Windows on the Victory
from 23 April 2015 to 25 October 2015
Okna TASS (the TASS Windows) posters from the collection of the State Museum of the History of St Petersburg
TASS is the acronym for the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union – the central news bureau. When Nazi Germany invaded Soviet Russia on June 22, 1941, a group of artists assembled with the goal to wage war on the Nazis with biting satirical imagery and bolster the morale of the Red Army and civilians with uplifting and spirited depictions of its successes.
More than 500 original posters Okna TASS, 1941-1945, are preserved in the collection of the State Museum of the History of St Petersburg. These posters, based on the Sovinformburo reports, had been issued in Moscow and Leningrad throughout the entire war period. They were displayed in the streets (on the walls, fences, in the empty shop windows, etc.) and sent to the frontline. In Leningrad the main stand of the Okna TASS was displayed in the large window of the Eliseevsky shop.
All posters were made manually and copied with stencils, using gouache and tempera. This was a collaborative work of artist and poets, which in most cases resulted in satirical cartoons.
The exhibition at the Rumyantsev mansion shows over 60 posters: Okna Tass issued in Leningrad and Moscow.
Free admission
