Exhibition: Come With Us

Introducing the poster exhibition Come With Us, dedicated to a truly powerful medium — Central and Eastern European street posters from around 1990. In the four decades after World War II, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe – hereunder named CEE – that remained east of the Iron Curtain came under the influence of the Soviet Union. Fascinating historical research has been conducted on the timing of regime change in each country and the historic transformation that began in the 1980s when these countries finally broke free from the oppressive communist party-state system to become democratic, pluralist republics. While the start of regime change may have differed from country to country, in most of the CEE countries the first free, multi-party parliamentary elections in 1990 marked a clear historical milestone. Perhaps no other artistic form captured the radical political turn of the late 20th century as directly, as vividly, or as accessibly as these posters. They were not merely designs on paper; they were declarations of freedom. They were the first signs that something fundamental had shifted — that the citizens of Central and Eastern Europe had regained not just their right to speak freely, but their right to claim their streets, their cities, and their futures. The street poster became the voice of CEE societies emerging from enforced silence. These works symbolized more than just protest or political messaging — they represented ownership of the public space by the people, for the people. With clarity, courage, and creativity, these posters transformed familiar walls and streets into places of dialogue, confrontation, humour and hope. This exhibition is co-organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in the United Kingdom (EPLO UK) and the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre London, with the support of the European Union National Institutes for Culture London (EUNIC) and the contribution of its Members: the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria London, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to the UK, the Czech Centre London, the Embassy of Estonia in London, the Goethe-Institut London, the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Kingdom and the Lithuanian Culture Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute in London, the Slovak Institute in London and the Embassy of Slovenia in London