Mao’s China

1976

Filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni and poet Dario Fo with very few journalists, were the only Italians that got the permission to visit the country before us.

During one month, our guide took us to factories, rural communes and schools, every time starting our visit with this words: “So as President Mao said, against the Deng Xiaoping’s revisionist line…”

Almost always a huge queue of curious were following us in the streets; we were the first western people they had ever seen!

Wuhan, China, 1976. Chinese girls near a mural dazibao

Xi’an, Shaanxi, China,1976. Young mothers from a Mongol ethnic group

China, 1976. A school class giving a welcome to the italian guests

Wuhan, Hubei, China, 1976. Bicycles were the common means of transport at Mao Zedong’s days

China, 1976. Schoolchildren during a military training exercise

Guilin, Guangxi, China, 1975. River transport along the Li river

Guilin, Guanxi, China, 1976. Statues of Buddha in a cave alon the Li river

Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, 1976. Children eat their meals on cots along the pavements, after the Tangshan earthquake

Hunan province, China, 1976. The small hospital of an agricultural commune

Whuan, 1976. Young red guard during a theatrical performance

Whuan, 1976. Choir during a theatrical performance in honor of the Italian guests

Whuan, 1976. Young Red Guards during a military exercise

Guilin, Guangxi, China, 1975. River transport along the Li river

China, 1976. Giant propaganda poster

China, 1976. Loom in a textile factory

Guilin, Guanxi, China, 1976. Women wash food in the waters of the Li River

China 1976. Old rickshaw driver

Whuan, China 1976. Girls with straw headgears

China 1976. Dazibao posted on city and factories walls to encourage political debate

Alceste’s funeral Next Project

Militants of “Lotta Continua” greet the coffin of comrade Alceste. Reggio Emilia, 1975