ROSTA windows of satire (or Windows of ROSTA) is a striking example of early 20th-century art set within the context of socio-political and cultural reality. The Windows emerged during the Civil War and combined the principles of Constructivism, literature, fine art, advertising, and satire, creating a new language for communicating with the public. These agitational, topical posters provided people with the latest news in an accessible language and served as a form of social advertising. They were displayed in empty shop windows (hence ‘windows’) and were updated weekly. A significant number of these posters were conceived and created by Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Today, the Windows can be seen as an artistic space of memes, deeply embedded in mass consciousness. The posters were designed and functioned according to the principles of modern mass media, using methods to influence the viewer's perception: colourful and striking images, relevant topics, clear language, and interaction through play and humour. Through those, Vladimir Mayakovsky brilliantly expressed the role of the artist in the new era: a generator of creative ideas, an author, and a producer. The poet created 'memes' — a new, simple, and direct language to explain the rapidly changing world — and ultimately became a meme himself, a symbol of Soviet ideology and a symbolic image of postmodernism.

The exhibition features over 170 items from 14 museums and private collections, including the Mayakovsky State Museum, the MIRA Collection, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art, and the Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova Archives, as well as the Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum, the State Public Historical Library of Russia, the Dal State Museum of the History of Russian Literature, the Andrey Khlobystin Collection, and others.

The highlight of the exhibition is Windows of ROSTA — more than 100 original posters created by Mayakovsky. The exhibition also includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, photographs, luboks, posters, books, newspapers, fragments of films and theatrical performances, and audio recordings of Mayakovsky's poems.

The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections: Image, Method, Windows of ROSTA, Myth, and Club of Mayakovsky's Friends. In the Image section, visitors can learn about the poet from the first-person perspective and see him through the eyes of his contemporaries, through photographs, cartoons, notes, and autobiographical texts. The Method section explores the layers of artistic culture that influenced the poster art created by Mayakovsky. The Windows of ROSTA section features the works themselves, the Windows, which can be seen as a precursor to modern memes. The Myth section examines how Mayakovsky was transformed into a Soviet myth and meme, while the Club of Mayakovsky's Friends focuses on the rethinking of the poet's work and figure in contemporary art.

The Club of Mayakovsky's Friends features works by Timur Novikov, Georgy Guryanov, Andrey Khlobystin, and Denis Yegelsky, members of the eponymous club established in 1986 with the aim of reclaiming the avant-garde. The section also includes works by contemporary artists, including Moscow illustrator Anton Gudim, known for his short, ironic web comics about everyday reality, who created five new comics especially for the exhibition.

The exhibition also features the Meme-Lab, where visitors can engage with the artistic language and methods of poster art to create their own ‘window’.

Curators: Polina Streltsova, Natalia Strizhkova, Gayane Arutyunyan.

Exhibition architecture: Tikhaya Studio, Ioann Dikov, Margarita Dikova.