Mao’s Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution

Artists of the 1960s generation were at most teenagers when the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976. Very few of them really participated in the movement. Yet memories of those disastrous years, although vague and fragmentary, remain with them until today. Visual reflection of the Revolution in recent works by a number of contemporary Chinese artists indicates a retrospective approach to reevaluating the impact of a tumultuous political period on Chinese adolescents from the 1960s to the 1970s.

The deification of powerful people has a long history in China. The cult surrounding Mao Zedong (1893-1976) grew during his lifetime and led to his deification after his death. This lecture explores the ways that the cult of Mao echoes traditions deeply rooted in Chinese culture.