Anti-Americana: Picasso's "Other" Massacre Memorial

Pablo Picasso's "Massacre in Korea," 1951

Mention Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in the context of political art and everybody thinks of "Guernica," right? His brilliant, massive canvas memorializing the bombing of the civilians of Guernica during the Spanish civil war by Nationalist forces is justifiably famous. Its haunting, angularly abstract imagery depicts the cruel murderous chaotic intensity of a bombed village in ways that are immediately affecting and unforgettable. "Guernica" is a painting that is rightfully taught to students (at least it was when I was in school), and rightfully holds a central position in the annals of 20th-century political art.

Turns out there is another work by Picasso that is not so widely taught or recognized, hanging in the Picasso museum in Paris. It's called "Massacre in Korea," dates from 1951, and depicts the massacre of Korean civilians at Sinchon by American forces early in what is misleadingly called in the United States "the Korean War."

I confess to having seen photographs of this painting before, but never questioned its subject matter until I read its title. I suspect that's no accident. Although it's acknowledged that Picasso was a leftist for much of his life, it's obvious that Picasso's truth-telling about the uncomfortable comparison between the murderous forces of Spanish fascism and US imperialism is anathema to popular art critics. How coldly hypocritical that this painting brilliantly depicting the murder of civilians by a robotized, dehumanized military machine would be quietly ignored because it runs counter to the official myths about what US imperialism was up to in Korea.

I've written repeatedly that North Korea's government is hardly the model of an egalitarian, forward-thinking socialist society. But whenever you hear the DPRK demonized on American TV, or read some fearful screed about the threat posed by the North Korean nuclear program, remember this painting. Remember who did what to whom. Guernica, Sinchon: Exactly the same things. Don't be fooled by the whining of bullies.

Anti-American Art: Victorious North Korea

In honor of yesterday's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island by the army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, here's a stamp from North Korea ca. 1993 commemorating the "40th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Liberation War." That's father of the nation Kim Il Sung standing in the wreckage of Pyongyang "on the evening of the day of victory in the war" in 1953, his advisors already rushing up to him with plans to rebuild, watching celebratory fireworks. Click on the image to see this panoramic painting in its full glory.

As for yesterday's military confrontation, as of this writing the shelling hasn't resumed, and most of the Western media is of course suggesting the North Korean attack was unbridled aggression. Which it may have been. Or not. The NY Times does report, "The attack on Yeonpyeong came as 70,000 South Korean troops were beginning an annual nationwide military drill called Safeguarding the Nation. The exercise has been sharply criticized by Pyongyang as “simulating an invasion of the North” and “a means to provoke a war.” The official North Korean news agency said in a brief statement on Tuesday night that the South “recklessly fired into our sea area.”

Thank goodness for our independent media. (That's sarcasm, by the way.) With the earlier sinking of the South Korean warship the Cheonan, the media has assured us that it was the work of the dastardly North Koreans, a cry for help from the deranged family dictatorship of the Kims. So what's next? At the risk of courting conspiracy theory territory, let's take a brief history lesson. (Let me add that while I'm not actually a fan of what appears to be a dictatorship in North Korea, I do think the North Koreans have every right to defend themselves against American provocation. A just peace would be better.)

* Remember the Maine! The FoxNews of its day egged the U.S. into war with Spain after the USS Maine exploded in Havana, Cuba in 1898. While the explosion was blamed on the evil Spanish empire, no cause or claim was found, and one investigation years afterward suggested the Maine exploded because of an onboard coal fire.

* The Tonkin Gulf Resolution. From President Johnson's 1964 speech: "Last night I announced to the American people that the North Vietnamese regime had conducted further deliberate attacks against U.S. naval vessels operating in international waters, and I had therefore directed air action against gunboats and supporting facilities used in these hostile operations. This air action has now been carried out with substantial damage to the boats and facilities....America keeps her word. Here as elsewhere, we must and shall honor our commitments.... In recent months, the actions of the North Vietnamese regime have become steadily more threatening...As President of the United States I have concluded that I should now ask the Congress, on its part, to join in affirming the national determination that all such attacks will be met, and that the United States will continue in its basic policy of assisting the free nations of the area to defend their freedom. As I have repeatedly made clear, the United States intends no rashness, and seeks no wider war." Shortly thereafter, the US Congress gave authority to Johnson to begin the Vietnam War. And oh wait, there was no actual North Vietnamese attack on a US ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. The media failed to question the official accounts and urged Americans to back Johnson and Congress's resolve to punish the Vietnamese.

* From Answers.com: "Although war is a time of hardships and usually poverty, World War 2 had many positive effects for America. One point of prosper was economy. Some said that the Second World War put an end to the Great Depression." So since the current small wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have done nothing but drain the U.S. economy, how 'bout a really big war with China to make things right? China has nukes but doesn't have anything like the old Soviet Union's array of ICBMs. It could be the perfect solution!

Stay tuned...

