Cultural Processes of “Time of Perestroika and Glasnost”

This article analyses artistic phenomena in the period of «perestroika and glasnost» (1985–1999) and reveals the question of the main problems in that historical period. In the period of «perestroika and glasnost» in the cultural industry, the process of «information saturation» acquired the character of filling in «white spots». The forbidden and forgotten works, «works from the box», start mass-publishing, «films from the shelf» come to film distribution, numerous «books from a special fund» return to library subscriptions. Works that previously appeared only in samizdat are reprinted, phenomena recognized by the Soviet regime as «undesirable», «alien», or even «hostile» are returned to art – from both the ideological and purely artistic sides. The fall of the Iron Curtain played a major role in the rapid disintegration of the official quasi-communist ideology. Information - the most devastating weapon - destroyed the «wall», which passed through the feelings and opinions of people. Information on the real state of things outside the USSR «leaked out» through various channels. Previously blocked truthful information gushed out in full flow both from external and internal sources quickly acquiring the size of the «critical mass», starting an uncontrollable «chain reaction», which led to «information explosion». This «explosion» transformed - not to say deformed - the public consciousness, people acquired the opportunity to know everything about themselves and their history, and the process of «information saturation» began in the culture and art industry.