The poster, as a historical document, with all its limitations, is a palpable witness to social changes. We can say that we are witnessing the revival of the artistic poster with a political theme. Direct expression through the use of well-known symbols (the hammer and sickle, the red star, the church steeple or the flag), placed in a different context, emphasizes the mobilizing, propaganda character of the transmitted message.
15 March 1988 opens the series of protests that took place in the capital of Hungary during this period. The crowd (approximately 15-20,000 people) chanted slogans for the freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and democracy for the first time. It was followed by the demonstrations against the construction of the Hungarian-Czechoslovak hydroelectric plant on the Danube: 27 May 1988, 12 September 1988, 30 October 1988, the demonstration against the plan to systematize villages in the Socialist Republic of Romania 27 June 1988, the commemoration of 30 years since the execution of Imre Nagy 23 October 1988, "That's enough 1945-1989", 15 March 15 1989, "Long Live Free China", 7 June 1989, "Symbolic Reburial of Imre Nagy and the Martyrs of the 1956 Revolution, 16 June 1989, Pan-European Picnic, 19 August 1989 , "Prague 1968", January - August 1989, "The first 23 October free", 23 October 1989, and "Timișoara we are with you", 22 December 1989.
The series of protests, demonstrations, gatherings that are no longer dispersed by the police, which have more than just an observer role, it makes the period of political-economic transition a peaceful one. The period 1988-1990 is the period in which Hungary also redefines its past, its history. After March 15, 1989, the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party gradually lost its informational monopoly. The diversity of opinion appears openly, first of all the non-acceptance of the path of the so-called "democratic socialism" the desire to achieve a genuine pluralistic political system, a guarantee of constitutional democracy.
The 40 exhibited works are part of the historical poster collection of the Hungarian National Museum and are presented to the public as a result of the cooperation with the Revolution Memorial in Timișoara. A well-composed poster, by its very nature, needs no further explanation. The passage of time calls for a clarifying sentence or two in places to help put it in context. The works signed by Péter Pócs, István Orosz, Sándor Pinczehelyi, György Kara or Krysztof Ducki became over time a real symbol of those years, becoming on the one hand real shapers of public opinion through their clear and cutting message, on the other hand through their aesthetic value gave a new impetus to the Hungarian poster art school of today.