The former North Korean propaganda artist, Sun Mu is releasing his debut NFT collection this week. According to his official website, the artist will drop ten NFTs on May 29th at 9 am (EDT) via OpenSea.
This NFT project focuses on his existing propaganda artworks, paintings, and installation pieces. In collaboration with blockchain planners and motion graphic artists, he has recreated his NFT artworks to be open to the general public as media art.
Sun Mu’s ten NFT collections will be based on the Ethereum blockchain. Some of his works will be auctioned while others will be presented as multi-editions at a single price. They will be open to the public for a month until June 28.
Sun Mu majored in art in North Korea and has actively been working as a propaganda artist. He fled to South Korea in the late 1990s, passing through China, Thailand, and Laos on his way. He has worked as a full-time artist since graduating from a prominent South Korean fine art school.
With this collection, Sun Mu is once again trying to appeal to people outside of North Korea, asking them to imagine misery when they think of the country. His art reflects his upbringing and is reminiscent of North Korea’s socialist propaganda art with a hint of the pop art twist.
The North Korean government highly criticizes Sun Mu’s art for its bold, witty, and satirical approach for representing the country’s dictatorship, tyranny, and monarchy.
NFTs have truly come to the rescue of dissident artists who want to raise their voices against suppressed human rights and freedom of speech. One such artist is Badiucao who took a stand against the Chinese government for crimes against humanity.
Badiucao dropped ‘Beijing 2022’ as a protest against the NFT collection against China’s Human Rights record. He protested openly through his artworks depicting the Uyghur genocide, the Chinese government’s oppression of the Tibetan people, the dismantling of democracy in Hong Kong, and many such wrongdoings.