[KS] “From Creativity to Ideology–How Autocracy Removed Artistic Freedom in North Korean Music” (by Professor Keith David Howard of SOAS University of London) Thursday, 13 Feb 2025, 4 PM – 5 PM (NZDT)

[Changzoo Song]

Dear Friends,
We are happy to invite you to an engaging seminar in the K-Studies Colloquia Series, titled: “From Creativity to Ideology – How Autocracy Removed Artistic Freedom in North Korean Music.” Join us to hear from Professor Keith David Howard of SOAS University of London, as he uncovers how artistic freedom in North Korea has been redefined by autocracy.
| Event Details
•              Date & Time: Thursday, 13 Feb 2025, 4 PM – 5 PM (NZDT)
•              Location: Pat Hanan Room (207-501), City Campus, University of Auckland / Online via Zoom
•              Online Participation: Available via Zoom with pre-registration required. Please follow this link to register: https://auckland.zoom.us/meeting/register/z45cNCO4TreMEX_3xudwDw

This session is part of the University of Auckland's Strategic Research Hub Program in Korean Studies, supported generously by the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS).
| About the talk
For half a century, a monolithic artistic policy has gone hand in hand with absolute political autocracy in North Korea. Artists, including musicians and dancers, must adhere to a literary art theory (munye iron) that requires ideological purity and uses approved model works to generate new artistic production. This is the result of a transition away from artistic freedom begun in 1955 with the so-called ‘juche speech’ and the Ch’ŏllima ‘flying horse’ mass movement (Howard 2020) which was cast in stone after Kim Il Sung’s 1967 ‘May 25 instructions (5.25 kyoshi)’. To document the transition, I explore articles by musicologists, composers, choreographers, and educators in key journals of the period, revealing divergent and critical approaches to the imposition of ideology and state control. I then fast forward and ask whether the consensus of conformity remains in today’s music and dance production.
|Speaker Bio
Keith Howard is Professor Emeritus at SOAS University of London. He has held academic positions in Korea, Australia, and the USA. A regular broadcaster, and long-time editorial chair of the SOAS Musicology Series (2008–2017), he has written or edited 23 books, 170 academic articles and 200+ reviews.

Regard,
Changzoo Song

Strategic Research Hub in Korean Studies,
University of Auckland, New Zealand
ch.song at auckland.ac.nz<mailto:ch.song at auckland.ac.nz>

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