Thi Dua san Xuat [Growing the country's best rice]

Poster depicting a young peasant woman holding a large sheaf of wheat in one hand and a scythe in the other. The text in Vietnamese below relates to a competition to encourage farmers to grow the country's best rice. During the 1950s and '60s in Vietnam, poster artists often worked in a social-realist style promoted by the state, with art serving propaganda purposes. The most important and patriotic subject matter in posters was realistic portraits of peasants, workers and soldiers. Ho Chi Minh, in particular, felt that art must 'speak to the masses' and artists took on a new role, fighting in the struggle for independence and national liberation. The posters were important in an ideological campaign that sought to promote a high regard for labour, collectivism and patriotism, during a period of socialist transformation and cultural revolution in Vietnam.