Humpday Afternoon Diversion: The Syncretic North

By Kevin Robinson in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 22, 2012 9:00PM

As part of the 2012 Barents Spektakel festival, Norwegian artist Morten Traavik collaborated with North Korean instructors to teach locals how to do the card stunt that is so ubiquitous in North Korea's Mass Games.

In fact, Traavik has gone further than organizing local Norwegians to do the card stunt: he's traveled to North Korea to teach accordionists how to play Ah-Ha's Take On Me, and then brought them to Norway to perform. "People [in Norway] are amazed by their skills and also by the fact that you can have fun in North Korea. I think that insight really rocks a lot of people's established preconceptions about the country," he told the BBC.