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| Outdoor discos to kitsch schnitzel ads: Twitter account relives the Soviet era Outdoor discos to kitsch schnitzel ads: Twitter account relives the Soviet era | |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| In a one-minute video snippet unearthed by the new online project Soviet Visuals, hundreds of people wearing sailor hats and 80s shell suits dance at an outdoor disco in the Russian city of Ufa. | In a one-minute video snippet unearthed by the new online project Soviet Visuals, hundreds of people wearing sailor hats and 80s shell suits dance at an outdoor disco in the Russian city of Ufa. |
| Shared as part of the project’s bid to celebrate the culture and aesthetics of the Soviet Union, the video was retweeted more than 1,500 times. | Shared as part of the project’s bid to celebrate the culture and aesthetics of the Soviet Union, the video was retweeted more than 1,500 times. |
| The Soviet Visuals project chimes with a growing trend for imagery from the USSR, as everyone from the British Science Museum to London’s inaugural Design Biennale celebrates Soviet nostalgia, with fashion labels offering Lenin-inspired lines and Soviet-style cafes in Russia serving traditional food in traditional surroundings. | The Soviet Visuals project chimes with a growing trend for imagery from the USSR, as everyone from the British Science Museum to London’s inaugural Design Biennale celebrates Soviet nostalgia, with fashion labels offering Lenin-inspired lines and Soviet-style cafes in Russia serving traditional food in traditional surroundings. |
| Here is an outdoor Soviet disco from 1989. pic.twitter.com/d5xtR4wn7v | Here is an outdoor Soviet disco from 1989. pic.twitter.com/d5xtR4wn7v |
| The project, which started on Twitter and now has a Facebook and Instagram account, is curated by Varia Bortsova, who was born in Moscow in 1990, a year before the union dissolved. | The project, which started on Twitter and now has a Facebook and Instagram account, is curated by Varia Bortsova, who was born in Moscow in 1990, a year before the union dissolved. |
| Bortsova says that many of the images she shares allow younger people, who didn’t experience life under communism, to enjoy the Soviet aesthetic. | Bortsova says that many of the images she shares allow younger people, who didn’t experience life under communism, to enjoy the Soviet aesthetic. |
| And while a disco clip may be a surefire online success, Bortsova says the community also responds well to more controversial topics – especially anything that touches on the Soviet disdain for religion and the American enemy. | And while a disco clip may be a surefire online success, Bortsova says the community also responds well to more controversial topics – especially anything that touches on the Soviet disdain for religion and the American enemy. |
| While religion was never outlawed by the USSR, the state’s ideological opposition was evident in many of its propaganda products, such as one image of an anti-religion book tweeted by Bortsova in early October. | While religion was never outlawed by the USSR, the state’s ideological opposition was evident in many of its propaganda products, such as one image of an anti-religion book tweeted by Bortsova in early October. |
| Anti-religion ABC book. 1933 pic.twitter.com/Tk0mHtZFdy | Anti-religion ABC book. 1933 pic.twitter.com/Tk0mHtZFdy |
| Another picture from a 1933 book shows a church and its clergymen being mown down by a massive tractor adorned with a hammer and sickle. A poster, meanwhile, decrees that it is “the sacred duty of honest people to save the the children from the darkness of the church”. | Another picture from a 1933 book shows a church and its clergymen being mown down by a massive tractor adorned with a hammer and sickle. A poster, meanwhile, decrees that it is “the sacred duty of honest people to save the the children from the darkness of the church”. |
| Soviet anti-religion campaign poster. "The sacred duty of honest people - to save the the children from the darkness of the church" pic.twitter.com/7IRXiBJ0GX | Soviet anti-religion campaign poster. "The sacred duty of honest people - to save the the children from the darkness of the church" pic.twitter.com/7IRXiBJ0GX |
