Objective Russian/Soviet avant-garde of the 1920s is broadly recognized to have been an integral part of the European avant-garde and Russia’s first truly original contribution to world culture. In contrast, Soviet art and design of the post-war period is often dismissed by general public as propaganda, hack-work and shameful plagiarism that resulted in a uniform and shabby world of commodities. Thanks to a growing body of scholarship on Soviet design, as well as to a recent work of enthusiastic Russian curators who organized Moscow design museum, a positive narrative of Soviet design have begun to emerge. In particular, the genealogical connection between Russian avant-garde and late Soviet design is generally noticed by scholars. However, the concrete ways of translating the avant-garde’s ideas into late socialist design and commodity production have received relatively small attention. This research project takes avant-garde’s legacy as a key link between post-war Soviet and Western, in particular Scandinavian, design. It addresses the question of temporal and cross-European design connections by focusing on a “socialist object.” The latter is considered both as a reference to the avant-garde precedent and a concept useful for reaching beyond the standard narrative of Soviet design as a poor imitation of Western models. By relying on archival and published sources I will analyze the transition of objects through different settings – designers’ desks and workshops, artistic and technical councils, factory floors, department stores and people’s homes. My research will present a complex history of Soviet design as a second Russian avant-garde and as a part of post-war European development of visual and material culture. Thus it will provide the historical background for the current Russian designers' search for interconnection with European design schools and trends. Fields of science social scienceseducational sciencesdidacticssocial scienceseducational sciencespedagogynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologysocial sciencessociologyideologieshumanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorycontemporary history Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2015-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2015 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator AARHUS UNIVERSITET Net EU contribution € 200 194,80 Address NORDRE RINGGADE 1 8000 Aarhus C Denmark See on map Region Danmark Midtjylland Østjylland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 200 194,80
