Voices of the Revolution exhibit

hundreds of candle lanterns released into the sky

Cultural Revolution posters from the collection of Louisville's Asia Institute—Crane House

An Art and History Exhibit in Ekstrom Library,  Nov.7th-Dec.15th, 2012.

Closing talk and reception December 11th, 6pm, Chao Auditorium in the Ekstrom Library.
UofL Associate Professor of History, Dr. Yuxin Ma; Center for Asian Democracy Scholar-in-residence, Dr. Daniel Tauss; Asia Institute—Crane House Exhibits and Programs Coordinator, David Harryman will give brief remarks.

Wine and refreshments will be served.

This exhibit, sponsored by UofL’s Center for Asian Democracy and Louisville's Asia Institute - Crane House, features 13 posters from the latter half of the Cultural Revolution, produced by the Chinese Communist Party and influenced by Mao Zedong’s call for a fusion of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism.

The posters represent a world of socialist utopia using unreal scenes filled with beautiful and healthy youth and joyful, hard working peasants excited by the new order outlined by Mao’s revolutionary voice. Themes include educating children, modernizing agriculture, speeding up industrialization, reducing conflict between the classes, and harmonizing China’s many different ethnicities.

Art depicting The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution with Chairman Mao Zedong The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution began when Chairman Mao Zedong called on the revolutionary masses to “bombard the headquarters” and purge dissidents at the top levels of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party. People were soon not only criticizing the party, but also their neighbors and coworkers.

The Cultural Revolution lasted from 1966 until Mao’s death in 1976.

The Voices of the Revolution posters were produced in the relatively stable, late years of the Cultural Revolution. They are full of soft representations of party power: village life, peasants in the field, children studying, ethnic minorities and traditional culture. The people in the posters represent class ideals, not individuals. The posters convey grand optimism and venerate the wisdom and righteousness of the Communist party.