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Laibach will play two concerts in Pyongyang in front of some
2,000 people in a tour organized by the Norwegian cultural
activist Morten Traavik, who has been collaborating with North
Korean artists for the past three years, London-based Mute said.
"In August 2015, Laibach will become the first ever band of its
kind to perform in the secretive country of North Korea, a
reclusive garrison state as well-known for its military marches,
mass gymnastics and hymns to the Great Leader, as for its
defiant resistance to Western popular culture," Mute said in a
statement.
Laibach, in an emailed response to questions submitted by
Reuters, said: "The idea to perform in North Korea was put in
front of us by Norwegian cultural activist Morten Traavik."
"He believes that Laibach is what Koreans need at the moment and
that North Korea is what Laibach need. We gladly agreed," the
band said.
On his website, Traavik is described as a Norwegian director and
artist "working across a wide spectrum of artistic genres and
international borders".
"He is also renowned for a series of controversial
collaborations with North Korean artists and cultural
authorities, as well as being an authorized cultural affairs
liaison for that country," the website says.
Traavik told Reuters in a telephone interview that it had taken
almost a year to get permission from North Korea for the
concerts.
He said that Laibach, famous for performing in military uniforms
at the start of their career, would perform in specially made
costumes in Korean style.
"We want the audience to think for themselves," he said.
North Korea has from time to time opened its borders to foreign
performers. In 2008 the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
performed there while in 2014 U.S. basketballer Dennis Rodman
visited with a squad of basketball players.
Laibach, formed in 1980 when Slovenia was still a part of the
former communist Yugoslavia, was active in a cultural movement
against political repression which helped move Slovenia to
independence in 1991.
Their music features loud percussion sound, pounding rhythms and
roaring vocals.
(Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Michael Roddy and Ros
Russell)
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