Book
Curating Revolution: Politics on Display in Mao’s China
Denise Y. Ho, assistant professor of history
In this history of the Mao period (1949-1976), Denise Y. Ho examines the relationship between its exhibitions and its political movements. Case studies from Shanghai show how revolution was curated: museum workers collected cultural and revolutionary relics; neighborhoods, schools, and work units mounted and narrated local displays; and exhibits provided ritual space for ideological lessons and political campaigns.
Using archival sources, ephemera, interviews, and other materials, Ho traces the process by which exhibitions were developed, presented, and received. Examples range from the First Party Congress Site and the Shanghai Museum to the ‘class education’ and Red Guard exhibits that accompanied the Socialist Education Movement and the Cultural Revolution. Operating in two modes — that of a state in power and that of a state in revolution — Mao era exhibitionary culture, the author contends, remains part of China’s revolutionary legacy.
The cover art was created by Yale College alumna Sherril Wang.
