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Sign upExhibition-festival "I.C.R.A." (Ideas of creative development of the Amur River) within the framework of the project "It's all about fish"
Organizers: Khabarovsk Krai Museum named after N.I. Grodekov, Association of Museums of Khabarovsk Krai
Partners: Salon Studio "Wings", Design Studio "Aritek", company "Watercolor Souvenirs", Far Eastern Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nikolayevsky Local History Museum named after Komsomolsk. Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nikolayevsky Museum of Local Lore named after V.E. Rozov, Far Eastern Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts of the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. V.E. Rozov Museum of Local Lore, Amur City Museum of Local Lore, N.G. Evseev Bikinsky Museum of Local Lore, Nanai District Museum of Local Lore.
Author and project manager: Daria Petrushkina
The exhibition-festival "I.K.R.A." - is the final stage of a large project of the Association of Museums of Khabarovsk Krai and Grodekovo Museum "It's All About Fish". The project had a large-scale goal - to create a new local brand based on the museum's ethnographic collections. The curators and experts included designers, fashion designers, architects, heads of studios, leading specialists of museums of the region, representatives of creative industries and business. Participants are beginners and established designers and artists. Project-collaboration, project-experiment. As a "business card" was chosen the image of Pisces in its broad understanding of historicity and spiritual culture of the region.
The first stage on the way to the exhibition was the creation and work of the Museum Design Laboratory - a seven-month course of theoretical and practical meetings with experts from the museum community and creative business. The residents of the laboratory have worked with collections in the museum's holdings, lectures by leading ethnographers, designers, fashion history specialists, meetings with bearers of traditional culture, workshops with experts in the field of object design, and excursions to production facilities. For those creators who were at the beginning of their journey, it was very important to talk to artists and authors who have long realized their ideas and are prominent figures in the creative and business space of the Far East. Such meetings are a real motivation and a lot of practical advice in different design directions. Some residents came to the project with the purpose of working on ready-made ideas and finding partners. Discussions and brainstorms helped to "finalize" the ideas, to decide on the direction of work. The residents evaluated the possibilities of Khabarovsk workshops, the specifics of working with different materials, discussed with craftsmen and business representatives the issues of production costs, ways to enter the market, etc. The residents came to the project to work out ready-made ideas, find partners.
The next stage is to finalize and evaluate the projects of the Lab residents. In March, the first presentation of future projects for mentors and supervisors of the Laboratory was held in the format of portfolio-review. The authors presented finished samples or sketches, explained the concepts. Each participant had an opportunity to discuss the idea with all the experts, receive comments, suggestions for improvement, etc. By May, a traveling exhibition-presentation of projects and ideas of our residents was created and voting was launched. Reaching a wide audience was ensured thanks to participation in city and regional events - "AmurFest" "Youth Day", Exhibition of Achievements of Khabarovsk Krai and Tourism Forum. In addition, the exhibition was presented at Khabarovsk Airport and was also included in the program of the Creative Industries Forum "Created in the Far East". In addition to tablets with residents' projects, the exhibition included items from the Grodekovsky Museum collection (a source of inspiration) and objects created by the participants (the result of their work). Thus, in a few months we held a series of presentation meetings with potential buyers, customers, investors and partners, studied their opinion through questionnaires and voting, including online, and studied the opinion of 2,200 people.
At the exhibition-festival "I.C.R.A." (Ideas of Creative Development of Amur) presented 19 projects of the Laboratory residents selected by the audience and curators, as well as two projects of partners - the salon-studio "Krylia" and the design studio "Arhitek". The objects of the show: jewelry, souvenirs, interior design items, clothes with author's prints and embroidery, textiles, ceramic tableware, sports equipment, etc. The authors have combined original ornament and elements of modern design, traditional and new practical materials. Each product combines relevance, convenience and recognizable Far Eastern flavor. Some postcards, shopping bags, key chains, T-shirts and jewelry are already sold in souvenir stores of the city, confirming the demand for author's gifts with ethical motives among residents and guests of the region. Several showcases of the exhibition also contain ethnographic collections from partner museums as a source of inspiration for the project participants.
During three months, the exhibition will feature master classes and lectures by curators, residents and experts of the project, excursions, round tables and meetings, and fashion shows. The promotional exhibition of the project will go on tour and will be presented in the halls of partner museums.
