The gallery I am doing internship with has made badges with artworks printed on the top to be sold in the gallery shop. The artworks that are chosen to go on to the badges are quite unusual. There is one with a girl smoking with a fly (strangely enough, this badge went out most quickly). There is another one with several pieces of different animal meats hung together with a human body (this artwork is very scary). I guess, because the badges are quite small, the colour and composition of the artworks are more important than the images itself. (that is why some people look at it from distance and say how beautiful. When they look at it closely and will make a sound of Oh)
Because the gallery is about contemporary Chinese arts, the badges sold here remind me of Chairman Mao badges in China. One thing I need to say is that badges are never considered as an adornment in China. There are beautiful adornment pins to click on the scarf in China. But there are no badges like what we see here. Chairman Mao badge is an exception. It became very popular in China in the 1960s, during the cultural revolution.
“Badges carrying the image of Mao Zedong first appeared in China before liberation. They were produced sporadically until the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, when in late summer 1966 they began to be manufactured in massive quantities. From the summer of 1966 to the summer of 1969, factories, work units and army units across the country stamped out over several billion badges in tens of thousands of varieties.” (from Badges of Chairman Mao Zedong: http://museums.cnd.org/CR/old/maobadge/)
I remembered my father told me the story that when he was a teenager in the cultural revolution, he traded one Chairman Mao badge for one boat tickets to get out of a disaster place. People treated the badges like a currency for a period of time.
Because the gallery is about Contemporary Chinese arts, even small sourvenirs like badges in the gallery actually is carrying some connections with China. I think it is a very smart way to use something accessible in Australian culture but also bearing the meanings in China as a tool to promote the gallery.
(P.S. thanks to the creator of the peacelodge blog who gave me idea for this entry)
This is very interesting, was the production of "art badges" for the gift shop an intentional reference to Chinese political badges? Or is this a connection you have made since seeing the badges?
ReplyDeleteHello Kathie, I need to ask the gallery manager whether it is a intentional reference. I made this connection during a chat with a gallery attendant.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to have been a bit of a badge craze over the last couple of years! MCA did one as did the Casula Powerhouse. I great retro marketing tool. If it worked for Chairman Mao hopefully it works for your gallery too!
ReplyDelete