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Exhibition
Picturing Power:
Art and Propaganda in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
31.1.-28.2.2001 Universitätsmuseum Heidelberg
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Still Awake in the Middle of the Night
Shenye bumian
Unknow artist
Unknown date, Shanghai
It's 11:30 pm and a peasant woman (or, more
likely, someone sent to the countryside to
labor) studies while her daughter sleeps. Mao's
collected works sit on the shelf, and her room
is decorated with certificates of merit. On the
wall hangs a poster of a revolutionary heroine
to inspire her, just as she is meant to inspire
us. She is writing an essay on male-female
relations. Although acceptable subjects were
limited, studying was encouraged, except for
those who showed too much aptitude. The
implications of the scene are bleak: there is no
escape from ideology even in your own room late
at night. Nevertheless, the picture still has a
restful air and the sleeping child, at least, is
free to dream.
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