UNSEEN: A First-of-Its-Kind International Exhibition on North Korean Women Opens in New York
UNSEEN launches with a powerful advertising campaign featuring faces of North Korean women displayed on digital billboards across Manhattan. The faces are covered in Red dot - capturing the resilience of North Korean women blossoming even amidst suffering. The campaign runs simultaneously with the exhibition UNSEEN, featuring interviews, archives, art and music.
New York, NY – UNSEEN, the first-ever international exhibition dedicated to North Korean women’s lives and voices, opens September 20-27 at 393 Broadway in Tribeca, New York, coinciding with the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
Hosted by a consortium of human rights organizations Amnesty International, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Hanvoice, International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights (NK Net), and curated by Korean-born Dr. Stephanie Seungmin Kim, the exhibit features 14 international artists who reimagine and amplify the untold stories of North Korean women - the quiet force sustaining underground economies, resisting patriarchal control, and ensuring family survival under one of the world’s most repressive regimes.
The show presents never-before-seen interviews with escapees, and archival footage alongside art that transforms prayer, protest, and survival into testimony.
“This is not just an exhibition—it’s a call to witness, to remember, and to act,” said Dr. Kim. “These women are not voiceless. We just haven’t been listening.”
Dr Kim added, “In 1950, UN Security Council voted to authorize the Korean War intervention while meeting in New York in 1950. This year, we mark the 80th session of the UN General Assembly and UNGA will be held here in NY. There is no more fitting time and place to confront the unseen conditions of North Korean women—whose rights remain unrecognized and their voices unheard. This city, a symbol of international discourse and possibility, offers a stage to insert their realities into the global conscience.”
UNSEEN is being promoted through a striking public awareness campaign featuring photographs of North Korean women by Mihaela Noroc. These powerful images will appear on Times Square billboards and across 68 newsstand advertisements throughout Manhattan. The campaign and exhibition were designed by Marina Willer, the first female partner at Pentagram, to challenge the public to rethink visibility, justice, and solidarity through the lens of those who were never meant to be seen.
Pentagram partner Marina Willer said, “The red dot plays a haunting yet unforgettable role in the visual identity of this campaign. By obscuring women’s faces across the campaign, it represents both an act of violence and a gesture of dignity—highlighting resilience even in erasure. This translucent intervention allows for both concealment and eye contact, urging audiences to confront their suffering directly.”
The exhibition opening will premiere the original campaign song Her Light: Unseen, composed by Yajac HS Kim and crafted with Grammy and Emmy-winning producers Clark Germain and Matthew Kajcienski of 2 Olives & a Twist.
Spanning 3400 square feet across two floors, the exhibition will blend sacred, historical, and radical visual languages. Upstairs, abstract works evoke protection and spiritual resilience through pagodas, prayer bows, rose windows, and moon jars. Downstairs, stitched portraits and multimedia installations reveal personal stories of grief, labor, and courage. The immersive soundscape, composed specifically for the exhibit, is synchronized with lighting installations to create a meditative walkthrough experience for visitors.
Opening on the 77th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNSEEN stands as a reminder that the fight for human dignity continues through art, testimony, and the courage to witness.
UNSEEN is organized by MindMagnet, a next-generation strategic communication agency, bringing together expertise in human rights storytelling, media, and culture in Korea. Campaign identity and exhibition design are by Marina Willer and the team at Pentagram. Communications and publicity support by Hudson Cutler.
About Artists:
Christine Harris Amos:
Born in the Midwest, Christine is an Intaglio Printmaker who lives in San Clemente, California. She started working on photogravures and developing methods to use the process for books and various art exhibitions.
Liliana Porter:
Born in Argentina, Liliana is a New York-based artist known for her work across media including photography, printmaking, installation, and theater. Exhibited internationally since the 1960s, her work is in major collections like MoMA, the Whitney, TATE Modern, and the Guggenheim.
Livia Turco:
Born and raised in Italy, Livia is a sculptor known for blending traditional craftsmanship with contemporary expression. She worked with Madame Tussauds and contributed to projects in the U.S.. She trained in Turin and Wimbledon School of Art (UAL) and is the founder of The Figurative Sculpture School.
Mia Enell:
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Mia is a visual artist focused on paintings and drawings. Her work has been exhibited at Sorbonne Art Gallery (Paris), Drawing Room (London) and The Immigrant Artist Biennial (New York). She is a recipient of the Elfi von Kantzow Alvin Art Award and American-Scandinavian Society Cultural Grant.
Mihaela Noroc (*Her images are used for the campaign):
Born in Romania, Mihaela is a photographer who has spent the past 12 years traveling the world, photographing women and listening to their inspiring stories. The result is The Atlas of Beauty, a highly acclaimed project that celebrates diversity and authenticity.
Minsang Cho:
Born in South Korea, Minsang CHO is a lighting artist who draws on craft, design, and architectural lighting engineering to work across architectural lighting consultancy and lighting art. His work has been presented at international design fairs as well as fine art exhibitions including Art Capital in Paris.
Nari Choi:
Born in Seoul, Nari is a contemporary artist focused on acrylic and canvas paintings and lecture. She has exhibited widely in Korea and abroad, including shows at Mall Galleries (London), Saatchi Gallery, and Art1: New Museum (Jakarta), and holds a BFA and Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Sungshin Women’s University.
Sunme Lee:
Born in Seoul, Sunme is a sculptor who creates works from discarded eyeglass lenses. She uses objects that once carried someone’s gaze, drawing stories of human life and materials marked by time. She regards each lens as a person where they appear scratched and flawed; but from a distance, they glimmer as one.
Tracy Weisman:
Born in Rhode Island, Tracy is a multidisciplinary artist whose work articulates cultural icons, sensibilities, and the American experience through textiles, assemblage, sculpture and photography. Her work tells stories of found objects and has been exhibited in the Stephanie Kim Gallery in NYC and private collections.
Yeojin Kim:
Born in Seoul, Yeojin is a contemporary artist educated at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She has held solo exhibitions in Korea and participated in group shows in France. She received the Grand Prize at the Uijeongbu Arts Center Emerging Artist Awards and was selected by Naver and Emerige Foundations, and Galerie Krux Paris.
Yong Nam Kim:
Born in Seoul, Yong Nam is an interior designer and sculptor. She was the Open Call Winner for Gwangju Biennale Open Call and held a private exhibition. Her works were selected as gifts for the British monarch, and Presidents of France and Vietnam. She graduated from Ewha Womans University College of Fine Arts.
Yong Eun (May) Kwon:
Born in Seoul, Yong Eun (May) is a mixed media artist who transforms memories and meditative rituals into visual installations. She exhibited her works in New York at LatchKey Gallery, SVA Flatiron Gallery and Stephanie Kim Gallery and earned her bachelor's at Ewha Womans University and master's degree from SVA.
Youngha Park:
Born in Seoul, Youngha is a renowned creative director and graphic designer. He has collaborated with designers like Alessandro Mendini and Neville Brody and has served as a judge for international design awards. He holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design and an MFA from SAIC Chicago.
Younghi Kang:
Born in Seoul, Younghi is a Mixed media canvas artist that works with acrylic, pigments, chinese ink and gel stone. She has held 22 solo shows and participated in international exhibitions, art fairs, and collaborations. She received her BFA from Sungshin Women’s University and is currently a contemporary artist and lecturer.