The University Daily Kansan
Thursday. April 27, 2000
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fine arts
Perform arts
Tonight;
■ Raisin in the Sun,
7:30 p.m. at the
Lawrence Community
Theatre.
$7, students.
$11.50, public.
Tomorrow:
Raisin in the Sun, B.
p.m. at the Lawrence
Community Theatre.
$13.50. students.
$14.50. public.
In Organ Music from Latvia by Andris Rozulak, 7:30 p.m. at Bales Recital Hall. Free
Saturday:
Raisin in the Sun, 8
p.m. at the Lawrence
Community Theatre.
$13.50, students.
$14.50, public.
- Percussion Ensemble Concert, 7:30 p.m. at Swarthout Recital Hall. Free.
■ KANU's Goodtime Radio Revue, B p.m. at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St.
$10.50, adults. $5.50, 12 and under.
SUNDAY:
Raisin in the Sun,
2:30 p.m. at
the Lawrence Community
Theatre.
$7, students.
$11.50, public.
Monday:
Sunday
An old wood block carving shows a woman starting to write "Chairman Mao" was used in to help inductate the Chinese people to Communism. These carvings are now at the Spencer Art Museum. Contributed art.
Pretty propaganda
Chinese wood carvings promoted allegiance to communism
By Paula Spreitzer
Special to the Kansan
How art can shape society and even be a tool for revolution is the subject of an exhibit of Chinese prints at the Spencer Museum of Art.
"Half a Century of Chinese Wood Block Prints," showcases how art conveys political and social messages during the 20th century in China with turmoil from the Anti-Japanese War, World War II, the rise of Communism and the Cultural Revolution.
The exhibit, which opened April 8 and runs through May 21, includes work from the past 50 years.
their homes, Dusenbury said.
"Working with strict guidelines established by Mao Zedong and other high ranking Communist leaders, artists and writers played a critical role in the social reconstruction that was the aim of the Communist Revolution," said Mary Dusenbury, curator of the exhibit. "Art was a tool for revolution, arousing the masses, broadcasting achievements and celebrating successes, from social change in the status of women and minorities to feats of engineering."
The art was based on Chinese New Year's prints that were distributed at a cheap price for people to hang up in
then Johns, Dusenbury said.
The New Year's prints show good luck images or deities offering protection.
As politics shifted with the rise of Communist leader Mao in 1931, artists used the style of the New Year's prints to convey political messages, such as Communist soldiers, in good luck roles.
"It was a brilliant move, because then the prints are up all year for people to absorb the messages," Dusenbury said.
Some prints were published in newspapers or magazines, Dusenbury said.
Although these prints can be considered leftist propaganda, they are also aesthetically pleasing, said Julia Andrews, who came to the University of Kansas to lecture about the exhibit.
"From a purely formal point of view, they're beautifully carved," said Andrews, professor of art history at Ohio State University.
Each artist carved his own wood block to make his own prints, following the suggestion of Lu Xun, a writer, critic, intellectual and revolutionary.
Xun founded "The Creative Print Movement," a period that began in the 1930s and led to the creation of most of the prints included in the exhibit. It
was thought that better quality prints could be achieved if the artist was involved in all processes, from carving to printing. Andrews said.
Many of the artists used an outline form to render the subjects because it would be easier to read, especially for the large class of peasants that the work was directed. Andrews said.
Another interesting aspect of the show is that it represents a fairly comprehensive history of China, she said.
The print subjects include socialism, communism, war and challenges facing ethnic minorities and women.
The exhibit also includes prints from the 1990s that reflect how China has changed since Mao's death in 1976.
"Since the death of Mao, much more varied subjects and things are being explained," Andrews said. "It shows how artists struggled during the period and emerged."
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