!

We are used to disruptions in travel to North Korea. Perhaps the most unusual one was for Ebola in 2015 – the fact that no cases had been heard of in Asia did not stop the DPRK from closing its border for 4 months. Just like the SARS epidemic in 2003, we thought Coronavirus would disappear in a few months and it was just a question of sitting it out until June.

How wrong we were.

Koryo Tours’ last tour to North Korea was in January 2020, perhaps the last tourist group in North Korea for… However long it is. And then with a crash, the border was closed.

Koryo Studio, together with a North Korean artist, decided to create something embracing the events of the strange and unprecedented year that 2020 has become, and re-interpret the North Korean propaganda poster.

North Korean Propaganda Posters

North Korean propaganda posters traditionally deliver messages such as value electricity, pay respects to your elders, keep fit, save water…

Traffic Girl

교통질서를 자각적으로 지키자!
Let’s Abide by Traffic Laws!

Propaganda Poster

중소형 발전소를 대대적으로 건설하여 공장과 마을에 더많은 전기를 보내주자!
Let’s Build Small and Medium-sized Power Plants and Send More Electricity to Factories and Villages!

Propaganda Poster

대중 률동체조를 정상화하자!
Let’s Practice Mass Gymnastics!

North Korean Propaganda Poster Does COVID-19

We were already engaged in a graphic project with a North Korean graphic studio, and we asked one artist who specialised in posters to create an image depicting the hygiene measures to be taken during COVID-19. It should be something as relevant as an instructional propaganda poster, but that would also be seen as an artwork.

We were shown various stages of the work and as an instructional piece it functioned as a propaganda poster should, to deliver a clear, unambiguous message. The work was intended as something light, to be actually of use, perhaps to be hung in the bathroom, however, as the virus took hold around the world we realised the brief should change. We asked for a re-draw and the year 2020 added to make the poster a commemorative item of a lost year.

We had expected the numerals to be painted in bold but the artist painted them in a subtle lighter shade, seeping into the image.

Whether intentionally or not, the result is an art piece where 2020 appears as a malevolent presence hanging above the somewhat joyful image of a woman simply washing her hands – this is clearly no ordinary year.

Propaganda Poster

1) Initial sketch

2) First colour piece – uncluttered background, no year showing

3) Email showing where Koryo Studio wanted date

4) Artist integrates year date into the art in subtle elongated year

5) Artists delivers final artwork

There was no access to the artist because of the lockdown and a formal contract could not be signed. The artist therefore used a pen name ‘Kim Yong’ chosen by the artist.

North Korea & COVID-19

North Korea was the first country to close its borders and likely will be the last to open, we are not sure what changes will have been wrought during this time.

What was intended initially as a simple instructional hand poster has now become tied to 2020, something of a Memento mori; a reminder of just how fragile we are.

COMMENT ON THE DESIGN ITSELF

Wash Your Hands Poster
Propaganda Poster

BACKDROP

In email conversation we were given the artists ideas. It was to include the backdrop of recognisable architectural elements in Pyongyang from the Juche Tower, to the Schoolchildren’s Palace as well as apartment blocks. This montage using both public buildings and housing is a technique often used in North Korean posters to fill the background not with emptiness but to emphasise progression, the building of a bright future for the people under the leadership and party.

North Korean Poster

DOVES: Typically used as motifs to signify peace in this 2005 printed poster for the Spring Friendship Festival

Let's wash our hands
Traffic Girl

FONT

In ‘Let’s wash our hands!’ the artist used the popular method of making the font not only clearly depict the message but to add to the vibrancy of the poster and become a part of the artwork. The first characters are in green in a more instructional style: 손을 (hands),  깨끗이 (clean),  whereas 씻읍시다(wash) is in a blue more active style. This is similar to the early poster above- the text 빛나는 성과를! (Bring brilliant achievements)  is in red font and uses perspective to emphasise the call for action whilst the text 민주 수도건설은 우리의 영예 (It is Our Honour to Build a Democratic Capital) is in a more repressed soft blue giving further information.

