When the leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev introduced his policies of ‘perestroika’ (restructuring) and ‘glasnost’ (openness) in the mid 1980s, a change in atmosphere was felt within political landscape of Lithuania. In 1988, the state publishing house Mintis, responsible for the publication of political materials, announced a political poster competition. Many young artists participated. This poster by Albertas Broga won the 3rd prize. It represents a playing card with the figures of Stalin and Hitler substituted for the traditional design of a ‘face card’. The two men are separated by a diagonal band bearing the date 23 August 1939. This was the date of the Nazi-Soviet Pact when the USSR and Germany divided their spheres of interest in Eastern Europe before World War II – a decisive moment leading to the USSR’s subsequent occupation of the Baltic States.

The poster is printed in black and white – the colours of mourning. This mood is enhanced by a black border surrounding the ‘card’ and crosses positioned in the corners where a playing card would indicate its number value. The Nazi-Soviet Pact led to the annexation of Lithuania, post-war massacres, the emigration of tens of thousands of Lithuanians to the West, and deportations of hundreds of thousands of people to Siberia. The anniversary of the signing of the
Pact is known as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ when flags decorated with black ribbons are raised in Lithuania.

The composition of the poster is not especially original. Quite a few posters have used the idea of representing two ‘heroes’ with their heads at opposite ends of a playing card. In this case, however, the design is a particularly effective way of juxtaposing the two aggressive dictators, who agreed to divide Europe between themselves and later fought against each other in one if the bloodiest wars in world history.

The poster was printed in an edition of 12,500 copies and was very popular. It was displayed in streets and in offices, carried as a banner during political demonstrations and used to announce events organised by the political organisation Sajudis. It was designed in 1988 and published at the beginning of 1989. The poster design was assembled as a collage. The artist re-photographed the portraits, blew them up to the required size and pasted them on paper. He drew the frame and the date band with gouache, and assembled the text from re-photographed letters.

The artist Albertas Broga (b. 1951) graduated from the Graphic Arts Department of the Vilnius State Art Institute in 1977. He had participated in many exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad and was already a well known poster designer before the competition. For many years, Albertas Broga worked as an artistic editor for Mintis. He now works for the publishing house Mokslas.