Ah Ge ( b.1948 ) Sichuan A member of the Yizu ethnic minority

Born to a family of former serfs, Ah attended the class for minorities at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1964, and then became a printmaker for the Sichuan branch of the Chinese Artists' Association. She has received special attention as a female member of a minority people. Her life and art are held up as models of the improvement experienced under Communism by both women and minorities.

98. A Mother Is Learning 1964 47 x 38.3 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist An elderly woman, whose clothing indicates she is from an ethnic minority, learns to write by kerosene lamp after finishirg her day's work. The pendant hanging from the paper flower announces, "representative of the people." Beside it is a certificate that says, "commune member" and gives the name by which she is called, Old Lady Wu Qi, and the date of an award she received. The first words she is writing in the book are "Chairman Mao."     99. Yizu People Happily Welcome New Commune Members to Their Village 1976 76 x 103 cm Black and white oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist Two young Han Chinese women, dressed in soldiers' clothes (but they may be young Red Guards, as the latter adopted army uniforms for their dress), are welcomed to a Yizu village. On the carryall held by the woman on the right is written "Shanghai." In the rustication program initiated durirg the Cultural Revolution, city people were sent to the countryside to work the land with the peasants, both to contribute their labor and to become educated in the hardships of rural life.