The Politics of Painting: Ha Qiongwen

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the artwork of Ha Qiongwen and the manner in which his artwork captures the collisions between "art" and the concept of "the people." It also discusses the concepts of "art" and "ritual" and "art" and "revolution." In addition, the paper describes how Ha Qiongwen facilitates a better understanding of the China within which he worked. Finally, the paper briefly looks at two of Ha Qiongwen's more prominent works and how they lay bare the relationship between cultural production and art.

From the Paper:

"As this paper draws to a close, the artwork of Qiongwen informs far more than it reflects the mores of this writer. To wit, Ha Qiongwen's work underscores the centrality of artistic propaganda in furthering the "messages" of the Chinese state and it also offers a glimpse into the dynamics of Chinese society during the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and even 1970s. Beyond that, Qiongwen's artwork reveals that, even if revolution was "in the air", some socio-cultural assumptions remained firmly entrenched after 1949. For example, while women were now expected to pick up a weapon in defense of the revolution, they were nonetheless still expected to remain in their domestic roles at the same time. Be that as it may, the artist does reflect this writer's personal interests insofar as he seems to fully appreciate (as the writer does) the propagandistic value of artwork - an appreciation that perhaps too few people share."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Croizier, Ralph. Art and Revolution in Modern China: The Lingnan (Cantonese) School of Painting. Berkeley, LA: University of California Press, 1988.
• Karim, K.H. "Cyber-Utopia and the Myth of Paradise: Using Jacques Ellul's Work on Propaganda to Analyze Information Society Rhetoric". Information, Communication & Society, 4.1 (2001): 113-134.
• Qiongwen, Ha. "American Imperialism must be Driven out of Southern Vietnam!" International Institute of Social History. N.d. IISH. 1 Aug. 2006 <http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/chairman/chn16.php>
• Qiongwen, Ha. "Learn from the Spirit of Daqing". (Image) 38. n.d. Ohio State University. 1 Aug. 2006 <http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/exhib/poster/pages/pages1/C14067M.html>
• Ward, Laura Susan. "A Revolution in Preservation: Digitizing Political Posters at the National Library of Cuba". IFLA Journal, 31.3 (2005): 260-67.

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