Tuesday, June 18, 2013

South Vietnam Land and People

A simple portrait of a young person.
We recently acquired an interesting example of propaganda produced by the North Vietnamese in 1967.  Mien Nam Viet Nam. Cat Nuoc, con Nguoi [South Vietnam Land and People] was published by the Liberation Publishing House in Hanoi and distributed to western visitors. It consists of three portfolios of images produced by North Vietnamese artists.

An illustration of a crouched man with a gun.
The message celebrating the "Resistance War" is clear:
Napalm, phosphorus, rockets, super-bombers, expanding bullets, toxic gasses--the American command in South Vietnam recoils from none of these and any other means of extermination.... Against such unbridled barbarism, the Vietnamese people have successfully defended their freedoms. Against one of the most colossal war machines ever known to history, "people's war" is being fought with valiance and creativeness, combining bamboo spears with anti-tank guns--a war in which a young mother's persuasive voice just as a ten-year-old boy's inquiring looks, also are weapons.

The portfolios were printed in bulk, but few complete copies have survived. Our prints are still housed in their original portfolios.

A portrait of a young woman.
To see it, ask for Rare DS557.72.M54 1967.

No comments :

Post a Comment