The III All-Russian architectural festival Best Interior Festival will be held from 11 to 13 November in Gostiny Dvor. The theme chosen as the leitmotif of the upcoming event was Variability - an incessant transformation and sustainable impermanence inherent in our entire life and interior art in particular, especially recently. As the curatorial manifesto says, "The wind of change is so strong that Mutability is becoming almost the only constant of our time."
To understand in more detail the reasons for the lability of the modern world, as well as to try to comprehend the deep meanings inherent in the curatorial message, we were helped by its author Maria Romanova.
Why was Variability chosen as the theme of the festival, and what do you, as a curator, mean by this term?
The topic of "Variability" appeared long before the introduction of the self-isolation regime. It has to do with the fact that we have come to a certain turning point. Life changes its course: “analog” people are replaced by “digital” ones, which in one way or another is reflected in our thinking and way of life. Changes are taking place in all areas and it is impossible not to react to them.
The interior space has also changed. Architecture and design have always answered the questions posed by society, both technically and aesthetically. A specialist must know the tastes of the end user, his desires, habits, lifestyle, therefore one of the main tasks of an architect, designer is to understand what changes are coming to society, and how to react to them in a timely manner.
Many people ask why Mutability and not Change. Variability is a characteristic, Change is a consequence. We settled on Mutability as one of the characteristic features of our fickle world.
What are the trends? Will the world continue to accelerate?
This is happening all the time, and the number of changes will grow exponentially. Another question - is it always necessary to follow them? How can one distinguish temporary trends and hobbies, such momentary impulses, from something more stable?
I really want us not to forget about balance and harmony, about the opportunity to be as flexible as possible. The paradox is that in this fast-paced time you can only survive by slowing down. Therefore, you should not be too categorical, chase something new, reject something at once; it is much more productive to observe, investigate, comprehend and only then act.
What role do architects play in this process?
We have a chance to become researchers and study this world every day. There is an opportunity to abandon professional snobbery (for those who are inherent in it) and understand that modern clients have a very high level of awareness. Finally, there is not even an opportunity, but the need to become for the end user that very guide that will help to weed out unnecessary information and understand the monstrous flow of imposed ready-made solutions and services.
Last year the festival was held in the House of Architects, this year there is a new site. What will change?
2019 was the Year of Theater, therefore, the focus of the exhibition program was reincarnation, - the transformation of space through meanings and scenarios, through interior art. This certainly gave the exposition a theatricality. Best Interior Festival 2019 was a chamber exhibition, and the historical spaces of the Architect's House helped to achieve this goal. However, this format did not allow to fully reveal the essence of the idea that BIF declares: “The Festival as a Study of the Interior Environment”.
Time has shown, and this is again about volatility, that the greatest demand is now not exhibition content, but interactive and business communications. The period of isolation demonstrated the enthusiasm with which people, forced to remain in a confined space, communicated virtually, exchanged ideas, found like-minded people, created and are still creating new digital products in various fields. Best Interior Festival is just such a platform for real communications. Any companies associated with the formation and filling of the interior environment will be able to find a place for themselves there.
Who do you see as participants in the event?
Our main audience remains the same: architectural bureaus, creative workshops, interior designers, decorators. We will be glad to see among the exhibitors the British School of Design, the Department of Environmental Design at the Moscow Architectural Institute, the Department of Artistic Interior Design and Industrial Design at Stroganovka, the University of Creative Industries, the International School of Design and many other colleagues who will choose the format of participation that suits them. It can be a collective conceptual exhibition, a manifesto exposition, a round table, a seminar, or a presentation. The choice is theirs, and we, in turn, are ready to help everyone find like-minded people and declare themselves in a new and interesting capacity.
As far as I know, during the spring and summer periods, many of these institutions have made a big breakthrough. We invite them to present their updated image and tell about the research carried out, the results achieved and the educational programs developed. Also, this invitation directly refers to profile portals and online magazines. It's a paradox, but the deeper and wider the online information field, the stronger the desire for offline communication. Everyone is tired of virtuality, people want personal meetings. And Best Interior Festival is a live platform for various groups of participants.
Of course, we invite communication agencies working with innovations, interior and architectural environment, sociologists, and marketers to cooperate. Of course, I would like to continue the communication with development companies, which we started during the lockdown.
