Since the Russian Revolution of October, 1917, political posters played a central role in Soviet history. This vibrant triptych pays tribute to the revolution: “1917—The beginning of a new era. All power to the Soviets!” Design: V. Sachkov, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
In 1989, an exhibition of 75 posters never before seen outside of the Soviet Union not only helped put rare Russian graphic design in the public eye, but it also helped launch AIGA’s San Diego chapter. As one of its founders, I can vouch for the fact that we were a passionate group that didn’t shy away from big ideas. Situated almost 3,000 miles from national headquarters in New York, we were eager to stick a pin in the southwestern-most point of AIGA’s map. Poster Art of the Soviet Union: A Window Into Soviet Life was presented in conjunction with Treasures of the Soviet Union, a three-week citywide arts festival held in 1989. Today, these posters provide a profound look back at life in the former Soviet Union.
As author and design historian Steve Heller wrote in his introduction to the exhibition catalog, “This Window Into Soviet Life signifies another revolution as significant as the one of 1917. The democratic sentiments… emblazoned on some of the posters and implied in all the others is a dangerous step for this behemoth nation and its new courageous leaders. These posters are not just examples of excellence in design, but are evidence of great social upheaval. As I admire these images, I hope that history will not repeat itself, and that these posters will not become the artifacts of a betrayed revolution.”
This dynamic typographic poster, “USSR. Perestroika, Glasnost, Acceleration, Democracy,” hails the progressive reforms. The uplifting message is set in red geometric sans serif type and placed on diagonal axes against a background of Ben-Day dots. Larger letters singled out of each of the four words spell out USSR in Russian. A graphic representation of the Kremlin rises from the red border at the bottom. Design: V. Trubanov, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Everyone to the Communist subbotnik!” The word subbotnik means Saturday. This poster calls on citizens to donate a day of unpaid labor to cleaning up the city.
Design: O. Savostiuk, 1986.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
The winged god Mercury brings a message from the USSR to the United States: “Dialogue leads to peace and friendship. Commercial ties are the token of friendship.” Design: E. Vertogradov, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“1937” features a large stylized shovel thrust upright into a barren mountainous landscape. Its handle, outlined in barbed wire, evokes a dark period under Stalin when many citizens were sent to Siberia, where they were killed and buried. Design: O. Savostiuk, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“To correctly understand the past means to facilitate the search for the true path into the future.” Text on the spine of the book reads “History of the USSR.” This poster calls into question the written history of the USSR and addresses the need to re-examine textbooks to bring them more in line with information represented in the media and by government leaders.
Design: A. Lekomtsev, E. Morozovsky, and O. Staikov, undated.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
The poster’s text, “an enormous step has been made in an important matter,” refers to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Design: K. Ivanov, 1987.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Perestroika has been going on for a long time but the labyrinth of instructions keeps growing, flying in the face of common sense.” The poster criticizes the bureaucratic resistance to implementing perestroika.
Design: G. Kamenskikh, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Don’t be afraid of work, remember and know, perestroika today, the front line” refers to the country’s first priority—perestroika. Design: O. Savostiuk, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Hurrah for the heroic deeds of the Soviet soldier!”
Design: O. Savostiuk and V. Uspensky, 1986.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
At that time in the late 80s, securing the posters and getting them to San Diego was an ambitious undertaking and very timely. Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were waning. Mikhail Gorbachev, general secretary of the Communist party of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991, initiated radical decentralization policies known as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reform) that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ronald Reagan was wrapping up his second term as president of the United States. In his famous “Tear down this wall!” speech on June 12, 1987, Reagan called for Gorbachev to open the Berlin Wall. In November 1989, while our exhibition was underway, the barrier that had divided East and West Berlin since 1961 was opened and people were allowed to pass freely.
This was before email and the internet when it helped to know somebody who knew somebody. Ron Miriello, who spearheaded the project as exhibition chair, reached out to his former professor, Philip Risbeck, head of the graphic design program at Colorado State University. Risbeck, himself a poster designer, offered to serve as liaison to Oleg Savostiuk, secretary of the Union of Soviet Artists, with whom he had judged international poster competitions. After months of uncertainty, Miriello received a call from Risbeck saying that the posters had shipped two months earlier. Savostiuk collected and curated the posters, all of which were designed from 1986–1989 by union members.
Instead of giving the impression, as in earlier times, that problems didn’t exist in the Soviet Union, posters during this era of openness acknowledged and addressed existing problems, such as environmental concerns shown here. “Comrades, let us urgently save everything that we breathe and live by.” The body of the crocodile-like creature, which is devouring a small clean village, is made up of cities and factories and wears shiny polished shoes that represent authority and government. Design: I. Maystrovsky, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Family! Let there be happiness in it. And let it work, the raising of children, love, and peace in your home contribute to it!” The severe housing shortage in the Soviet Union was recognized as a factor in the disintegration of family life. Apartment buildings transform into a loving embrace between a man and woman.
