Collecting the Revolution British Engagements with Chinese Cultural Revolution Material Culture

English | 2022 | ISBN: 1538150670 | 217 pages | True PDF, EPUB | 94.15 MB
In the late 1960s, student protests broke out throughout much of the world, and while Britain's anti-Vietnam protestors and China's Red Guards were clearly radically different, these movements at times shared inspirations, aspirations, and aesthetics. Within Western popular media, Mao's China was portrayed as a danger to world peace, but at the same time, for some on the counter-cultural left, the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) contained ideas worthy of exploration. Moreover, because of Britain's continued colonial possession of Hong Kong, Britain had a specific interest in ongoing events in China, and information was highly sought after. Thus, the objects that China exported—propaganda posters, paintings, Mao badges, periodicals, ceramics, etc.—became a crucial avenue through which China was known at this time, and interest in them crossed the political divide.