Renowned Melbourne architecture and interiors photographer Dave Kulesza has an exciting and equally fascinating exhibition launching this week - DPRK: North Korea in Colour.

The theme of this Exhibition is colour, which is the common link between the cities architecture and interior design. ”When one thinks of North Korea, dark and grey tones come to mind. This series explores the abundance of colour, inside the city and the cities buildings that are foreign to our imaginations.“ says Dave.

The Exhibition will feature 15 large prints & an exhibition book of 100 pages. The direction of the series is a non political perspective of Pyongyang showcasing the universal language of architecture and Interior Design.

Continue reading for the artists statement and exhibition details.

Artists Statement - The Changgwang Health & Recreation Complex Diving Board was where it all began. This was my first point of contact into a visual side of North Korea that I wasn’t aware existed. My attention was drawn and I was intrigued. I began filtering out all the mainstream military & political preconceptions and I started digging deeper. It didn’t take long before I discovered the colour. It was soft, subtle and in abundance, almost juxtaposed against the country’s stereotype. 

This series is about the design throughout the Capital, Pyongyang, explored through its architecture and interior design over 3 days. There seemed to be a strong North Korean style which was quite infectious to capture. At times, it felt like I was walking through a moment before my time, a surreal time capsule which I would not otherwise be apart of. At other times, the feeling of walking through a detailed film set that was so perfectly constructed, was hard to believe existed. 

The design of the DPRK soon became a huge fascination for me. The absence of human inhabitance was deliberate in the images. Documenting society wasn’t entirely the objective, instead people were added to emphasise scale and context. 

Colour was so strong indoors, but it was the large propaganda murals where I sourced my inspiration for the external treatments. Scenes depicting nostalgic moments of the past  leaders, Kim Il-Sung & Kim Jong-Il in various backdrops, inspired this eccentric direction.

With only 3 full days to shoot and a packed itinerary, the days were very long and at times could be mentally exhausting. There were many challenges during the journey, but one of the most significant was time, or the lack of. 

Each location we visited, we only saw once. It was very much a case of ‘what you see is what you get’. There was no option of coming back at better light, or returning to get a better shot if something was missed. We were on a ‘moving escalator’ and the only direction was forward. Entering spaces as a Westerner, with a tripod, large camera and backpack full of lenses, was possibly the most conspicuous way of shooting in the DPRK. This made photographing intimate spaces very difficult and I quickly learnt the attention and discomfort I was creating with my setup. The slower tripod style of composing frames which I’m accustomed to, had to be sped up quite substantially, as time in spaces was very limited. 

Although visible around various parts of the city, I underestimated the accessibility and exposure I would have to the large scale murals of past Leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. There was no available option of simply pulling up to one for a few moments whilst driving past, instead they were predominantly captured out of a moving vehicle on the off chance one appeared on the correct side of the car.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

28 November - 8 Dec | Opening night event 28 Nov, 6-9pm

178 Johnston street, Collingwood.