Unite!
Workers of The World, Unite! (1975)
Shanghai Foreign Trade Bureau
The title is the famour final phrase of Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto of 1848. Posters of the 1970s promoting international social groups, emphasised China's perceived position as leader of the World's proletariat. They often used stock depictions of different nationalities.
[William Morris Gallery]
Part of Cultural Revolution: State graphics in China from the 1960s to the 1970s
(February to May 2019)
In 1942 Chairman Mao Zedong declared that all art should serve the worker, peasant and soldier. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-76) this policy was vigorously implemented.
Images of the leader appeared everywhere: bold, colourful posters combined text and image to promote political messages. The predominant colour was red – colour of the revolution – and when Mao was shown it was always amid a glowing light.
Traditional landscape styles were reimagined and now incorporated symbols of modern and industrial achievement. Even the traditional folk art of the delicate papercut, used to decorate windows at home, promoted ‘Mao Zedong Thought’.
This exhibition displays a selection of Cultural Revolution propaganda posters, revolutionary landscapes, images of the leader and intricate papercuts all of which were collected in China during the 1970s.
[William Morris Gallery]
Unite!
Workers of The World, Unite! (1975)
Shanghai Foreign Trade Bureau
The title is the famour final phrase of Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto of 1848. Posters of the 1970s promoting international social groups, emphasised China's perceived position as leader of the World's proletariat. They often used stock depictions of different nationalities.
[William Morris Gallery]
Part of Cultural Revolution: State graphics in China from the 1960s to the 1970s
(February to May 2019)
In 1942 Chairman Mao Zedong declared that all art should serve the worker, peasant and soldier. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-76) this policy was vigorously implemented.
Images of the leader appeared everywhere: bold, colourful posters combined text and image to promote political messages. The predominant colour was red – colour of the revolution – and when Mao was shown it was always amid a glowing light.
Traditional landscape styles were reimagined and now incorporated symbols of modern and industrial achievement. Even the traditional folk art of the delicate papercut, used to decorate windows at home, promoted ‘Mao Zedong Thought’.
This exhibition displays a selection of Cultural Revolution propaganda posters, revolutionary landscapes, images of the leader and intricate papercuts all of which were collected in China during the 1970s.
[William Morris Gallery]