On December 23, 2016 the Russian State Library (RSL) opened Ivanovsky hall by the exhibition “The book in the eyes of the designer”. The library continued its movement from the classical library to the cultural center, to the area, where you can enjoy not only reading, but also to spend free time in other forms of cultural activities. In the future, the exhibition in the Ivanovsky hall will be held on a regular basis.
Ivanovsky hall was opened in 1915 as the temporary art gallery of the Rumyantsev Museum in a separate building next to the Pashkov house. From the library of this museum the history begins of the modern Russian State Library. The Hall was named Ivanovsky later – in 1926, when in place of a temporary art gallery Book museum was placed, and of the paintings it remained only a picture of Alexander Ivanov “The Appearance of Christ to the people”, the other works had already been transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery at that time. Exactly in his honor the Hall was named.” The modern Ivanovsky hall appeared on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and it is the result of reconstruction on the foundation of the old building. The first floor of the new hall will be fully used for exhibitions, and on the second floor, in addition to the exhibition space, there is a small reading room.
At the exhibition, viewers will see 50 rare books from the collection of the RSL, selected by leading designers of the book, and their own works. On the information plate near each exhibit its story is told, andthere is a short interview with the designer, where he talks about the reasons for his choice. In the preparation of the exhibition was attended by the keepers of library funds and 14 designers – Dmitry Mordvintsev, Maxim Rodin, Nikolai Kalinin, Anatoly Gusev, Alexander Konoplev, Yuri Surkov, Boris Trofimov, Anna Naumova, Kirill Blagodatskikh, Natalia Agapova, Igor Gurovich, Evgeny Korneev, Irina Chekmareva and Andrew Shelyutto.
Books are presented in different languages – Japanese, English, French, Latin, Turkish, Chinese and others. The earliest of the books, which are presented at the exhibition, was printed in 1495 in Lyon – it is incunabula “The sixth book of Decretals” (papal epistles with church-legal content). The most recent are dated by the middle of the XX century – anti-play Eugène Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano”, Paris, 1964.
It can be seennthe works of Chinese military literature – “The most important collection of canons of the military,” Junsu Wujin, China, between 1488 and 1644, and the first edition of the Bible printed in multilingual edition – “Biblia Polyglotta Complutense”, 1517, and propaganda books of the Soviet era – “The Industry of socialism” of the work of El Lissitzky, 1935. The exhibition covers a wide layer of world culture and books’ art.
The exposition will be opened until March 24, 2017 at the address Vozdvizhenka street, 3/5,building 7, entrance from the Starovagankovsky lane.
Source: Russian State Library
