We Support Perestroika. The Revolution Continues
Poster
1989 (made)
1989 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) made their way into our lexicon in 1986 after a landmark speech by newly elected Mikhail Gorbachev at the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, revealing a light at the end of the Cold War tunnel. Far from being political hot air, Gorbachev rapidly put in his words into practice, pushing through sweeping reforms in June 1988 which proposed a democratically elected ‘congress of people’s deputies’, thereby overturning the absolute rule of the Communist parliament. Given little time to discuss the matter, the surprised party members dutifully followed their leader’s suggestions and effectively voted themselves out of a job. 45,000 copies of this poster were produced the following year with the triumphant red lettering encouraging the individuality of the people with 'Begin perestroika with yourself'; and 'To tag along we shall not allow!'. A certain nostalgia persists however with ‘The Revolution Continues'.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | We Support Perestroika. The Revolution Continues (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour offset lithograph poster |
| Brief description | Poster by B. Yavin entitled 'We Support Perestroika. The Revolution Continues'. Russian, 1989. |
| Physical description | Colour offset lithograph depicting a billboard in yellow with Cyrillic lettering in blue and red, and the body of a suit painted in blue, with one arm outstretched. The billboard is in the style of a peep board with two holes in the sign for a head and hand to be placed through and complete the image. A man with a moustache and brown hair is pictured, facing to the left, with his head and hand in the allotted spaces. The slogans in Russian translate as 'Begin perestroika with yourself'; 'Democracy glasnosts'; 'To tag along we shall not allow!'; and 'We Support Perestroika. The Revolution Continues'. Small print in the bottom left contains the artist's name (B. Yavin), editor's names (N Krasnov & I. Pechkin) date (1989), and the print run (45000). |
| Summary | Perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) made their way into our lexicon in 1986 after a landmark speech by newly elected Mikhail Gorbachev at the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, revealing a light at the end of the Cold War tunnel. Far from being political hot air, Gorbachev rapidly put in his words into practice, pushing through sweeping reforms in June 1988 which proposed a democratically elected ‘congress of people’s deputies’, thereby overturning the absolute rule of the Communist parliament. Given little time to discuss the matter, the surprised party members dutifully followed their leader’s suggestions and effectively voted themselves out of a job. 45,000 copies of this poster were produced the following year with the triumphant red lettering encouraging the individuality of the people with 'Begin perestroika with yourself'; and 'To tag along we shall not allow!'. A certain nostalgia persists however with ‘The Revolution Continues'. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2151-1990 |
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| Record created | February 23, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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