We now have a limited edition of 200 signed copies available for sale at just 120EUR
(plus 25EUR for worldwide postage and packaging)

TO ORDER your copy contact info@koryostudio.com

+++Due to COVID-19 there are certain countries that China Post cannot currently deliver to. If your country is on the list we will inform you (we will know when we post). The options are to wait until normal service is resumed or pay for EMS courier which would be an additional 35 Euro.+++

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let's wash our hands

let's wash our hands

Let's Wash Our Hands!

First commissioned North Korean poster depicting life during COVID-19

let's wash our hands

Each print is approximately A3 size (42 x 28.3cm with a 2 cm white border). Ten original hand painted versions (70.3 x 47.2 cm with a 2.4 cm white border) are also available (now second edition).

Our story

We have been working with one of our most talented artists to create a poster depicting life during COVID-19: something relevant for the world from North Korea.

Koryo Studio and Mr Kim Yong (he wanted to use his pen name rather than his full name) worked together by email to design something really very special. We now have a limited first edition of 200 signed copies available for sale, approximately A3 size at just 120 euros (plus postage and packaging). This is a unique opportunity to acquire a piece of propaganda art, usually a genre kept exclusively for political messages and usually only for internal use inside the DPRK.

As DPRK (North Korea) was the first country to close its borders due to COVID-19, communication with our artists has been a bit trickier than usual. However, due to the fact that we have email contact the work progressed in three months from the brief to finished piece.

Let's Wash Our Hands

Development of the poster

About the style

Propaganda art is a genre often used for political messaging and therefore for internal use only. However, DPRK (North Korea) do also make posters to deliver social messages. See the example below we found in May 2005 whilst filming ‘Crossing the Line’. This poster, urging the public to save electricity, was found on the stairway in the block of flats where US defector Joe Dresnok was living.

Let's save energy

More Details about ‘Let’s Wash Our Hands’

 

Authenticity:

There is a limited first edition run of only 200 prints. Each print will be signed by the artist (using his pen name), dated and numbered in pencil, and a certificate of authenticity will be sent with each print. Each print is approximately A3 size (42 x 28.3cm with a 2cm whiteborder). A selection of ten original hand painted versions are also available (please enquire).

 

The Design:

The artwork has the backdrop of recognisable architectural elements in Pyongyang from the Juche Tower to the Schoolchildren’s Palace. The artist included a flight of doves to represent a bright future. The artist also decided the rather ominous ‘2020’ would need to loom large in the background, it creates a slight unease within the rather naively painted happy scene – giving the feeling that these are not ‘usual’ hand-washing times.

 

The Font:

The font colours and style reflect the message Mr Kim chose wanted to impart. The first characters are in green in a more instructional style: 손을 (hands), 깨끗이 (clean),  whereas 씻읍시다 (wash) is in a blue more active style.

 

The Printing Process:

Using a specialist art printers the original gouache poster is flat bed scanned at high resolution. Individual prints are produced on a state of the art Epson giclée printer. The paper is 240 gsm white matt Hahnemühle paper.

 

Framing Ideas

The art will arrive rolled in tissue paper in a protective tube. The piece can be framed with a mount or you might try an aluminium shadow mount. As with all artwork please keep it out of direct sunlight.

Aluminium framed

We now have a limited edition of 200 signed copies available for sale at just 120 euros (plus 25e for world-wide postage and packaging).

TO ORDER your copy contact info@koryostudio.com

+++Due to the coronavirus there are certain countries that China Post cannot currently deliver to. If your country is on the list we will inform you (we will know when we post). The options are to wait until normal service is resumed or pay for EMS courier which would be an additional 35 euro. If the delivery fails to arrive we will refund the full cost of the artwork but cannot cover postage costs.+++

Artworks featured in Commissions are available for sale. Please inquire with us about availability.

Further Commissioned Works

Propaganda Poster Prints
Tourist Map of Pyongyang
Gareth Fuller’s artworks are available as a special signed edition of 1,000 affordable silkscreen prints
north korean comics The Country I Saw
Comics
Guarding-the-Skies
The Spiritual Core of Korea
Iconic roles of females in North Korean society

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Formerly known as Pyongyang Art Studio, Koryo Studio is the first Western art gallery to commission and sell work by artists of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea. Since 1993

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