P.S. See my earlier post here for an example of how the NY Times chooses to promote unsubstantiated claims about North Korean "aggression."

Anti-American Art: Addressee Unknown

Here's a stamp from North Korea, vintage 1978. It's part of a series marking the thirtieth anniversary of the People's Democratic Republic. It shows hot-pink-colored Koreans at a demonstration bearing placards and banners in Korean about reunification. Peeking out from behind the main banner is a placard in English, partialy obscured, which reads AMERICANS GET OUT OF SOUTH KOREA. It's jarring to see English appear like this. As can be seen from the North Korean propaganda stamps I've featured previously, these tiny posters entirely in Korean seem aimed at a domestic audience. Yet here's this stamp in the language of the "addressee."

And yet it was a completely futile message: in 1978 it was illegal according to U.S. treasury regulation to import North Korean goods including postage stamps into the United States. This embargo was lifted in the 1990s, although numerous other trade sanctions remain. But in 1978, the message the North Koreans were sending was not being received by its intended audience.

Click on the image to see it larger.

North Korean Anti-American Art Makes the Headlines

The above North Korean poster reads "We Will Smash You with a Single Blow if You Attack." It was photographed by a Chinese businessman, and reported on the website of Radio Free Asia last week. The RFA article speculated that the poster, whose publication date is unknown, might be an attempt by the North Korean government to brag about sinking the Cheonan, the South Korean warship sunk by an explosion this March. The sinking of the South Korean warship has been blamed by the South Koreans and their U.S. sponsors on the DPRK, and was responsible for marked worsening of relations between the two countries.

Somewhat lazily, the article was hastily rewritten by The New York Times the day after it appeared on the RFA site, with the same idle speculation that the poster was a cloaked claim of responsibility. The Times article was then promoted by gossip website Gawker. The Times article repeated completely unsubstantiated claims the North Koreans "secretly" awarded medals to the crew of a North Korean submarine after the sinking of the Cheonan.

Though the Times does say that North Korea vehemently denies sinking the Cheonan, it leaves it there. It does not mention the speculation that the Cheonan was sunk by an American mine either intentionally placed or left over from recent military maneuvers. This alternative speculation is documented on NewAmerican Media, and by an unofficial North Korean spokesperson in the Asia Times online. It doesn't seem to me any more of an outrageous conspiracy theory than the one that has North Koreans torpedoing random South Korean warships and then secretly rewarding the devilish underwater crew.

It seems bizarre given the volume of quite violently imagined North Korean propaganda--many pieces shown here on The Cahokian--to suggest without any actual evidence that the DPRK is admitting in a public piece of propaganda something it in general denies. Given the number of American, South Korean (and Japanese?) weapons pointed at North Korea, it's completely understandable, on the other hand, that the DPRK would use a propaganda medium to announce its intentions to retaliate for any attack.

The question needs to be asked why, if the New York Times is reporting completely unsubstantiated speculation, it's not covering both sides of this coin?

Anti-American Art: The Brink Last Time

"Yankee Imperialism, Out of South Korea" says this 1969 poster from Cuba's OSPAAAL issued to mark the "International Month of Solidarity with the Korean Students and People." Above the headline is a fairly threatening depiction of the North Korean People's Army and the North Korean flag that could be ripped from today's front pages. According to a remarkably information-free press release from Cuba in 2009, Cuba and North Korea brag of "an excellent state of bilateral relations."

Although there's a natural affinity between common enemies of the United States government, many speculate that the ideological replacement of Marxism-Leninism with the "Juche ideal" (self-reliance) in North Korea has fundamentally changed North Korea's ideological sense of self. It's hard not to think that wouldn't effect the spirit of relations with the few remaining nominally Marxist-run states. In "The Cleanest Race" author B.R. Myers argues that North Korean ideology is actually a unique and essentially racist form of nationalism. Fascinating excerpt here.

Anti-American Art: The People's Wrath Is for Electric Bills...

A demonstation of South Korean civilians and apparent guerrillas seems to get out of hand on this North Korean stamp from 1973. There's a lot packed into this miniature philatelic panorama: The workers, peasants, soldiers, and even a guy in a tie have beaten back a hook-nosed American GI in an explosion of firey rage. Click on the image to see the full detail of the people's wrath. I wish I had a stamp like this to choose from when mailing in my bills.

Anti-American Art: Uncle Sam Comes to a Bad End

"US Forces, Get Out of South Korea!" shouts this Chinese poster ca. early 1960s. Priceless here is the red-nosed caricature of Uncle Sam strung up from a pole. Poor poor Uncle Sam. This poster is probably referencing the April 1960 Revolution in South Korea, which overthrew the corrupt pro-US president Syngman Rhee; briefly establishing a democracy before the pro-US military overthrew the republic the following year. The North Koreans were quick to suggest that that uprising in South Korea was a call for reunification under communist rule; not at all actually clear. This is another one from Chineseposters.net.