Hidden in the basement of an apartment complex, Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre offers a glimpse of the most tumultuous period in the history of China to visitors, through one of the largest collection of propaganda posters in the world. It is an unlikely place for a museum. But with art, one should be prepared for the unexpected. In the basement of President Mansion Apartment complex in HuaShan Road, a former French Concession in Shanghai, is located Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre, a three-room museum dedicated to posters made during the time of Mao Zedong, the leader who transformed China through his communist ideology.
On a cold November morning, we ditch the usual suspects — Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai History Museum — to visit the poster museum, much to the amusement of our young guide, Tony Huang.
Few travel portals list the museum as the second-most popular museum in Shanghai. ‘Don’t many locals know about it?’ I later ask its founder Yang Pei Ming. “It draws a lot of international travellers. China was closed during the time these posters were made, so the history is interesting to international visitors. Local people are familiar with this poster art and history, so they are not as curious,” replied Ming.
New China
The curiosity of international visitors is not misplaced. It is in these propaganda posters that viewers witness the foundation of new China.
A small space that’s neatly divided chronologically — 1913 to 1949, 1954 to 1956, 1963 to 1965, 1966 to 1971, 1972 to 1976 and 1977 to 1979 — documenting crucial developments from the Maoist era in China. With crisp yet detailed captions, it becomes easy to navigate the collection built and preserved passionately over the years by Ming.
As a caption informs the viewer, Shanghai was the printing centre in China for several years. During the 80s and 90s, propaganda posters ceased to align with new economic and social changes, and the government began to remove and discard them from its institutions. Ming landed a seminal chunk of collection at that time, but since they were on a fragile paper they were in bad condition. He restored them with Japanese paper. Now, the museum has a collection of 6000 original posters.
Exhorting masses to join the ‘Great Leap Forward’ and ‘Cultural Revolution’, Mao Zedong asked artists to create these highly political posters, highlighting the agenda. Posters made earlier were advertising campaigns to promote western goods, such as cigarettes and medicines. These posters merged the aesthetics of art deco with Chinese brush painting.
The delicate and beautiful drawings on posters were replaced by bold, colourful imagery in propaganda posters, depicting the tumultuous period in the history of China. From the Liberation War, communist party taking over, to Great Leap Forward, Comrade Zedong’s call to farmers to take up weapons, massive militarisation and attempts at industrialisation, cultural revolution... these posters made by well-known artists appear to be making an earnest attempt at capturing the imagination of the masses. Vivid depictions like angry farmers and resolute soldiers marching ahead, trains and rockets, children learning to read and write, happy prosperous families, a smiling Zedong and Stalin with fighter aircrafts in the background hinting at their alliance, drive home the point.
Ming says that artists like Ha Qianwen — a representative of the Shanghai group poster artists from the Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House — and Ha Quinin were some of the major artists behind these posters.
Unique designs
In a note displayed at the museum, Ming says, “Many artists reached deep inside themselves, producing extraordinary poster designs, perfectly capturing the indomitable nature of the human spirit, the transformational power of unbridled industriousness and the soaring spirit of the people’s optimism.”
An intriguing work is a set of three posters portraying the founding ceremony of New China, by artist Dong Biwu. While in the first (1951), party members listen to Zedong’s speech, the second (1956) repeats the imagery, but with a leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Gao Gang disappearing from the scene. In the third edition, (1972), Liu Shaoqi appears as CCP’s vice-chairman. One of the most trusted comrades of Zedong, Gao Gang committed suicide in 1954. He was purged from CCP.
Posters produced in different time periods engaged with issues relevant to that juncture. For instance, the ones made during 1954-56 dealt with industrial and agricultural production, bearing the influence of Russian constructivism, whereas between 1963 and 65, they dealt with the Vietnam War. These particular posters were issued by Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House.
According to Ming, the most aesthetic posters appeared from 1949 to 1953, before the Russian influence began.
Rebuking the West, though not really a surprise, is also common to a lot of pieces on display. Well-known portraitist Wang Shuhui tries to achieve that by showing a boat race. Though the Chinese people sitting in a huge dragon boat rowing against the tide with force and energy are winning the race, the small unstable boat carrying ‘American imperialists’ is lagging behind. For the decorative aspect, Shuhui borrows from the Japanese style of Ukiyo-e.
The collection is eclectic: My jaw dropped seeing old magazines published by the North Korean government.
Generating funds
The museum has an official licence as a private museum from the Chinese government, which also gives it 150000 yuan annually. Ming is also able to generate funds for the museum’s upkeep by selling prints, post cards, books and magazines related to communism.
But the money is not enough to shift to a place with better infrastructure. “Once I have enough money, I’d like to move to a better place. But so far so good, as posters will be affected with strong light. Of course, security is better in a residential area,” says Ming, who adds that he is keen to hold exhibitions of the posters beyond China. After a recent exhibition at The Harvard University, another one will come up at the University of Wisconsin–Madison followed by Stanford next fall.
Location - RM Boc 868 Hua Shan Road, Shanghai
Museum timings - 10 am - 5 pm
Tickets - 25 Yuans per person
(For more details visit www.shanghaipropagandaart.com)
(The writer was in Shanghai at the invitation of Alibaba Group)
