Yesterday, the TASS press center announced a project for the exposition of the Russian pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture. However, according to the tradition of this kind of announcements, the journalists were told a little about the actual design and content of the exposition. Theme - 'V. D. N. H. Urban Phenomenon ', was known before the press conference; something, however, has cleared up.
The VDNKh ensemble as the main theme was proposed by Semyon Mikhailovsky, rector of the St. I. E. Repin and the Commissioner of the Venetian Pavilion of Russia since 2014. According to Mikhailovsky, he pondered the idea of the exhibition for a long time, and there were many options: from showing one architectural bureau with projects on a socially significant topic to some maximally politically correct direction corresponding to the general theme of the biennale "Reporting from the front line" proposed by the exhibition curator Alejandro Aravena. The history of VDNKh seemed to be a plot related to changes in the country in general and in architecture in particular.
The chief architect of Moscow, curator of the exposition Sergei Kuznetsov shared his thoughts on the topic: “The ideology of modern architecture no longer speaks about design and style, it touches on the political, social and economic aspects. Therefore, VDNKh is well suited not only to the theme of the Biennale, but also to the curator himself - Alejandro Aravena, this year's Pritzker laureate. The exhibition complex is little known abroad. But when he is seen by experts like Aravena, they are delighted. VDNKh today is an illustration of how the tools of urbanism, architecture and culture can be used to fight for an audience. " According to the chief architect, today VDNKh is experiencing a "renaissance" after the serious decline of the nineties, when all the original functions were replaced by simple "consumer pleasures" - fast food, trade and attractions. But the main exhibition of the country was created as a model of an ideal world, uniting people at different social levels, - emphasized Sergei Kuznetsov.
Ekaterina Pronicheva, VDNKh General Director, co-curator of the Russian exposition at the Biennale, spoke about how VDNKh is changing now. According to her, in 2014, when the city received this territory under management, the question of its use arose sharply. The development concept is based on the experience of the Moscow government in creating public spaces. VDNKh was conceived as a showcase for a large country. And today there is an expectation of the implementation of this plan. The best practices that can be shown are cultural practices. Therefore, in accordance with the plan for the development of the territory, it is planned to museify the pavilions and create cultural centers, - explained Pronicheva. "The work has just begun, but the focus is on research, interaction and dialogue with citizens, architects and urbanists." So VDNKh is becoming a platform for dialogue, a kind of forum.
The Biennale exposition is also conceived as a forum for the professional community. The two floors of the Russian pavilion, linked by a common trajectory of movement “from darkness to light,” as Semyon Mikhailovsky defined it, will house three key sections that will cover the past, present and future of VDNKh. The section dedicated to the history of the exhibition complex will present artifacts of the Soviet era, tell about the true masterpieces of architecture on the territory of the complex, their creation and fate. Most of the exhibition will be devoted to the modern VDNKh, which, according to the organizers, has already turned into an urban cultural and educational laboratory. According to Sergei Kuznetsov, inside it "new urban meanings are invented, sought out and tested, which are then transferred to the scale of the city."The main changes that the exhibition and park complex is undergoing will be reflected in a large-scale video installation. As for the future, a separate part of the exposition, turned into an experimental platform for dialogue, will help to look into it.
The Russian pavilion, built in 1914 by Alexei Shchusev, and became a two-story somewhat compulsorily after the Soviet reconstruction, was originally intended to display large-scale paintings. Perhaps that is why now the Russian pavilion has decided to return to the traditional forms of art, painting and sculpture. Diligently preserving the intrigue, the organizers nevertheless made a reservation that the works of talented students of Moscow Architectural Institute, the Repin Academy of Arts and other universities will be presented in the halls of the pavilion. A large team of artists, sculptors and architects is working on the creation of the exposition. Among other things, a serious multimedia program is promised.
As a reminder, the Venice Architecture Biennale kicks off on May 28. Upon completion of the exhibition, the exposition of the Russian pavilion is planned to be transported to one of the pavilions of VDNKh.
