The current exhibit at the Hult Center’s Jacobs Gallery transforms simple, everyday objects into works of art. The exhibit, “Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times,” is a collection of artifacts from China’s Cultural Revolution. It will be on display for the rest of November.
Chairman Mao Zedong gave the name “Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution” to the decade, beginning in 1966, of imposed social and political activity aimed at strengthening Communist sentiment in the country. Almost every object created during this time, from daily tools to fine art, was required to have revolutionary content.
Diaries, stamps, posters, rice bowls — all championing the values of China’s Communist Party — make up the exhibit. Screenprinted posters show workers, peasants, students and soldiers celebrating the formation of the new government. From illustrated eye exercises (designed to prevent nearsightedness) to drawings of a farmer instructing urban youth on agricultural techniques, many posters teach children the ideals of the revolution. Almost every artifact is red and emblazoned with an image of Chairman Mao. Even buttons depict the leader .
Charles Lachman, Director of the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, which is one of the groups sponsoring the exhibit, said the artifacts give the viewer a context for understanding the Cultural Revolution.
“There’s a lot of apprehension surrounding communism,” Lachman said. “(With this exhibit), people get to have a more complicated understanding of the Cultural Revolution.”

The exhibit was shown at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, and East Asian languages and literature Professor Wendy Larson led a film discussion in conjunction with the display. Larson said the exhibit shows how the Cultural Revolution played out in daily life, a perspective that the larger political story doesn’t usually present.
“The artifacts are different from more famous images you see from the Cultural Revolution,” Larson said. “The images created an aesthetic of how you should live your life during the Cultural Revolution.”
Larson will show the film “In the Heat of the Sun”and lead a discussion afterwards. She said the movie depicts the Cultural Revolution from the perspective of teenagers living through it. The viewing will take place on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Hult Center’s Studio One.
A major focus of the show is education. The UO Museum of Art put on workshops that trained high school educators on teaching the Cultural Revolution. Katie Sproles, who works for the museum, said that 10 high school students have been trained and are giving tours of the exhibit throughout the month.
“Education is a very large part of our mission,” Sproles said. “This is an opportunity for the museum to interact with the public while the building is closed.”
A lecture and slide presentation titled “Fading Images: My Life as a ‘Reeducated Youth’ in My Sketchbooks” will take place Nov. 24 in Studio One of the Hult Center at 2 p.m. Gu Xiong, a professor of fine arts from the University of British Columbia, will give the presentation.
Both the slide presentation and movie showing are free and open to the public.
“The exhibit is a wonderful way to learn about a different country and different time period,” Sproles said. “It’s the first show of its kind in the United States, and so we’re lucky to have it in Eugene.”