Trying on an image

A unique project “Theatrical costume at the turn of the century. 1990-2015"

On June 15, to the sound of a downpour, in the old mansion of A.A. Bakhrushin, where the museum named after him is located, a vernissage took place, which offers a journey into the world of the art of theatrical costume, together with outstanding contemporary stage designers.

Participants of the exhibition call it extraordinary: for the first time under one roof they have collected all the most interesting things that have been created in the field of stage costume over the past quarter of a century. At the opening, the curator of the project, Igor Rusanoff, noted: “It is especially pleasing that the largest collection came from the United States, regardless of the political situation in the country.”

The exhibition occupied two floors of the main hall and the Carriage Shed, which exhibited more than 80 works, including sketches by David Borovsky and Oleg Sheintsis. All countries are mixed here: Uzbekistan, France, Taiwan, Ukraine, Japan, Finland, and the Russian sector is connected to the American one.

Museum director and project leader Dmitry Rodionov explained the decision: “We realized how great the need for participants in creative communication is, despite the boundaries. Therefore, according to the fantasy of the museum artist Vasilina Ovchinnikova, the main halls are connected by a kind of Mobius strip, confirming that the earthly distances between us are a conditional concept, and in order to get to another continent, you only need to take a couple of steps.”

The vernissage features 230 artists, about 1,500 sketches and original costumes, from 31 countries. In some halls you can see full-scale photographs (France), video projections (Russia) and other modern solutions. The uniqueness of the project lies not only in the number of participating countries, but also in the scope and diversity of artistic styles and technologies.

Serafima Bebutova