Design: L. Levshunova, undated.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Every student—an individual” references the familiar saying “You can’t comb everyone’s hair the same” and makes a plea to treat students as individuals. The word at the top of the comb translates “school” and the figures symbolize progressive development as students move through the ten levels of public school.
Design: M. Mkrtchyan, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
This powerful poster, “AIDS attacking!,” touts the first clinic for diagnosing and preventing AIDS. The menace is symbolized by a large red dot with progressively smaller red dots radiating outward from its center towards three victims whose black silhouettes are riddled with holes. Design: K. Ivanov, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
“Evolution?” criticizes the growing demand for material possessions. Four heads represent life stages as the word “give” spews from each mouth. Swirling around each head are names of desired products.
Design: S. Uvarov, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
Phil Risbeck and Oleg Savostiuk raise their glasses in a toast to kick off the opening. Left to right: Risbeck, Russian translator Dr. Veronica Shapovalova, and Savostiuk.
Reproduced from the chapter newsletter, Winter 1990.
Julie Bubar Photography
After a year of intense planning, fundraising, and behind the scenes negotiations, 108 posters packed in a wooden crate covered in Cyrillic lettering finally arrived from Moscow. There was just enough time for the posters to be translated, photographed, and framed before the opening at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. Both Risbeck and Savostiuk came to the opening, and extended a symbolic hand of friendship between designers of the previously estranged superpowers.
The posters reveal “the diversity and exuberance absent from Soviet design for many decades,” wrote Heller. Imagery ranged from realistic paintings, photographs, and cartoon renderings to highly graphic and stylized interpretations. Text was set in Cyrillic, primarily in sans serif typefaces with scattered instances of serif and decorative display types as well as hand-drawn lettering. All of the posters were printed in color by offset lithography and ranged from spot color to four-color process with red, not surprisingly, being favored. Intention was at times patriotic and celebratory, straightforward and informative, and sometimes critical.
Under glasnost, foreign films became available for distribution and were advertised through posters like this one for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” a film directed by Milos Forman. In this ominous illustration the heads of six similar figures with ambiguous features merge into a single building that connotes how individual minds are controlled by the faceless institution. In contrast, a lone white bird soars overhead. The title is handwritten in English and Russian across the bottom.
Design: I. Maystrovsky, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
A spirited poster with playful typography promotes “Golden Century,” a three-act ballet by Soviet composer and pianist Dimitri Shostakovich, a prominent figure in 20th-century music known for his bold, expressive style. Design: Katerina Ismailova, 1989.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
This poster promoted the film “Portraits of Men.”
Design: Bokser, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
Poster for “The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” a film directed by Luis Buñuel. The story revolves around a dinner party but the food never arrives at the table due to outside problems that continue to arise.
Design: I. Maystrovsky, undated.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
Film producers in the Soviet Union enjoyed more independence and freedom under glasnost. This poster promoted the Andrei Tarkovsky film “Sacrifice.” The character, Alexander, celebrates his birthday with his family at his remote cottage. When low-flying airplanes signal the start of nuclear war between superpowers, Alexander searches for a way to restore peace. His search includes a visit to the solitary Maria, who is said to be a witch.
Design: I. Maystrovsky, 1988.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
The name of celebrated Russian Romantic writer, poet, and painter, Mikhail Lermontov, is spelled out in large type in this poster that celebrates his birthday: “175th anniversary of the poet Lermontov’s birthday.” Images of his life are scattered across the layout including the duel that killed him. Design: Nepomnyashchy, undated.
Courtesy Ron Miriello.
AIGA San Diego board members gather for a group shot with Phil Risbeck and Oleg Savostiuk following the exhibition opening. Front row left to right: Alice Choy Mitsunaga, Richard Salzman, Esther Coit, Joy Chu, Oleg Savostiuk, Lillian Svec, Susan Merritt, Russian translator Yelena Suleyman, and Dennis Gillaspy. Back row left to right: Phil Risbeck, Ron Miriello, Cheryl Flategraff Dine, Carol Kerr, and Brian Lovell.
Reproduced from the chapter newsletter, Winter 1990.
Julie Bubar Photography
The 75 posters were organized into three distinct categories as shown here: political themes, social issues, and the arts and were seen by as many as 15,000 visitors. After it closed on January 7, 1990, the framed posters were packed in crates for a two-year tour that traveled to AIGA chapters in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, Jacksonville, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. When the posters returned to San Diego they were placed in storage until 2014 when Miriello acquired the collection in an effort to keep the posters together. Now his goal is to once again provide contemporary audiences with a unique angle into a dramatic time in Soviet history and the role graphic design played in communicating the new policies of glasnost and perestroika while also documenting the results of a country in the process of redefining itself.
Thinking back on Heller’s 1989 catalog essay, I asked him what he thought now, 26 years later. “Sadly, history has given Vladmir Putin to the Russian people. Maybe it was inevitable. But also inevitable is the fact that designers and artists will continue to protest attacks on their freedom.”
For more information about the collection contact Ron Miriello: ron [at] miriello.com or www.sovietpostershow.com
