Hong Song-dam

Hong Song-dam (born 1955) is a South Korean artist specializing in woodcuts and best known for his involvement in the Minjung movement.

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.

He became well known for making prints related to the acts committed by the government under Chun in Seoul, leading to much controversy surrounding his art.

Many of Hong's works in the 1980's dealt with the acts committed by the Seoul government under Chun Doo-hwan's dictatorship.

Hong's works showcase a rough timeline, starting with the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980 and continuing for the next few decades, even following his imprisonment in 1987.

This imprisonment was based on charges of collaborating with North Korea after he designed a mural critical of South Korean life.

While Hong is most well known his woodcuts in the Minjung movement, he creates art in a variety of other mediums as well.

He is also known for his mural and painting work, which often deals with current political issues.

After the Gwangju Uprising he became politically active, and in July 1989 was arrested for allegedly breaking the National Security Act (he had sent slides of a mural he had created, along with around 200 other South Korean artists, to North Korea).

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.

Hong's art also concerns national events, such as disasters and political happenings, such as the 2014 Sewol Ferry Disaster.