WORLD COSTUME DESIGN 2019

This project is generously sponsored by Russia’s oldest and most significant theatre museum, the A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum in Moscow.  

The museum was founded October 29th, 1894 by Moscow industrialist, prominent public figure, philanthropist,  and famous patron of Russian theatre arts, Alexey Alexandrovich Bakhrushin (1865 – 1929).  

Today,  in addition  to the  main  campus  of the  museum,  which  is the former residence of A.A. Bakhrushin, the museum maintains eleven branches located in Moscow, a representative office in Ulyanovsk, and a historical manor in Zaraysk, the birthplace of Alexey Bakhrushin.  

The collection at the Bakhrushin  Museum is one of the most valuable collections of theatre arts in Russia. It’s contains 1.5 million historical artifacts  that  includes  letters  of  significant  theatrical  figures,  actors, opera  singers,  ballet  dancers,  directors,  and  art  critics,  as  well  as original  manuscripts  of playwrights  and rare editions  of books about theater and decorative and applied arts.  

The museum collects, preserves, and exhibits original renderings, paintings, costumes, props, and set designs of Russian theatre heritage of the 19th century, as well as unique work by well known artists of the early   twentieth    century,   such   as   Alexandra    Exter,   Leon   Bakst, Alexander  Golovin,  and  Nicholas  Roerich.  This  unique  collection  also contains  work  of  many  outstanding  theatre  designers  of  the  20th  and 21st  century,  from  around  the  world  and  includes  the  artwork  of Russian Theatre Avant-garde artists.  

We wish to acknowledge the co-sponsorship of The International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT) and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), which connects performing arts design and technology communities to ensure a vibrant dialog among practitioners, educators, and students.

USITT will provide support in the form of travel grants to travel to the exhibition in Moscow, for emerging costume designers whose work is curated from the United States.