Vietnam: Propaganda Preserved (Sort Of)

Upon landing in Vietnam, the first thing I was keen to spy was a propaganda poster or three (and then have a bowl of steaming phở). However the first thing I spied, which kept us entertained over a few days spent in Ho Chi Minh City (which I'll call Saigon, the locals' preferred term for the city-proper) was a completely dizzying and endless sea of motor-scooters and bicycles all politely jostling for position as they whizzed through Saigon's streets (everyone gives way to... everyone!). Then the propaganda posters came into focus.

Unlike other communist countries that have seen the development of their economies and cultures evolve into 'market-based communism' and perhaps have no real need to pursue the design of posters promoting anti-Western concepts and nationalistic concerns (such posters would compete with KFC, Honda and Samsung advertisements and signage after all), Vietnam still continues the 'propaganda poster tradition' (in a way). North Korea maintains a hardline 'old-school communist' approach to their propaganda (guns, tractors, heroic stances), whilst Vietnam's 'propaganda' has evolved into public service and health-related announcements, as well as creating posters based on traditional nationalistic and nation-building themes. Saigon's bustling streetscapes are dotted with them.

Now it's easy to see communist propaganda being commodified into hip, street-savvy clothing and it's readily available in a few galleries about town that cater largely for tourists. The hip element of Saigon culture has embraced the propaganda poster as an indigenous 'street' art form with shops such as Dogma printing prop-posters onto t-shirts that wouldn't look out of place in some of the trendier night-spots around town. The Apocalypse Now bar being a Saigon favourite(!). My favourite propaganda poster gallery in Saigon was the Hanoi Gallery, with a remarkable collection of decades worth of posters. Originals retail for US$200, small prints for US$10.

Of course I walked away with a few...

'Determined to act on the government plan' (Hanoi Gallery)

'The national empires and reaction should not unwisely touch the country' (Hanoi Gallery)

'Uncle Ho says victory means victory' (Hanoi Gallery)

'Determined to protect the nation' (Dogma Gallery)

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Image at top of post from Hanoi Gallery:
'Hanoi, Hue, Saigon – a country that joins is one ribbon'

(Hue being an ancient capital of Vietnam)

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More at the NY Times

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Hanoi Gallery
Saigon: 43 Le Loi, District 1, telephone 08 821 8211
Hanoi: 17 Nha Chung, Hoan Kiem District, telephone 04 928 7943
Please contact me if you'd like to email them
(they're about to build a web site)