Appropriation Study – Propaganda Picture Books from China, 2015.
8 Archival inkjet prints, 8 Picture books
I appropriated few propaganda picture books from Panjiayuan antique market in Beijing and induced them with new meaning. The new meaning is generated through my half-knowledge of the Chinese history and culture, and a complete ignorance of the Chinese language. These books from 1970’s and 1980’s seem to represent the anachronistic side of the Chinese socio-political atmosphere. The interesting part for me was to see these books through a contemporary lens and judging the images from a global perspective. Not knowing the language, the pictures were my only tools through which I could decipher the narrative hidden in these books. I wanted to understand what ‘meaning’ images generate for an outsider who is not part of a particular culture and how much of re-contextualization can be done with such images. I have altered the Chinese titles of the books with new titles in English.
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3326,2660,3326,1200/0-0-0/4d779fae-06fc-43aa-9366-9dae1402b654/1/1/AproSt-5.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=6fc105afff73b332b640c6bd05e9539c6b009990dc2c3d85c99cdb3b197a5a16)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3326,2660,3326,1200/0-0-0/035072f8-f991-4327-9cda-cdc80decffc3/1/1/AproSt-3.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=6fc105afff73b332b640c6bd05e9539c6b009990dc2c3d85c99cdb3b197a5a16)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3326,2660,3326,1200/0-0-0/839c4b69-3249-45e5-a65f-e19f4995dccf/1/1/AproSt-1.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=6fc105afff73b332b640c6bd05e9539c6b009990dc2c3d85c99cdb3b197a5a16)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3326,2660,3326,1200/0-0-0/727ceecb-6d24-4f1f-9f1f-1680520ae1a3/1/1/AproSt-4.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=6fc105afff73b332b640c6bd05e9539c6b009990dc2c3d85c99cdb3b197a5a16)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3326,2660,3326,1200/0-0-0/61cafaec-5390-4f92-8a84-4332284a8aa6/1/1/AproSt-2.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=6fc105afff73b332b640c6bd05e9539c6b009990dc2c3d85c99cdb3b197a5a16)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3325,2661,3325,1200/0-0-0/67be1c52-a085-42fb-9a11-a196ffa3a715/1/1/AproSt-6.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=182d5cd30548acce42d0d4a9a4425101648f10d010f9558d210afd8e678e656e)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3326,2660,3326,1200/0-0-0/3f7482f1-c9d5-4f1f-b9f8-8c90f21b5d28/1/1/AproSt-7.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=6fc105afff73b332b640c6bd05e9539c6b009990dc2c3d85c99cdb3b197a5a16)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,3325,2661,3325,1200/0-0-0/2980750e-93d9-4a66-a281-af8efd0dad5e/1/1/AproSt-8.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=182d5cd30548acce42d0d4a9a4425101648f10d010f9558d210afd8e678e656e)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,2048,1366,2048,1200/0-0-0/8ed5c3eb-3926-40f5-875e-4c9cc943061d/1/1/1801334_816699068414469_4000747534641706405_o.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=4e04cc2523410b62df40abebe14acd4ebc1db5badc3c665c8f45818a4d10e6f8)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,2048,1366,2048,1200/0-0-0/e90251e3-c725-4e33-adcd-3454fac95636/1/1/10911455_816698985081144_3894759686262464719_o.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=4e04cc2523410b62df40abebe14acd4ebc1db5badc3c665c8f45818a4d10e6f8)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/447331a7-838f-426d-b03a-5dbc3fb6c78e/0/0/0/0,0,1366,2048,1600,2048/0-0-0/952d9312-40ed-4c5c-827e-890d7609d9cb/1/1/10953028_816695855081457_5589520876271346325_o.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037494412~hmac=0eb61ba5b0d71f18d872336fd40413c7806481ebe4391cfaefd95d8238ea74cc)