North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is known as one of the most elusive countries in the world due to political sanctions and extreme restrictions in the co-mingling of its culture with other world cultures. What we do hear about is typically centered around politically sensitive issues casting the country in a certain light. Its presence on the world stage is represented as delusive and puerile, and for that it is often ridiculed. It is only on rare occasions that we catch a glimpse of what life is actually like for the people who live there.

Our Library of North Korea hopes to explore the culture of beyond these representations. By making accessible materials such as books, movies, music, art, and other miscellanea, we aspire to establish a forum enabling a more open dialogue between the culture of North Korea and other world cultures.

In order to establish the library, we will acquire books, movies, and music from the Korea Publications Exchange Association based in Pyongyang, North Korea. They are the sole distributor for the two publishing houses in the country. This will be most important phase in the creation of the library.

To better develop the scope of the Library, we will travel to both North and South Korea for research. In North Korea, we hope to be granted access to one of the two publishers, the vast Grand People's Study Hall (which is also the national library, and functions like a national community center). While there, we also hope to learn more about the life and culture of its citizens through talking with as many people as possible. We will also be traveling to Seoul, South Korea in order to conduct extensive research at the Unification Ministry. Here we will have access to their archive of every North Korean publication, film, musical recording, posters, etc., produced since the Korean War.

After the research and the acquisition of the materials, we will be ready to present the Library. This will happen in two forms. The first is a traveling installation of the books, movies, music, etc., which will be installed and exhibited in various settings, such as universities, museums, and other exhibition spaces. It will also function as a venue for hosting related events, such as movie screenings, presentations, and discussions. The second form will be a comprehensive digital archive and website making the materials available to a much broader public. It will include digitized versions of all of the materials of the Library, serve as a platform for related news, and archive the exhibitions and related events of the physical library.

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