Press Release

Wearing Propaganda:
Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 1931–1945

November 18, 2005--February 12, 2006



From November 18, 2005, through February 5, 2006, The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture presents Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 1931–1945. This is the first major exhibition of propaganda fashion designed and produced in Japan, Britain, and the United States during the years of conflict in the Asia-Pacific War and World War II. Scheduled to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, the exhibition provides a unique opportunity to consider this under-recognized but visually exciting genre of wearable propaganda, worthy of note today not only for its design value but also as a reflection of the popular culture of the time.

Approximately 130 works of art illustrate how civilian textile design helped to promote wartime agendas in the three countries. The material on view includes clothing and accessories, textile samples, cartoons for textile designs, posters, and photographs. The objects are drawn from public and private collections throughout the United States and Britain, and from numerous private collections in Japan. Many of the objects, especially the Japanese, are unknown and have never before been documented, exhibited, or photographed.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, there are distinct cultural differences between Japan and the West in the use of propaganda textiles. The American and British examples were produced almost exclusively for women and were worn prominently in public, as headscarves, blouses, and dresses. In Japan, most of the clothing incorporating textiles with propaganda images was worn by men and young boys. The propaganda textiles used for men’s garments appeared predominantly in traditional clothing such as nagajuban (long underkimono) or the linings of haori (jackets worn with kimono), and thus were, for the most part, designs that would be hidden from public view and thus seen only by people close to the wearer. Also striking is Japan’s use of propaganda textiles in children’s clothing. Many of the pieces in the exhibition are kimono for young boys and omiyamairi (shrine-visiting kimonos, comparable to christening gowns) that include potent military imagery.

The exhibition textiles comprise clothing (kimono, nagajuban, haori, obi, blouses, dresses, scarves, and so forth); yardage or sample pieces; miscellaneous textiles such as handkerchiefs, tablecloths, and furoshiki (wrapping cloths); and, for context, examples of other items of the popular visual and material culture of the time, including posters, toys, magazines, and fans.

The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue examines twentieth-century printed textile designs as both a celebration and a reflection of everyday life and culture, a discussion that then segues into a review of the production of textiles with wartime propaganda designs. “Wearing Propaganda” also provides an in-depth examination of the most prevalent themes and motifs to be found in the propaganda textiles: modernity, empire, militarism, patriotism, sacrifice, heroes and leaders, text (slogans, words, and songs), alliances (Allies and Axis), and victory. Several themes are explored briefly here:
· Modernity One of the chief themes in Japanese propaganda textiles, depicted primarily through war, empire, and modern technology
· Tradition Tradition in the form of cultural icons such as Mt. Fuji and folk heroes figures largely in the propaganda textiles of Japan. In the United States, traditional icons such as the Constitution, George Washington, and the Pledge of Allegiance were more likely to be used as propaganda ploys before the American entry into World War II than after. In Britain, few traditional images are to be found in the textiles, although classic slogans were used, such as “England expects that every man shall do his duty,” Admiral Nelson’s battle motto at Trafalgar.
· Empire The concept of empire is key to the social and wartime histories of both Japan and Britain
· Militarism Military imagery is ubiquitous in the textile designs in all three countries, yet it is handled in quite different ways
· Patriotism To some degree all the propaganda designs may be said to represent patriotism, as they were produced as part of a larger patriotic response to the needs of nations at war. The use of national symbols most closely allied to the concept of patriotism, such as national flags, stand out in some of the designs.
Many of the textile designs have multiple motifs and so fit easily into more than one of these categories.

Wearing Propaganda is curated by Jacqueline M. Atkins, a Ph.D. candidate at the Bard Graduate Center. A noted scholar of American textiles, she has published extensively on the history of American and Japanese domestic textiles and quilts. She is the Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles at the Allentown, Pennsylvania Art Museum, an institution known for its extensive textile collection, which contains a significant group of propaganda textiles.

Catalogue
The accompanying catalogue is published by the Bard Graduate Center in collaboration with Yale University Press. It is the first comprehensive study of civilian wartime textiles with wartime motifs as Home Front propaganda, and includes contextual essays on the wartime period by well-known scholars. Among the essays are: “Propaganda on the Home Fronts: Clothing and Textiles as Message,” by guest curator Jacqueline M. Atkins; “Japan’s Beautiful, Modern War,” by John Dower, professor of Japanese history, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Pulitzer Prize winner; “Cultural Icons of Britain at War: Potatoes are Protective, Too,” by Antonia Lant, professor of cinema studies, New York University; “An American Vision: Propaganda from the Second World War,” by Marianne Lamonaca, chief curator, The Wolfsonian–Florida International University; “The Fifteen-Year War and War-Promoting Kimono,” by Midori Wakakuwa, professor, Kawamura Gakuen Women’s University, Japan; and “Design and War: Kimono as ‘Parlor-Performance’ Propaganda,” by Hiroshi Kashiwagi, professor, Musashino Art University, Japan; “Keeping Up Home Front Morale: ‘Beauty and Duty’ in Wartime Britain,” by Pat Kirkham, Professor at the Bard Graduate Center; "London Squares: The Scarves of Wartime Britain," by Paul Rennie; and “Showing the Colors: America,” by Beverly Gordon, Professor at the University of Wisconsin.

Related Programs
An array of lectures, panels, and other offerings will be presented in conjunction with Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan,, Britain, and the United States, 1931–1945. For further information, please call 212-501-3011 or e-mail programs@bgc.bard.edu.

Exhibition Tours
Group tours of Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan,, Britain, and the United States, 1931–1945 may be scheduled Tuesday through Friday between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and on Thursday until 7:00 p.m. Reservations are required for all groups. For further information, please call the Bard Graduate Center Gallery at 212-501-3023 or TTY 212-501-3012, or e-mail gallery_assistant@bgc.bard.edu.

General Information
The Bard Graduate Center is located at 18 West 86th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, in New York City. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Admission is $3 general, $2 seniors and students (with valid ID), and free on Thursday evenings. For further information about the Bard Graduate Center and upcoming exhibitions, please visit our website at www.bgc.bard.edu.

Support for Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 1931-1945 has been generously provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd., the National Endowment for the Arts, The Blakemore Foundation, the Japan Foundation, and Camilla Bergeron and Gus Davis.

Support for Public Programs has been provided by the Asian Cultural Council.

 

For further information, please call 212-501-3000 or e-mail generalinfo@bgc.bard.edu.

back to top | close window