In light of the travel ban it is probably unlikely that any of you will be making a trip to Russia in the next few months. It is also improbable that most readers of The Daily Heller speak Russian (although I know a few of you do). But on the off chance that either you are traveling to Moscow or fluent in the lingo, there are two opportunities to learn more about the rich legacy of Russian industrial design from the Soviet era to the current period at the Moscow Design Museum. The first is the exhibition “Peace! Friendship! Design! The History of Russian Industrial Design” (on view through March 29). And then there’s a four-part series of videos (in Russian only) on YouTube—the first film project in Russia covering the 100-year history of the development of Russian design. Each installment—“Avant-garde,” “VNIITE,” “Design in the USSR” and “Contemporary Design”—explores the processes that were taking place in the professional field during the periods of constructivism (1917–1935), developed socialism (1950–1980) and modernity (1990–2017) and their results, which affected the world of objects both in Russia and abroad. The film uses unique archival photo and exhibition projects, models, prototypes and drawings from the museum’s collection, such as these items below.
PRINT is back. And soon, we’ll be relaunching with an all-new look, all-new content and a fresh outlook for the future. Stay tuned.