| With Russia currently embroiled in an international row over its military intervention in Syria and allegations that the Kremlin has been trying to influence the US presidential elections by hacking into the Democratic party’s emails, relations between the west and the Russia are at a post-cold war low. | With Russia currently embroiled in an international row over its military intervention in Syria and allegations that the Kremlin has been trying to influence the US presidential elections by hacking into the Democratic party’s emails, relations between the west and the Russia are at a post-cold war low. |
| So, says Bortsova, when the account shares images that showcase the historical propaganda war between the Soviets and western governments, “people make a connection to what is happening today”. | So, says Bortsova, when the account shares images that showcase the historical propaganda war between the Soviets and western governments, “people make a connection to what is happening today”. |
| "Weight of babies born to women who (left) rested before labour and (right) worked until the last minute." 1920's poster. pic.twitter.com/whtL0wjFaC | "Weight of babies born to women who (left) rested before labour and (right) worked until the last minute." 1920's poster. pic.twitter.com/whtL0wjFaC |
| Bortsova says that one of her favourite finds is a poster of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin claiming that he can find no evidence of God in space. | Bortsova says that one of her favourite finds is a poster of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin claiming that he can find no evidence of God in space. |
| “The space race was so key to the regime’s propaganda that you’d have a vacuum cleaners, fridges, radios all shaped like spaceships,” she says. | “The space race was so key to the regime’s propaganda that you’d have a vacuum cleaners, fridges, radios all shaped like spaceships,” she says. |
| The project also chronicles the fashion and trends behind the iron curtain in the 70s and 80s, where denim was a coveted item and western brands were almost impossible to purchase. | The project also chronicles the fashion and trends behind the iron curtain in the 70s and 80s, where denim was a coveted item and western brands were almost impossible to purchase. |
| And while some of the sports-luxe outfits from the Ufa disco wouldn’t be out of place on this year’s catwalks (or in east London’s pubs), photos of models dressed in satin kimonos posing with Father Christmas have a distinctly Soviet feel. | And while some of the sports-luxe outfits from the Ufa disco wouldn’t be out of place on this year’s catwalks (or in east London’s pubs), photos of models dressed in satin kimonos posing with Father Christmas have a distinctly Soviet feel. |
| 1970's. Leningrad, USSR. Dress by the Leningrad House of Models. pic.twitter.com/80JOqFPL6x | 1970's. Leningrad, USSR. Dress by the Leningrad House of Models. pic.twitter.com/80JOqFPL6x |
| As does this Estonian TV advert for chicken schnitzel, in which models writhe around in leopard-print outfits in what appears to be a foil-lined studio: | As does this Estonian TV advert for chicken schnitzel, in which models writhe around in leopard-print outfits in what appears to be a foil-lined studio: |
| Soviet Estonian ad for chicken schnitzel. 49 kopecks. pic.twitter.com/OO2uPZY3RX | Soviet Estonian ad for chicken schnitzel. 49 kopecks. pic.twitter.com/OO2uPZY3RX |
| Bortsova says that Soviet Visuals is not about promoting the Soviet regime. She adds that her followers from the post-Soviet world are “nostalgic, but in a good way”. | Bortsova says that Soviet Visuals is not about promoting the Soviet regime. She adds that her followers from the post-Soviet world are “nostalgic, but in a good way”. |
| Soviet Visuals’ Twitter account has now amassed 50,000 followers, with many in the community keen to unearth and share their own Soviet memories with the account. | Soviet Visuals’ Twitter account has now amassed 50,000 followers, with many in the community keen to unearth and share their own Soviet memories with the account. |
| One man even got in touch to see if he could set up his own Twitter feed sharing historical images from Azerbaijan. “I said, of course he could,” Bortsova laughs. “This is not the Soviet Union.” | One man even got in touch to see if he could set up his own Twitter feed sharing historical images from Azerbaijan. “I said, of course he could,” Bortsova laughs. “This is not the Soviet Union.” |
| Baku Boulevard 1980 #SovietUnion #SovietAze / @sovietvisuals pic.twitter.com/jau8CcnGWG | Baku Boulevard 1980 #SovietUnion #SovietAze / @sovietvisuals pic.twitter.com/jau8CcnGWG |