The exhibition focuses on the scale of the movement of Russian artists in the eastern direction and their contribution to the development of modernist art. Among the exhibits are rare works by such outstanding masters as Pavel Kuznetsov, Beatrice Sandomirskaya, Alexander Volkov, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Alexander Samoxvalov, Mikhail Kurzin, and many others.

The basis of the exhibition is the largest collection of works of art of oriental themes, formed in the funds of the Tretyakov Gallery and presented for the first time in such a large format.

A separate section of the exposition is dedicated to the works of artists who found themselves in the republics of Central Asia during the evacuation period during the Great Patriotic War.