Always Together!

This propaganda poster was created by artist Leonid Fyodorovich Golovanov in 1958, several years after the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance in 1950. It is one of many examples of propaganda artwork created in the Socialist Realism style, the official Soviet government-mandated art style from approximately the 1930s to the 1950s. Most artworks of the style depict scenes of ordinary working life as seen through a technically realistic but clearly romanticized lens, featuring warm tones, ordinary people or “people’s heroes” as subjects, ideal working and living conditions, and short motivational messages. 

This particular poster was meant to promote not only socialist values but specifically Sino-Soviet brotherhood and cooperation. It features two men, one Chinese and one Soviet, embracing both one another and two children, each of whom we can assume are their respective sons. The text at the bottom of the poster reads “Always Together!” In combination with the illustration, the statement implies that the unity between the countries will last and prosper beyond the current generation to uplift future ones. Specifically, the determined facial expressions shared by the adults alongside the cheerful expressions worn by the two children suggests that through shared labor and unity, the two nations can build a brighter, ideal future. 

Public interpretation of this particular sub-genre of  propaganda posters has evolved in relation to time period, culture, and digital dispersion. Images of posters like these circulate across social media with a new focus on their visual homoerotic undertones—to many, the subjects look more like a gay couple than brothers in socialism. This artifact serves as both a reminder of how art can be used as a means of influencing the public and as an example of how little control creators have over future interpretations of their work.