Cheonggye Chung Chong-yuoBrochure, 1989, MMCA Art Research Center Collection
Cheonggye Chung Chong-yuo
* Source: MMCA
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Korean Plastic Arts Federation
An organization formed in 1946 by numerous established artists. The core membership included Jeong Hyeonung, Gil Jinseop, Kim Kichang, Kim Man-hyeong, Lee Qoede, and Yoon Hee-soon, who left the Korean Art Association (Joseon misul hyeophoe) because of their opposition to the right-wing beliefs of Ko Huidong. The association was the parent organization of the Independent Art Association, Dangu Art Academy, Cheongahoe, Joseon Sculptors Association, and Korean Craftspersons Association (Joseon gongyega hyeophoe). The alliance held exhibitions and published bulletins, but about eight months after its establishment, it merged with the Korean Artist Federation (Joseon misulga dongmaeng) to form the Korean Art Alliance (Joseon misul dongmaeng). The Korean Plastic Arts Federation (Joseon johyeong yesul dongmaeng) was a rare politically moderate organization that accepted many artists in a national art community that was sharply divided along right-wing and left-wing divisions.
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Artists who defected to North Korea
Artists who defected to North Korea refer to artists who moved their spaces of artistic activities to north of the armistice line during the period immediately after Korea’s liberation from Japan on August 15, 1945 until the signing of the truce agreement. Prior to the lifting of the bans on artists who were abducted by or defected to North Korea in 1988, they were labeled traitors for “betraying the South Korean system and choosing the North Korean one” or “choosing communism.” Their works were deemed “detrimental to ideas,” so it was forbidden to mention them. However, contrary to the reasons for restrictions imposed by the government, recent studies have revealed that the defection of most artists to North Korea resulted not from ideological choices or alignment with political system of North Korea, but from unavoidable circumstances caused by the war and division of the country. Accordingly, the scope of research on artists who defected to North Korea can vary depending on researchers or research environments. It discusses the conflict and movement between the two spaces of Seoul and Pyongyang or South and North Korea and further includes those that the South Korean government defined as artists who chose the North Korean system. The number of artists who defected to North Korea amounts to roughly sixty to eighty. In recent years, there has been a view that the so-called consecutive lifting, which differentiates and selectively relieves artists who defected to North Korea voluntarily, those abducted to North Korea, those residing in North Korea, and those who returned to North Korea after defection to South Korea, is an act of high-level public security control. This is seen as a non-academic power tyranny and violence against intelligence that insults the particularity of art, leading to voices to dismantle and prospectively reconstruct the existing frame of the lifting of bans on abducted artists and artists who defected to North Korea.
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Korean Art Alliance
An organization created in 1946 in North Korea. as the result of a merger between the socialist Korean Artist Federation (Joseon misulga dongmaeng), the politically moderate Korean Plastic Arts Federation (Joseon johyeong yesul dongmaeng), the Joseon Sculpture Association, and former members of the Korean Art Association (Joseon misul hyeophoe). Together, these associations collaborated to host an Independence Cultural Art Exhibition and founded the Korean Art Alliance (Joseon misul dongmaeng). The Alliance actively conducted enlightenment activities under the doctrine of “Art for Public Awareness” and leftist artists were the primary members. The leadership of the Alliance was comprised of Yoon Hee-soon, Lee Insung, Oh Chiho, and Gil Jinseop. The Alliance’s doctrines included the implementation of democracy, departure from the influences of imperialism, establishment of National Art, and the enlightenment of the populace. The Alliance engaged in raising public awareness about modern art through activities such as street exhibitions, touring exhibitions, and the production of posters and leaflets. The Korean Art Alliance (Joseon misul dongmaeng) was an influential faction within the art community of the 1940s, raising public awareness about art and issuing statements on political events before disbanding in 1948.
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