Know how to rest 1973

Know How to Rest! is a Soviet propaganda poster created in 1973 by Vasily I. Ostrovskiy and Miron V. Lukyanov. The design centers on three oversized playing cards at the top, each showing a wholesome leisure activity—one depicts a skier with gear, another a person reading, and the third a woman playing the violin: each card is marked with a sun symbol to emphasize vitality. From those cards a dark cascade of traditional playing-card imagery, suits and an upside-down king—falls downward in silhouette, representing discarded gambling and destructive pastimes. The visual idea is that the old, vice-laden images have been knocked loose and replaced by constructive activities, urging citizens to choose restorative, enriching leisure. Bold, simplified shapes and strong contrast between the colorful, sunlit card faces and the shadowy falling cards make the moral choice immediate and easy to read at a glance. Produced as part of a 1970s Soviet effort to promote active tourism and cultured pastime, Know How to Rest! argues that true rest is a skill that should build health, culture, and social good rather than lead to vice.