Nick Bonner

NICHOLAS BONNER

UK citizen Nicholas Bonner first visited North Korea in 1993. At that time, Bonner was lecturer in Landscape Architecture and on a study visit to Beijing. The unexpected trip to Pyongyang came about upon the invitation of his friend Joshua Green who had been working in North Korea. Struck by his experiences in this unique country, Bonner teamed up with Green to start Koryo Tours – a travel agency based in Beijing and specialising in trips to North Korea (which now takes around 2,000 Western tourists a year to Pyongyang, and beyond). In1995 Koryo Studio was established to set up artistic and film exchanges.

“We all have our own preconceptions about North Korea, but this tends to come from an extremely limited perspective, often resulting in very black-and-white viewpoints. No one was actually engaging with North Koreans, nor did the West have any new insights into the country,” says Bonner. “Over the last 24 years, Koryo and I have looked for ways in which to work with the North Korean people – whether that be through tourism, film, art or other cultural events – and, ultimately, promote engagement as a tool for creating dialogue and understanding.”

As a regular visitor to North Korea, Bonner – who is also an illustrator and filmmaker – became increasingly acquainted with the country, and together with director Daniel Gordon was eventually granted unprecedented access to film their 2002 documentary The Game of Their Lives, which told the forgotten story of North Korea’s 1966 World Cup soccer team. Bonner & Gordon then went on to produce two more documentaries in North Korea, one following two girls as they prepare to perform in the Mass Games, the other about an American who has been living in Pyongyang since defecting from the US Army in the 1960s. Their films have won a number of awards at various major festivals.

Other projects include co-directing a feature film in North Korea. The result was Comrade Kim Goes Flying, the country’s first “girl power” rom-com, and the first ever North Korean film to be screened to the public in South Korea.

Amongst various art commissions and exhibitions Bonner was approached to co-curate the North Korean inclusion for the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane in 2010. Bonner also worked with a North Korean architect and artist on a series of images imagining their country’s future landscape for an exhibition that made up part of the South Korea-curated pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale, which then won the Golden Lion. His book on North Korean graphics ‘Made in North Korea’ was published by Phaidon in 2017.

Bonner continues to travel regularly to North Korea, and is currently working with a number of emerging artists there by providing them with a space and platform to experiment outside of their everyday restrictions.