East Meets East In UB Exhibitions Representing Contradictory Ideologies

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Lockwood Memorial Library on the UB North Campus is sponsoring two consecutive exhibitions that represent opposing ideologies at play in territories ruled by the People's Republic of China.

The first, "Tibetan Prayer Flags," is a colorful exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist prayer banners presented in conjunction with this month's visit to UB by two Tibetan nationals who represent the Tibetan "culture in exile." Both are working to draw world attention to the plight of their nation, which was invaded by China and made part of that republic. Because the prayer flags exhibited here "represent" sacred sites in Tibet itself, they also might be considered part of that effort.

The exhibition is located in the exhibition cases on the second floor of the library. It opened early this month and will end March 15.

The second exhibit, "From Revolution to Reform," presents propaganda posters produced in the People's Republic of China from 1962-82. They represent efforts by both the Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping governments to mobilize the masses and provide role models of selfless revolutionary virtue.

The poster exhibition will run March 13 through April 30. It can be found in the reference section of the library on the library's second floor.

The Buddhist prayer flags are from the collection of Richard Lee, M.D., head of the Division of Geographic Medicine in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Such flags can be found anywhere Buddhism is practiced, but these were collected by Lee in Northern India, where many Tibetan refugees have settled.

The banners are made of brightly colored silk marked with prayers or, as in this case, sacred Tibetan sites, and are flown out-of-doors, where they are allowed to disintegrate naturally in the wind. Each prayer leaves behind its physical form and, in a metaphorical sense, enters the spiritual realm of which Buddhists believe we are all a part.

This exhibit marks the visits to UB this spring of Geshe Gawang Jangchup, a Buddhist monk and official representative of the Dalai Lama in the Indian state of Kashmir, and Dadon, a popular young Tibetan rock star. Like the Dalai Lama, she, too, has helped bring her nation's plight to the attention of the world.

Although poster propaganda has a long history in China, those exhibited in the UB show represent two high points of this expressive form: Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 and the 1978-86 period that followed Mao's death and the ascendance of Deng Xiaoping.

In 1942, Mao called his revolutionary posters "powerful weapons for uniting and educating the people…for attacking and destroying the enemy...They help the people fight the enemy with one heart and one mind."

The posters in the UB show that date from his regime exemplify Mao's personality cult and the Communist symbolism he used to inspire the transformation of China to a wholly communist state. Such posters, glorifying the state and the leaders of the revolution, often were hung in Chinese homes as political shrines.

True to the sentiments of the Mao regime, one poster from 1963 demands, "American imperialism get out of southern Vietnam!" Also common in this period were posters that promoted the unification of the country. One shown here that reads, "Serve the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers…" is characteristic of Mao's revolutionary propaganda.

Following Mao's death, China's new leader Deng embarked on a different kind of major national reform that was designed to modernize all aspects of Chinese life. This period, which began in 1978, is referred to as China's era of the "Four Modernizations," a reference to the transformation of China's agriculture, industry, national defense and science/technology. This effort was undertaken to bring the nation into line with the demands of the emerging global marketplace.

Most of the posters in this exhibit are from the Deng period. They exhort the Chinese people to put their energies into this development effort. A 1979 poster, for instance, proclaims, "Everyone strive to be a pacesetter for the technological revolution."

The exhibition text written by curator by Blaine Gaustad of the Fredonia State College History Department, explains clearly the historical, cultural and political context in which the posters were produced.

It was mounted with funding and technical assistance from the Carhanan-Jackson Humanities Fund and the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, respectively.