For those living in the Western Bloc during the Cold War, life in communist Soviet Union was a mystery, and one that had come to capture the imagination of the millions. While the so-called Kitchen Debate, when during the American exhibition in Moscow in 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev were engaged in a debate about the lifestyle in mid-century America, revealing the objection to luxury and comfort, Soviet lifestyle has remained unknown for the most part. Now, Adam, Brussels Design Museum in collaboration with the Moscow Design Museum seeks to unveil that mystery with the exhibition Soviet Design: Red Wealth [1950-1980]. This thorough and intriguing show of daily objects, industrial design, and graphics designed in the USSR during those years, brings to life the lifestyle of the people in the Soviet Union. The themes, childhood and leisure, sports and public events, visual communication and packaging design, furniture and household products, precision engineering, and industrial production, constitute the material culture, demonstrating the spirit of consumer culture. The vocabulary, the functional approach to design showcase the strong influence that came from Europe, seen in cars, fashion, furniture, appliances and other forms of domestic design. But forget about the sculptural, organic, stylish design one would see in America or Italy during those decades, as it was all stripped down to its basic. A great showcase of the socialist agenda’s visual manifestation.
