Online Exhibition: Perestroika Posters

International Poster Gallery is proud to announce its on-line exhibition: The Posters of Perestroika 1985 - 1991. Featuring highlights from the Gallery's large collection of Soviet posters, the exhibition reveals a momentous era of attempted reform and upheaval in the Soviet Union. 

It began in 1985 with the election of Mikhail Gorbachev as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. His assignment was to jump start the Soviet economy after 20 years of stagnation, and keep up with the United States and a newly ascendant and reform-minded China. 

Posters, as throughout Soviet history, were an essential part of this campaign to persuade the public. Utilizing diverse visual strategies, the posters reflect every aspect of Gorbachev’s reform program, from economic and political restructuring (perestroika), to the new openness and democratization (glasnost), disarmament and world peace, and environmental and anti-alcohol campaigns. 

The era would end abruptly. Despite Gorbachev's vision and often inspired efforts over 6 years, he was unable to challenge the embedded resistance of a corrupt and reactionary Communist Party. His high risk efforts ultimately helped seed the sudden dissolution and collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.