With the project "In the Name of Craft" the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum opens up a space for a dialogue by posing the questions - what should the crafts be today and what else should be done "in the name of Craft"? For the first time, the exhibition presents crafts as a collection of jewellery. Each of the selected items is a legend, they have never been shown together. It is a competition of the strongest, beauty and splendour of equals. According to the Museum’s Director Elena Titova: "The exhibition is designed to show that the crafts in the 20th century are a deep tradition, embodied in the work of individual masters and research scientists who raised the crafts to the level of national art".
The exhibition will surprise. Recognisable and long-loved Khokhloma, Gzhel, Vologda lace, Rostov finift and Zhostovo painting will reveal their new sides. For the first time the little-known but no less colourful Shemogodskaya birch bark, Nizhny Tagil tray painting, Bournukovsky stone and Mikhailovsky lace will become available the public.
We will show an amazing combination of seemingly distant traditions and regions. The whole Russia will appear before us as one integral composition. Pavlov Posadskiy shawl will come next to Kursk carpet, you will see a bright interchange of glass from Gus-Khrustalny with Yakutsk bone, Untsukul incision with Rostov finift. The exhibition "In the Name of Craft" is a montage of modern ideas, a new look at the art crafts, which can contribute to their development today.
The exhibition presents the best examples of the 1920-1980s, chosen from the collection of our museum, which is the successor of the Moscow Crafts Museum and the Research Institute of the Art Industry (NIIChP).
You will see works by Ivan Ivanovich Golikov, the founder of the Palekh lacquer miniature, Parfen Parfenovich Chernikovitch, the founder of the bone-carving trade in the village of Varnavino, Anna Antonovna Korableva, a lace artist, and incredibly beautiful sketches for the works of many famous masters, which have never been shown to the public before.
"This exhibition gave me an opportunity to look at familiar objects in a new way. I was struck by how much all those arts and crafts objects are connected to nature, its smells, the density of clay, the density of wood. Hence there came the curatorial decision to divide crafts by materials. It seems that these forms were invented not by one person, but by all the people who lived together and were part of a single cycle of nature, which gave birth to their art", - said the curator of the exhibition Nina Gomiashvili.
An extensive programme has also been prepared for the exhibition:
/ Excursion "Folk Arts Crafts of Russia" by appointment
/ Combined tours of the exhibition:
/ February 22 at 19:30
/ A cycle of lectures "The Keeper Speaks"
"Golden embroidery of Torzhok. Krestetskaya stitch" 25 January at 19:00
/ Lectures with invited experts
/ Cycle of interactive programmes "Secrets of Craftsmanship" by appointment:
From Zhostovo to Kubachi. Art metal
From Gzheli to Balkhar. Ceramic Art
From Vologda to Kursk. Art textile
From Kholmogory to Chukotka. Bone-carving art of Russia
From Khokhloma to Veliky Ustyug. Artistic carving and painting on wood