Thread: Political Art

Hello,

What do you think about artists who campaign for a candidate? Weren't artists heavily used in Soviet times? I saw Soviet Political Art when travelling in Russia. I especially liked the fire in Stalingrad. Awesome stuff near the huge concrete statue. But were there famous people as well? Soviet singers singing the Communist Revolution?

Anyway, I don't want to push things down your throats. Here is one of the most famous singer of the Ron Paul Revolution in America.

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Originally Posted by Mordan

I saw Soviet Political Art when travelling in Russia. I especially liked the fire in Stalingrad. Awesome stuff near the huge concrete statue. But were there famous people as well? Soviet singers singing the Communist Revolution?

Ok, first and foremost, let's correct your terminology. There were no Communist Revolutions ever, as there was no Soviet Russia or Communist Russia. It sounds about as stupid as Imperialist States. There was (Great) October Socialist Revolution, often shortened to October Revolution, and the regime in USSR was (officially) Socialistic. Communist state was a dream and a goal, that was supposed to be achieved in 2000 (at best ).

What's about art there were some artists who sang almost solely propagandist or patriotic songs, along with some folk ones. It was their ampoule, so to speak. Pop-singers usually didn't sing this kind of songs or did it very rarely.

There were very few songs about recent or modern leaders, for such songs were percieved as unnecessary and immodest. And, technically speaking, there was nobody to sing about, except Lenin, the founder of the state. Stalin was a taboo, Khruschev mostly forgotten and sometimes poked fun at, Breznev outright ridiculed (though he was narcissistic enough to order a song a two about himself), the later leaders were too disliked or insignificant.

So most of the 'propagandist' songs were about the "leading role" of the Communist party and Communists in general (no last names except Lenin were usually mentioned) and old events or cult figures - Lenin and his close companions, October revolution, Civil war heroes, etc. (a mythology of a sort, a story of the beginning).

These songs were considered an important part in children education, so kids often sang it during school or kindergarden performances. But nobody took them too serious, it was a boring routine.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

These songs were considered an important part in children education, so kids often sang it during school or kindergarden performances. But nobody took them too serious, it was a boring routine.

А мне всегда нравились песни на стихи Светлова. =)