Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center

Shanghai, China

The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center (PPAC) is a window in to the history of a nation that has risen to super-power status in current times. These posters are all curated and bear handiwork of one dedicated private collector who strived to preserve Mao-era poster art work at a time when the country was eager to move on and leave behind the turbulent times. Not only is the propaganda material carefully organized and put up, but there are descriptions which help tourists understand the material. It is a big draw, especially for Westerners, many of whom struggle to understand their differences with the East.

Location of the Propaganda Poster Museum has been moved since December 2019 but this change has not been updated on Google Maps. Its new place in Huamin Empire Plaza puts the museum in a much more accessible area at the juncture of Jiangsu and Yan’an West road. This is only a block south of the Jiangsu road station which serves line 2 and 11 of the Shanghai metro. The admission is charged at RMB25 and this place has recently become a government approved private museum. Closed on Mondays, the timings rest of the week are from 10:00 to 17:00. The owner/ collector is present on site and is available for discussion and chit chat with tourists. Photography is not allowed and the visit takes about an hour.

Original posters from the 1920s and onwards till the 1990s display themes of family life, benefits of collectivism, fight against ideals of the US and Taiwan (which were opponents then) and of Mao leading the workers of China to a better, stronger life with guidance from his red book. Many of the posters are one-of-a-kind pieces and kept in mint condition. The art work in them is heavy with symbolism and speaks to the human subconscious by appeals of positivity and progress in industrialization. The cartoon-esque art work had a lot of thought poured in to them by artists before they were created, approved and then mass produced. A second look at the posters often brings to light subtle imagery missed at first glance. Some artwork also belongs to opposition of the state trying to fight the ideals of that period. The descriptions are in Chinese and English (sometimes in French as well) and this succinct detail and the poster is enough for most to understand the message to be conveyed, even when they do not have full grasp of the history of China.

There are some 500 posters organized chronologically and when the visitor is done with propaganda art work, they are treated to vibrant cigarette ad posters from the same period which is a refreshing sight after such heavy consumption! At the end there is a souvenir shop with replicas (high quality) and some original posters, postcards, t-shirts, the great leaders’ statues and even copies of the red book in various languages. All this unique paraphernalia at reasonable prices with the advantage of it being quite exclusive.

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