ARTEL LABORATORY. TRADITIONAL ART AND CONTEMPORARY ART PRACTICES

The All-Russian Decorative Art Museum presents the exhibition "ARTel Laboratory. Traditional Art and Contemporary Artistic Practices"—the culmination of a major research, educational, and creative project. The laboratory brought together the expert and artistic community. The mentors included faculty from the Stroganov Academy, as well as contemporary artists working with folk and traditional decorative arts—Irina Korina, Ustina Yakovleva, Ulyana Podkorytova, Anna Butina, and Dmitry Chekuchinov.

The ARTel Laboratory presents methods of treating and addressing the folk art,based on the experience of the Scientific Research Institute of Art Industry (NIIHP). During the Soviet era (1932-1997), the Institute was a center for the development of crafts and artistic production, preserving, reviving, and creatively relaunching many industries, developing an effective model for updating tradition. Today, the Institute's archive is housed in the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum.

Over the course of a year, the participants researched archival materials and museum collections, conducted expeditions to various regional craft centers, and worked with factory artisans. The results were examples of ceramics, wood, glass, textiles, and even carved bone, developed within the age-old artistic canon but contemporary in their aesthetic.

The project's partners are: the Gus Crystal Factory named after Akim Maltsov, the Dulevo Porcelain Factory, the Sysert Porcelain Factory, the Yeletskie Lace, Shuyskie Sitsy, and Vyatskie Uzory factories, the contemporary designer furniture, decor, and accessories brand Uklad, the designer furniture brand Lulu'space, and the designer lighting brand TM Studio. Also the participants turned to some disappearing craft traditions: like Mikhailovsky lace from the Ryazan region or Karachun ceramics from the Voronezh region.

At the final exhibition, the visitors will see vases made using the diamond-cut technique, furniture with images of northern house painting, a tablecloth-panel assembled from Yelets lace and embroidery, a floor lamp inspired by a peasant candlestick, and porcelain dishes made in the tradition of Northern Ural painting. They will also see objects by Irina Korina and Olga Bozhko, created at the Dulevo Porcelain Factory, a textile capsule with Vyatka embroidery by Ustina Yakovleva, recognizable wooden pieces by Dmitry Chekuchinov, and vases by Anna Butina.

The "ARTel. Traditional Art and Contemporary Artistic Practices" project is being implemented by the winner of the "Museum 4.0." competition, part of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation's "Museum Without Borders" charity program.