ARTCaffè 102

December 6, 2025

Nick

Bonner

About The Guest

Born in England, Nicholas Bonner studied Landscape Architecture and lectured at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. On a study trip to China in 1993 he visited North Korea with his great friend Joshua Green and has been travelling to the country on a regular basis ever since. A North Korean friend asked them to set up a travel agency as there were none running tours to the country at that time. Finding the country fascinating they set up Koryo Tours and after their first group were hooked. Koryo Tours is now the longest running and most specialised travel company for North Korea. Since 2001, together with film director Daniel Gordon, Nick has produced three award winning documentaries on the country, The Game of Their Lives, (2002), A State of Mind, (2004), and Crossing the Line, (2006), and is currently working on a feature film project. In 2012, Nick served as co-producer and co-director of Comrade Kim Goes Flying, the DPRK’s first non-propaganda ‘girl power’ feature film with a Western-Korean cast and crew. Nick possesses one of the world’s most valuable and comprehensive North Korean art collections. He is currently co-curating DPRK art exhibitions in Toronto and Hawaii. Nick has collaborated with Pyongyang artists, commissioned pieces for international exhibitions and advised on art publications such as Art Asia, among others. ​

About The Talk

Nicholas Bonner, founder of Koryo Tours and one of the world’s leading specialists on North Korean visual culture, will join ARTCaffè to share rare insights into contemporary art in the DPRK. Drawing on three decades of travel, filmmaking, and art collecting, he will offer an unparalleled look at a creative scene few have ever witnessed.

Experience in-person at ARTCaffè living room or by Zoom

Saturday, December 6, 2025

In person social gathering in Seoul starting at 4:30 pm.

Talk: 5:00–6:30 PM (Seoul time).

Add Event to CalendarJoin Event on Zoom

Meeting ID: 522 298 6765
Passcode: AC$2025

Many thanks to ARTCaffè's Connecting Nodes

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