This article addresses the history of the All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft-Industrial Exhibition as an essential event in the scientific-technical development of the USSR in the 1920s. The focus of the article is on the regional expositions of the Exhibition. The Bolshevik leaders launched the Exhibition as a tool for modernisation of the Soviet Russia: the aim was to demonstrate the achievements and plans in agricultural sciences and technologies, in the exploration of natural resources, and in the development of all kinds of agricultural-industrial cooperation. After the creation of the Soviet Union in December 1922, an additional mission was imposed on the Exhibition – to perform a “parade of united sovietised republics and regions”. Along with accenting the nationwide discourse of “unification,” the Exhibition had to demonstrate the unique identity of the territories of the USSSR. The Chief Exhibition Committee in Moscow in collaboration with the local committees elaborated general regulations and patterns for territorial expositions, which included national/union republics, and autonomous republics and regions of the USSR. The architectural design of the pavilions was to become an important part of the territory’s image.

The focus of this article is on the pavilions of union and autonomous republics and regions: Ukraine, Far East region, Turkestan, and others, which demonstrated both the historical traditions and innovative developments of the region. By studying the content of the exposition and the artistic image of the pavilion, we expect to reveal the cultural and technological presentation of the region, as well as the propaganda messages imposed by the organizers of the Exhibition.

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