Abstract

Based on archival documents, the article shows the activities of avant-garde artists A. Labas and M. Plaksin at the First All-Belarusian Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition, which was held in Minsk in 1930. Such exhibitions in the 1920s and 1930s served not only an economic function, but were also a visual agitation of the broad masses in the correctness of the course chosen by the authorities, to give an idea of the imminent bright communist future. Therefore, much attention was paid to their architectural and artistic design. The First All-Belarusian Exhibition was one of the most representative and large-scale exhibitions not only in the BSSR, but also on the scale of the entire Soviet Union. For its design, the authorities involved not only Belarusian artists, but also masters from Moscow and Leningrad, who created a number of interesting visual objects in the style of the artistic avant-garde. Among them, the works of A. Labas and M. Plaksin stand out. The artists decorated the interiors and exteriors of the pavilion of mechanization and electrification of agriculture, made a series art objects that were supposed to promote the technical component of collectivization. A. Labas and M. Plaksin created two kinetic sculptures for the pavilion, which were unique art objects in the history of Belarusian monumental art.