Hannah Arendt Center and Asian Studies Program Present
Images of the Chinese Youth Sent to the Countryside During the Cultural Revolution 1966-1976, by Tang Desheng
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) Tang Desheng had an opportunity to photograph the students who were sent from the cities to the rural countryside. For this he was well prepared. His family owned a photo shop in the small city of Changzhou, Jiangsu for several generations. Despite the restrictions and expense of photography and maintaining a capitalist enterprise, the family business thrived, because every year everyone required an identity photo, and they waited on long lines to have their picture taken; and then there were celebratory occasions to be recorded like births, marriages, birthdays, graduation, and the 100 day ceremony. Ten years before, Tang was in the army taking photographs for the government. At the onset of the Cultural Revolution, Tang left his home to travel with the youths from the city who were sent to the countryside. He explained that he was curious about the kind of the life they would find in the rural areas, how they would adjust to it, and perhaps he wanted to be part of the youth movement.
Curated by Patricia Karetzky,
Oskar Munsterberg Chair of Asian Art, Bard College.
Exhibition: Campus Center, April 1-30
Panel Discussion
April 13, 2016
6pm, Weis Cinema (Campus Center)
Free & Open to the Public
Panelists Include:
Drew Thompson; Assistant Professor of Africana and Historical Studies
Gilles Peress; Distinguished Visiting Professor of Human Rights and Photography
Robert Culp; Associate Professor of History; Chair, Social Studies Division
Download: chinese final.pdf
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Campus Center, Weis Cinema