North Korea is world’s largest manufacturer of statues of dictators
Seoul ( AsiaNews) - The North Korean government has completed two large bronze statues of Zimbabwe's dictator Robert Mugabe, which are set to leave for the African country in time for the 90th birthday of the political leader. Mugabe turned 90 on February 21, but the Harare government has announced a year of celebrations for the leader nationwide.
The two giants in bronze statutes cost 5 million US dollars: the largest statue - 3.5 million - will be erected in the capital Harare, the smaller one - from 1.5 million - in the rural village of Zvimba, the birthplace of the longest-serving head of state on the African continent. The construction of the statue began in 2009 in Pyongyang: both will be transported by sea.
It is not the first time that the two countries have signed "artistic" deals, in addition to the well-known military and commercial agreements. Ironically, the last bronze statue commissioned by Zimbabwe from North Korea commemorated Joshua Nkomo. He was the leader of the Zapu independence movement and Mugabe's bitter enemy, who called him "a snake in the house, to be crushed without mercy". In fact, Mugabe's Fifth Brigade Army - trained by North Korea - crushed the supporters of Nkomo in 1987, killing around 20 thousand civilians.
Following the massacre, Nkomo
withdrew from the political struggle and died in 1999. Mugabe
declared him a "national hero" and ordered "a huge statue [see
photo] that witnesses to his moral and political greatness" from Pyongyang. The work of art was delivered in December
2013, and is now visible near the Parliament in Harare.
The
trade in works of art, dedicated mostly to dictators living or dead, is one of
the last profitable business for the government led by Kim Jong-un along with cartoon
designs. In
1960's North Korea made about a hundred bronze statues of Stalin and some works
on behalf of the Cambodian government led by Pol Pot as well as at least ten
statues of Mao still standing in China.
Nor should we forget the internal
market. In
the country there are about 34 thousand statues - always in bronze - that
portray the "eternal president" Kim Il-sung , and at least 900
dedicated to his son, "the Dear Leader" Kim Jong -il. Made
in the northern province of Pyongyang, these statues are considered of excellent
quality. One
exception in the market for dictators is the work commissioned by Abdoulaye Wade,
Senegal's former president, who in 2010 ordered a huge statue dedicated to the
"African Renaissance" from Pyongyang's artists.
The
work cost 27 million dollars. It was commissioned for the 50th anniversary of
the independence of Senegal, and was designed by Wade himself. With
the typical elements of socialist realism it depicts a muscular man, a child
and a woman climbing a hill - "freeing themselves" from the shackles
of capitalism and the market economy - looking with hope towards the Atlantic
Ocean.
.png)
12/02/2016 15:14
21/11/2017 19:24
