General Director Statement:

Moscow 2019

                 The title of our project, "Innovative Costume of the XXI Century: the Next Generation" may seem too avant-garde for the artistic search industry. The term "innovation" is customary for a market economy. This is how a new or significantly improved product or process, a new sales or a new organizational method in business practice, workplace organization  is defined. Innovative development today is becoming one of the determining factors of national success of the economic strategy all over the world.

               What is innovation in art? In other words, something new or updated thanks to the earlier achievements? Actually, the whole history of art is a dynamic update of the aesthetics of styles and genres. Even when it seems that the new completely denies the previous, in fact, any avant-garde is invisibly connected with the art of the past. So, this is a constant movement: "Innovatio" — "towards change". It turns out that innovation and art are inseparable.

              Theatre costume, in particular, and the costume in a wider context in the field of performing arts is the focus of our project. How do young artists who have actively entered the profession in the last ten to fifteen years, reflect the changes in our life, wherever they occur? This reaction is extremely important for all of us to understand the global mental shifts in the social and cultural space of the new century and the millennium of human civilization.

           An amazing panorama of images arises in the works of artists represented at the exhibition, connecting an inventive and exquisite form with bright, colorful and sensual context. You can see how problems common for artists from different countries unite them in their work, how an artistic search leads some of them to natural forms, others to abstract constructions. The creative palette of this artistic movement is the least quiet and calm water surface. On the contrary, one wave rises above another, and it seems that somewhere near is the culmination of the tenth wave, beyond which a new harmony of our being can arise.

           I am sincerely grateful to Igor Roussanoff and Susan Tsu for this fascinating journey, which, thanks to their patience, endurance and intuition, is successfully completed. The project could hardly have taken place on such a scale without the active participation of regional curators and employees of the Bakhrushin and Historical museums.

         The important contribution to the project was the support of OISTAT (International Organization of Scenographers Theatre Architects and Technicians), USITT (United States Institute of Theatre Technology) USA, CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) USA, NACTA (National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts) China, TATT (Taiwan Association of Theater Technology) Taiwan and Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland.

         Uniting around the project of many creative people and organizations can certainly be considered our joint achievement. And most importantly, the audience will see the work of young artists and will be able to experience the joy of empathy in search of beauty and truth, both in art and in life.

          Dmitry Rodionov, General Director of the A.A. Bakhrushin Theatre Museum., Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Head of the Project, PhD in Art History 

Conference Founders

Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum 

State Historical Museum

OISTAT (International Organization of Scenographers Theatre Architects and Technicians), USITT (United States Institute of Theatre Technology) USA,

CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) USA,

NACTA (National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts) China,

TATT (Taiwan Association of Theatre Technology) Taiwan and Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland

Conference Organizing Committee

Dmitry V. Rodionov - Chairman of the Organizing Committee, General Director of the A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, PhD in Art History 

Members of the Organizing Committee

Igor Roussanoff - Professor of Costume Design, Costume Designer, the Artistic Director of the project (USA)

Susan Tsu - Professor at Carnegie Mellon University (USA), Costume Designer, Chief Curator (USA)

Bakanova Irina Viktorovna – A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Deputy director for scientific activity, professor of the Russian State Humanitarian University, PhD in philology, the scientific coordinator of the symposium 

Dilya Rudenko - A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, the Head of the International Department, PhD in philology 

Gamula Irina Petrovna - A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, the Scientific Secretary 

Yusuf Angelika Georgievna - A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, the Head of the Public Relations Department