This year, a number of autumn exhibitions were canceled, so Gostiny Dvor, where the BIF will be held, and the huge audience of Zodchestvo in addition, are weighty arguments in favor of participation for trade, manufacturing and construction and finishing companies that are striving to declare themselves on the market interiors. Without this group of participants, it is difficult to imagine a productive dialogue.
How will the concept of the festival be reflected in the exhibition, special projects, events and discussions?
Together with the organizer of the festival, the Union of Architects of Russia, we view the business program as an information and communication channel. Therefore, we offer different formats of participation and we will try to make the interaction as convenient and productive as possible. The festival presentation contains a whole section entitled “Time for each other is a new luxury”. I would like to focus on what we can give each other and why personal communication is so important for creativity.
As a curator, what kind of reaction do you expect from visitors? What, perhaps, do you want to make people think about, what idea to lead them to?
To answer this question, one must recall the Best Interior Festival 2019, which took place in the context of the art of designer interiors. The clearly defined theme "Contemporary theater of the interior", the direction set by the curator, as well as the space of the Central House of the Architect put the participants in a rather rigid framework. The open, permeable space of the Gostiny Dvor Atrium, where BIF 2020 will take place, will give us much more freedom of action. Interactivity will be everywhere. We want all participants and visitors to be maximally involved in the whirlpool of festival events, be it open discussion platforms, specialized seminars or spaces for communication.
As for the topic, this year we have outlined its problems much more broadly, inviting the participants to operate with the concept of Variability. We want everyone to feel this direction in their own way, to try to reveal the given topic, using different creative techniques and approaches. I have already said that we position BIF as a study of the interior environment and we want our participants to reveal themselves as much as possible in what they really need today, important and interesting.
Tell us about the reason for the unification of the BIF and Zodchestvo festivals on one site. How will they get along together?
They have already gotten along remarkably well in the past. After all, BIF arose as a continuation of the All-Russian architectural competition, the National Award "Best Interior", which was established by the Union of Architects of Russia in 2017 and was held as part of the Zodchestvo festival. And since 2018 it has already become an independent event. Zodchestvo has a long history, and the Best Interior Festival is only gaining momentum, its audience is still being formed, so this kind of association makes me very happy.
Interior design and architecture are just different scales, going from small to large. In both types of creativity, the most important thing is the realization that every square centimeter of space can change your life both for the better and for the worse. The theme of the Zodchestvo festival is Eternity. I didn't have a goal to contrast the themes of the two festivals, but it so happened that there is eternal, and there is changeable. It is no secret that interiors generally live less than buildings - their moral and physical aging occurs much faster, they are more often renewed and undergo the necessary transformations. Modern man so often changes his tastes and preferences that the interior has to be flexible and transformable. Architecture has always strived for eternity, every architect would like to leave a material mark for centuries. Nevertheless, both directions - both eternity and variability - are all about one big system. There are no contrasts, there are different speeds, different scales, different technologies. This is not the first time when the "heavy artillery" of architectural science and designers and decorators are combined on one site. I'm sure they'll find they speak the same language.
What will surprise the Best Interior Festival 2020?
Our main task is to convey to the audience that at the BIF site everyone will be able to find a new vector for their development, catch an interesting message, discover an unexpected course in the usual course of events … All this is provided by cooperation with the Union of Architects, cooperation with the creative professional community. BIF is a festival for everyone. I really want a breakthrough, I want the incompatible to connect and give a new impetus to further development.
We argued for a long time whether to include the word "visionary" in the manifesto. This term has many ambiguous interpretations. For some it is mysticism and hallucinations, for me it is the ability to see perspective and generate ideas. Being one step ahead is visionary. Therefore, in addition to the usual competition for the best interiors, we are now doing a new concept competition and have already developed themes for it.
We have a unique chance to predict what else will change and what is already completely outdated. Think about how we can continue to exist in the new realities, and how the next changes will turn out. This is what we want to talk to architects about, because they are the ones who are able to give creative non-standard proposals. We invite sociologists, developers, urban activists, various communication agencies to participate in the competition of concepts, and we also invite them to formulate their themes that meet the goals and objectives of the festival.
It is important for us to show what visionary work is in the profession of an architect, and most importantly, to demonstrate that architecture and design is not only a technical answer to a given task. This is creativity and high aesthetics of space, the study of the environment and a thorough study of all its transformations.
