An Chultúrlann is playing host to a groundbreaking photo exhibition that documents the journeys of North Korean defectors.

Created by French-Polish photographer, Tim Franco, the 'Unperson' exhibition will be on display at An Chultúrlann's Gerard Dillon Gallery until July 30. 

In George Orwell’s 1984, an unperson is someone who has been vaporized, whose record has been erased. Similarly, the North Korean defectors that Tim Franco portrays have decided to disappear, fleeing sometimes for ideological reasons and often out of despair.

Born in Paris, Franco moved to China in 2005 and began documenting the country’s incredible urbanization and its social impact while collaborating with newspapers such as Le Monde, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. In 2016, he moved to South Korea where he started working on a long term project about North Korean defectors.

The escape routes to South Korea are dangerous and can take years, across the many different borders with Mongolia, Laos, Thailand and China. The travels of the people who do make it out are filled with the fear of being arrested and sent back to labour camps. Having arrived in South Korea, they often struggle to find a new identity; lost between their North Korean past and South Korean future.

In documenting North Korean defectors Franco travelled to the crossing points where they made their escape, aiming to capture the diversity of landscape that is the background of North Korean defection.

His stunning photographs will be on display at An Chultúrlann as part of the city-wide Belfast Photo Festival, which kicked off this month. 

Cultúrlann Exhibition Coordinator Emma Berkery, commented: "An Chultúrlann, is delighted to once again be part of Belfast Photo Festival as it takes over art galleries and public spaces throughout Belfast this June with a range of diverse exhibitions." 

Taking 'Future(s)' as its theme, this Belfast Photo Festival tackles issues as diverse as climate change, migration, the advancement of technology, government surveillance and the power of protest, to explore how the future is shaped by our actions in the present. For Covid reasons, the majority of this year's exhibitions are taking place outdoors, most notably in Botanic Gardens. 

For more information on this year’s festival, click here.