Limited edition linocuts depicting the iconic roles of women in Korean society

Society owes much to those who toil in the fields, and the female tractor driver is already a prominent symbol in socialist art. The farmer wears a loose-fitting, army-style cap, which marks her as one of the youth brigade, or volunteers working labour projects across the country. This painting sends messages to DPRK viewers – note the bumper harvest, the electricity pylons and the two background tractors, clearly, resources are plentiful throughout the land. The shadows on her jacket and the streaking orange clouds make for striking patterns, but more important is the colour. In the DPRK, the sun symbolises the  ‘Eternal President Kim Il Sung’. By having the subject affect the traditional “socialist gaze” into the sunshine, the artist also indicates she is taking guidance from a leader.

One of Pyongyang’s most iconic symbols – the traffic ladies are the “face of the capital”, and reputedly the most beautiful women in the city: dressed in their sharp summer uniforms, with a background of modern buildings, and a busy street. In fact, the number of cars in Pyongyang has mushroomed over the years, to the point where the women’s duties were deemed too dangerous. Gone are their military movements with their lighted sticks; today’s traffic ladies let the traffic lights do most of the work. However, they still station themselves on the roadsides in case of mechanical failure. As for the colour scheme, blue and white were chosen to denote peace and tranquility.

Women of the DPRK have a long history of defending their nation, serving as guerrilla fighters against the Japanese, mobilising the locals during the Korean War, or serving in the armed forces after the founding of the republic. The highly respected Korean military is also the country’s labour force; soldiers work the fields, the mines, and the factories; they build roads, schools, and apartment buildings. They also secure the borders against imminent threats. Here we see a woman in uniform with camouflage netting, maneuvering an anti-aircraft gun.