The Hong Kong Museum of Art’s mission is to preserve the cultural heritage of China. Its collections now number in excess of 14,000 art objects, including Chinese paintings and calligraphy works, antique Chinese treasures, paintings of historical significance as well as creations by local artists.
I visited the museum in 2004. The work I was most interested in was from the ‘Vietnam Behind the Lines’ exhibition. This collection featured Communist propaganda posters from the time of the Vietnam War.
It was really interesting to see what the war looked like from the Vietnamese point of view. I was surprised at how similar the posters were to western propaganda posters, both in layout and the messages which they were promoting. They were full of national pride and a ‘dig deep’ mentality. They graphically portrayed the Americans as evil monsters who were attacking innocent Vietnamese people, including women and children.
After viewing these posters I had a much greater sympathy for the Vietnamese people. I suppose this is proof that this type of poster is effective, especially in a war situation. It makes me wonder if the British Government felt it necessary to produce war propaganda posters today, how different would they be to those Vietnamese posters produced all those years ago? My guess is, not much.
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