25 January, 2008 – 9 Juny, 2008




The most famous works by the best contemporary painters from the Kaesong collection



LAM Museum of Applied Art (Arsenalo Street 3A, Vilnius)

Exhibition curators: Franciscus Broersen, Ilona Mažeikienė, Skaistis Mikulionis

Curiosity, love for art and an interest in a long-term investment made me decide to visit the most isolated country in the world - North Korea. It required a great deal of talking and negotiation at the North Korean Embassy in London to get the final invitations from the Ministry of Culture of North Korea. The purpose of the first trip was to see for myself a possibility of acquiring and taking away from North Korea some contemporary high-quality works of art. After this first trip I was convinced that what I was looking for was available. Back home a team of three people was formed to combine knowledge, money and workforce to start purchasing works of art in North Korea. After several trips the Kaesong collection took its shape.
Acquisitions continued, and when the collection numbered some 2000 works by North Korean artists, the owners of the collection decided that these hidden treasures should be exposed to public view, familiarizing specialists at Sotheby's with some of them. They were pleasantly surprised by the works brought from Pyongyang and became genuine supporters of the Kaesong collection. A few years ago a delegation from the British Museum visited North Korea and purchased a number of works that are now in the collection of the British Museum.
Vilnius will be the spotlight of a world premier of this exhibition featuring over one hundred North Korean paintings. It is a unique event that takes place for the first time in Europe. Lithuanian art lovers will be given an opportunity to be the first in the world to admire North Korean paintings. Later this exhibition will travel to Riga, Tallinn and St Petersburg.

Franciscus Broersen

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