Visitors to Pyongyang’s Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum (Location here) will be interested to know that the DPRK has exported its museum technology to Syria’s Tishreen War Panorama (Location here).
The images are from this web page.
According to an official web page (I think), the panorama dimensions are 129.5m x 7.8m. It was painted by Kim Sing Chol, O Kwang Ho, Ri Jae Su, Ri Kap Il, Kim Chol Jin, Choe Song Sik, Ri Jong Gap, Kim Ki Dok, Cha Yo Sang, Ri Yon Nam, and it opened on 6th October 1999. These artists are employees of the Mansudae Overseas Development Group (Art Studio).
I thank a reader for sending me this information. I have been mapping North Korean projects in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East on Google Earth. Here are some I have blogged about: Monument to African Renaissanace, Zimbabwe Hero’s Park, Ethiopia’s Derg Monument, Kinshasa Kabila Statue, and quite a few more. If you are aware of any North Korea projects in your area please let me know.
UPDATE: Cairo’s October War Panorama is also built by the North Koreans. It appears to have nearly identical architecture. It is located here.
As you may have learned from the blog post I wrote, from which those pictures are taken (thanks for the hat tip and trackback), there is a similar panorama in Cairo, dedicated to the same conflict, from the Egyptian perspective (except for the Korean aesthetics). There, it is called the October War Panorama (the Egyptians use the word “October” instead of the Levantine “Tishreen”), and it is rather more extensive. I never wrote a post about it, but I did take some pictures and could post them on flickr if you’re interested.
Dear Fhar,
Thanks for the information. It looks like North Koreans contributed to the museum in Cairo as well. If you have pictures of it, I would love to see them.
Panoramapainting.com lists some of the same artists as working on panoramas in North Korea back in the 1970s, so it looks as if the Syrians got an experienced team of painters.
Been there as well, and I was quite surprised when the female guide explained to me who has done this work..Actually she says more accurately “The Syrians did the job, the Koreans just helped”.
Sure, perhaps like the Nuclear facility in Deir ez zor !
Syria is a very nice country to visit by the way, and at least there is interaction with the local people 🙂
In the top floor of this place there is a gigantic panorama that is supposed to look like the Syria/Israel border, with soldiers in paper and sounds, very colorfull, very kitch.
I never got any pictures of the panorama itself, but here are a bunch of pictures from in and around the October War Panorama complex in Cairo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34742422@N00/sets/72157623025470648/