Hong Song-dam

Who is Hong Song-dam?

Hong Song-Dam is a South Korean artist who works with woodcuts. He was born on the island of Hauido and raised in Gwangju, where he took part in the 1980 uprising against Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship. After the uprising he became politically active, and in July 1989 was arrested for allegedly breaking the National Security Act. Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience and he was released from prison in the early 1990s. He is an acclaimed member of the Minjung art movement, and in 1996 was commissioned by the Government of South Korea to create a 42 metre mural for Chonnam National University. He married in 2005 and settled in Ansan.