 The Bridge Library has one of the biggest and most significant collections of Russian material outside the Russian Federation. When we think about libraries, the first thing that comes to mind is books. However, today I want to talk about our collections of visual material, something that speaks universally to all people, regardless of their language. At the Bridge Library, we digitize our collections, so that everyone can see, study and learn about them. And I would like to show you how, for example, you might examine Soviet propaganda posters from our collections. You are definitely familiar with the British First World War, your country needs your poster, featuring Lord Kichner and the Uncle Sam, I want you for you as army. During the Civil War in Russia, Dmitry Moor, one of the founders of Soviet political poster design, used the same concept and the similar image in his heavy-volunteered Red Army recruitment poster. Here, the central figure with a pointing finger encourages men to enlist in the Red Army. He is positioned against a background of smoking factories. The message and the image are probably more energetic compared to the previous ones. To make the Red Army soldier more spectacular and powerful, Dmitry Moor uses only red and black colors and positions the pointing finger above the viewer's level, making it clearly more dominant. If we compare the slogans, we will also see that the emphasis in turn has changed. Lord Kichner and Uncle Sam appeal, your country needs you, I want you. The Red Army soldier interrogates, have you volunteered? No excuse would be considered acceptable. The Red Army poster much more strongly implies that there are higher values than an individual's life. The figure with a pointing finger has the right to demand a personal sacrifice from anyone. Dmitry Moor, his real name was Arlov, was born in 1883 in the south of Russia to the family of an engineer. He started publishing caricatures in satirical magazines. He was influenced by the German satirical publication Simplicissimus and the Norwegian artist and designer Ulf Kulbradsson. That is how Moor learned to draw with clear lines and to put emphasis on linking verbal and non-verbal messages. For his artistic style, Moor also adopted imagery from silent films with their exaggerated emotions. He really believed in the power of image to convey messages. The new Soviet Republic needed artists like him who could make mostly literate workers, soldiers and peasants believe in Bolshevik slogans. In 1921 Moor published The Alphabet for a Red Army Soldier. This is a small book of cartoons intended to teach soldiers to read and instill political literacy at the same time. Each letter is illustrated by a picture emphasizing the special mission and the triumphs of the Soviet forces. For example, the letter G is the initial letter of the Russian word Garets to burn. The inscription to the picture reads, the earth burns with a fire lit by the worker's hand. The letter B is illustrated by the word bourgeois. It reads, the bourgeois couldn't hold the sword. Now he crawls at our feet. Here Moor combines his skills of a satirical cartoonist and political propagandist. Look at a fat bourgeois man in a top hat who crawls at a red army man's feet. He looks really miserable, staring at the sword that the soldier is holding above him. And here are examples of Moor's caricature style, where enemies of the Soviet state look miserable and laughable. In many cases, Moor uses the narrative and designer themes that were very common. Look at Lenin sweeping the counter-revolutionary's elements out of the country, or a collection of typical enemies opposing the new way of life. Moor's images are powerful because they are bold, simple and memorable, but they are not individualized. Red army soldiers and workers are always brutal and scary as their eyes are empty. I think that the characters that Moor is mocking somehow look more like humans. Moor combines two styles, caricature which turns out to be more human, and advertising that turns out to be brutal, direct and scary. It might be interesting to notice how one theme, posture or figure can be used in several works. See, for example, how similar the murderer from the film poster and the worker are. Compare the red army soldier crushing the Soviet enemies and the worker in a red shirt stepping on the bourgeois, or the sneezing and crying priests that look disgusting. This is just one very biased but very powerful example of how the Russian Revolution was visualized. I hope you might find it interesting to look at our digitized images at your own pace. Think about messages and artistic styles. Learn about important historical events and personal stories. If you have any questions or comments, we would be happy to hear from you.