Art as Protest – Talk with Sun Mu

Sun Mu is an artist initially trained by the North Korean military to create propaganda art for the Kim regime. After defecting to South Korea in the 1990s, he has worked as a visual artist, and now uses propaganda style art to parody the Kim regime. Sun Mu is a pseudonym used to protect relatives still living in North Korea, and translates as “the absence of borders.”

Sun Mu will talk about three decades of work and life in North and South Korea.

Following the talk by Sun Mu there will be a discussion with Issa Sarikamis, Program Officer at Human Rights Foundation’s Art in Protest Initiative, moderated by Brit Felsen-Parsons, ISP-ICR Coordinator at Columbia.

Art is Protest is the Human Rights Foundation’s response to the authoritarian repression of creative dissent, and seeks to elevate artists whose work is connected to their struggle for democracy and human rights. Art in Protest offers dissident artists various platforms and exhibition spaces to expand their reach, as well as the opportunity to enhance their work through a residency.

Korean food will be served!

Cosponsored by WEAI, the International Security Policy and Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy concentrations at the School of International and Public Affairs, the Conflict Resolution Collective, and Korea Focus at Columbia University.