“Let us turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland" declares one of the 310 official patriotic slogans issued in 2015 year on behalf of the leader.
In 2015, Guardian journalist and photographer Oliver Wainwright travelled to Pyongyang, North Korea. The images taken on assignment reveal surprising interiors of a notoriously secretive country.
In an interview with Taschen, Wainwright remarks, "The most striking thing is the sheer amount of color; I had this preconceived image of endless, marching grey concrete blocks — the kind of post-Soviet, crumbling, monumental city. But it actually looks like someone’s emptied out a packet of sugar sweets, with all these candy colors — terracotta, yellow ochre, baby blue. I think it’s the most colorful city I’ve ever been to, and it’s a color palette that continues inside the buildings, where you find these complimentary schemes of salmon and teal, pink and baby blue. The palette reminded me a lot of a Wes Anderson film set, reinforced by the very strong sense of symmetry everywhere. The city is conceived around these axial boulevardswhere you always get a very symmetrical view, often terminating with a statue of one of the leaders or a main state monument."
Inside North Korea
Book Signing with author and photographer, Oliver Wainwright
Time: 6-8:00pm on 16th Oct., 2018 (Tuesday)
Venue: TASCHEN, Shop 01-G02 Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Online registration: https://www.taschen.com/rsvp149
Link to Wainwright's article: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/nov/02/moonrise-kingdom-why-north-koreas-buildings-echo-wes-anderson-film-sets