BOOK REVIEW

Political posters in Central and Eastern Europe 1945-95 J. Aulich and M. Sylvestrova; Manchester University Press (1999); available from Politico's Bookstore; 227 pages, 476 color and b/w illustrations; 22 x 28 cm; hardcover ISBN 0-7190-5418-4, softcover ISBN 0-7190-5419-2; in english; GBP 15.99 (about 24 USD) Cover from a 1976 poster by Miron Lukianov and Leonid Nepomniashchii

Marta Sylvestrova

James Aulich

This book, and the accompanying exhibitions at the Moravian Gallery in Brno (CZ) and the Imperial War Museum in London (GB) is the culmination of a five year research effort initiated by James Aulich, a Senior Lecturer in the History of Art and Design at Manchester University. He was soon joined by Marta Sylvestrova, Curator of the poster collection at the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Czech Republic, who's longtime connections with poster designers all over the world proved to be indispensable for the necessary field work which took her to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Bratislava, Cluj, Lodz, Pecs, Rostock, Tallin, Timisoara, Wroclaw, Berlin, Riga, Vilnius, Bucharest, Warsaw, Poznan, Budapest, Minsk and Prague. Although rewarding, it was hard work: The one trip on which I accompanied Marta, to Bucharest in 1994, would alone fill the lifetime adventure budget of most people I know. This work has historic significance, and the authors have my highest admiration for their tenacity to document a part of our cultural heritage that is disappearing fast, for various reasons. Many of the institutions that kept posters during the Cold War have vanished, or have destroyed their holdings before their commercial value was realized, and many poster designers prefer to forget their political works, together with the hard times and difficult personal situations during which they were made. Westerners usually have no idea what it meant to live under a communist regime, and are unfamiliar with its customs, ceremonies, cults, written and unwritten rules, and lies. An explanation or interpretation of most posters and their background is therefore essential, and fortunately, the authors have done just that, on a level of detail that I have not seen in any other publication, with ample and well referenced quotes, supplemented with photographs that capture the spirit of the times. The posters presented in the book were selected to show a wide geographical, artistic and thematic diversity, and cover the time from 1945 to 1995, although production of political posters after the end of the communist era in 1990 decreased drastically. Shown below is one example from each chapter of the book: 1. The political poster and communism 1949, Viktor Govorkov Listen! Moscow speaks! 2. The aesthetics of socialist realism 1945-56 1956, T. Szentpetery The battle continues! 3. Modernization and rebellion 1956-68 1978, G. Bukosi 30. anniversary of association of hungarian-soviet defence 4. Stagnation 1968-85 1978, Jan Sawka Jazz on Odra river 5. The collapse of communism 1985-95 1952, T. Trepkowski No! 6. Great leaders, political symbols and communist ceremonies 1975, Viktor Ivanov Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin will live ! 7. The communist future 1956, Jeno Molnar Following the example of the soviet railway workers ... 8. The new socialist "happy" people 1950, Jupp Alt Friendship forever, Month of german-soviet friendship 9. Internal and external enemies 1950, Gyorgy Pal We will defend the peace! The exhibition in Brno included more posters than could be shown in the book, and all of course in color, while about half of the illustrations in the book are just in black and white, a major disappointement for me: The conclusion of the project was celebrated in a symposium in Brno, in November 1999, whose proceedings will be published shortly, and here are pictures of some of the people who contributed to this vast undertaking, in one way or another: Anna Grabowska Assistant Curator Poznan Defender of czech village against american agents Irena Przymus Assisstant Curator Poznan Defender of peace Russia Snjezana Pavicic Curator, Zagreb Florian Zielinski Sociologist and dealer, Poznan Mariusz Knorowski Author and teacher Warsaw Katalin Bakos Curator, Budapest Vladimir Il'ich Politician St. Petersburg Andryi Budnik Designer and collector, Kyiv Defender of peace Hungary Krzysztof Dydo Author and dealer Cracow Links Signs of the times, web site of the project Review of the exhibition by J. Aulich Description of book by Manchester University Press home   more reviews    page last revised on January 10, 2001 / this section is part of Rene Wanner's Poster Page /