I was hunting for something interesting to do in Shanghai and came across the Propaganda Poster Art Centre on the always-wonderful traveler’s almanac Atlas Obscura. The PPAC is a private collection-cum-museum of over 5,000 pieces of propaganda from the late 1940s through the 1970s conveying messages from the Chinese Communist Party.
I grabbed a coffee and meandered to the French Concession to find it inside of apartment building B at 868 Huashan Rd., betrayed by a small sign.
I was expecting dusty, rickety racks of posters for antiquities fetishists, but the PPAC is really more like a proper museum. The chronologically-arrayed posters (they are called “big character” signs- simple, un-ambivalent ideas printed on large surfaces) provide a powerful perspective on Chinese history through the lenses of popular art and iconography as well as political ideology. Educationally, it’s one of the most instructive exhibits I’ve seen.
Visually and artistically, it’s one of the most beautiful. You don’t need to be sympathetic to the sentiments on the posters to see the remarkable creativity and liveliness of the artistic culture from which they emerged. They are bold, vibrant and stunning, imbued with fervor and conviction, and far and away more interesting than most art you would see hanging in a gallery or museum.
It’s an insightful perspective not only into Chinese history but into the attempted internationalism of communism. There are posters protesting racial discrimination in the US; Russian and Chinese farmers arm in arm; Fidel Castro screaming into a microphone; and a particularly heart-warming piece showing people from all over the world coming together under some slogan most likely praising the international communist movement.
There are many other examples of pop-art from the time not directly related to communist propaganda, as well as many different pieces showing the iconic “Shanghai girl” baring a single breast and lethargically shilling for a brand of toothpaste, chewing gum or cigarette.
The Propaganda Poster Art Centre is one of the most interesting places in Shanghai and provides a remarkable history of 1940s – 1970s China. International museum-goers of the world will find their China itineraries lacking without an hour or two spent at the PPAC.