The first ROSIZO "Forma-Art" award took place at the National Centre RUSSIA

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The National Centre RUSSIA hosted the official ceremony of the ROSIZO "Forma-Art" industry award, dedicated to the development, curatorship, promotion, and architecture of museum and exposition projects. Winners were announced in twenty categories, reflecting various aspects of museum and exposition project creation — from architectural design and construction of exposition spaces to transportation of museum items and the production of original souvenir merchandise. Projects were evaluated by representatives of ROSIZO, leaders of the museum sector, renowned producers and set designers, as well as prominent cultural and public figures. The organisers received over 150 applications from all across Russia — from Kamchatka to Saint Petersburg.

Despite being held for the first time, "Forma-Art" generated significant interest, becoming one of the landmark events in the industry and bringing together, at one of the country’s top venues, talented nominees, leaders of the museum community, business partners, leading representatives of culture and the arts, and stars of theatre and cinema.

The informal and lively atmosphere of the evening, filled with good-natured jokes and sparkling humour, was created by the ceremony hosts — Vitaly Borovik, Maxim Amelchenko, Kirill Petrov, and Alexei Polyakov, members of the popular quartet "Zayachiy Ston" ("Hare’s Moan"). They invited the winners on stage, preceding each nomination announcement with witty sketches, humorous videos, memes, and musical interludes reflecting the field of activity of each award recipient.

In the category "Curator–Architect Duo," the "Forma-Art" award was presented to Ksenia Novokhatko, Emil Kapelyush, Yuri Suchkov, and Yana Glushanok for the exposition "Weightlessness. Alexander Labas on Speed, Progress, and Love," dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of the renowned avant-garde artist, at the New Jerusalem Museum.

The winner in the "Architectural Solution" category was the architectural bureau Planet9 for the exposition "Jewels! The Splendour of the Russian Court" (State Historical Museum).

In the "Curator" category, the award went to Tatyana Yudenkova for the exposition "The Peredvizhniki" at the State Tretyakov Gallery.

In the category "Entrance Zone," the award was presented to the St. Petersburg State Budgetary Institution "Central Exhibition Hall 'Manege'" for the exposition "Pushkinskaya-10. Ark of the 21st Century."

The winner of the "Development of the Year" category was the bureau Planet9 for the exposition "Viktor Tsoi. The Legend," presenting the chronicle of the birth of the legend and immersion into the musician's creative work in the context of place and time ("SevKabel Port," St. Petersburg).

The award for "Frame Solution" went to "Eterna LLC" for the exposition "Master of Painting... On the 325th Anniversary of the Birth of Ivan Yakovlevich Vishnyakov" (State Russian Museum).

In the "Logistics" category, the award was presented to "FineArtWay LLC" for the exposition "Polytechnic Museum: Creating the Present."

The "Lighting Solution" award went to the lighting design bureau Scale for the exposition "Muscovite Woman. Women of the Soviet Capital in the 1920s and 1930s" (Museum of Moscow).

In the categories "Multimedia Solution" and "Graphic Design," the winners were "Plus Studio" — the producer center "Yandex" and the architectural bureau Planet9 for the exposition "Ice. Life" ("SevKabel Port," St. Petersburg).

The winners of the "Digital Project" category were the ANO "Territory of Culture" and Gleb Chutko for the educational portal for the exposition "Kukryniksy" (Moscow Manege).

In the "Interactive" category, the award went to the "Atom" Foundation (Atom Museum) for the exposition "The All-Seeing Eye."

In the "Intermuseum Partnership of the Year" category, the award was presented to the State Museum and Exhibition Centre "ROSIZO," the Zaryadye Park, the State Russian Museum, and the non-profit organization "Territory of Culture" for the exposition "Pavel Filonov. The Artist of Global Bloom," dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the artist's birth.

The winners in the "Museum Partner" category were the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and Sberbank PJSC for the exposition "From Cast to Pixel. Art Through the Lens of Data."

The award in the "Information Support" category went to the news agency TASS for the exposition "History Through the Lens."

In the "Souvenir Products" category, the award went to the State Central Theatre Museum named after A. A. Bakhrushin for the souvenir products created for the exhibition "Pushkin and the Theatre. The 225th Anniversary of the Poet's Birth."

The award in the "Catering" category was presented to LLC "Ekipazh-Catering" for the exposition "Kukryniksy" (Moscow Manege).

In the "Discovery of the Year" category, the prize went to the State Tretyakov Gallery for the opening of the Tretyakov Gallery branch in Samara and the new building of the Tretyakov Gallery on Kadasheskaya Embankment.

The award in the "Event of the Year" category went to the State Russian Museum for the expositions "The Great Karl," "Vasily Surikov. The 175th Anniversary of His Birth," and "News."

The statuette in the "Contribution to Museum Affairs" category was awarded to Agnia Sterligova, the general director of the architectural bureau Planet 9. She dedicated this award to MARCHI (Moscow Architectural Institute).

Before the special prize was presented, the ideological inspirer of the award, Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Olga Galaktionova, and the General Director of ROSIZO Ivan Lyukoshin took the stage at the National Centre RUSSIA. They warmly greeted the gathered audience.

"The museum industry is actively developing, changing the cultural space. Visiting museums has become fashionable. Not long ago, it was hard to imagine queues at museums, excitement around exposition projects, and people eager to get tickets for an exposition instead of a hit play or concert by a popular artist. 'Blockbuster expositions' have appeared — a phenomenon that has shaken the conventional notion of going to a museum. The rapid leap that the museum community has made is the result of the persistent work of many people whose efforts are often behind the scenes, in the shadow of the exposition process. One of the main tasks of the award organized by ROSIZO is to bring to the forefront all those involved in creating outstanding exposition projects and to honor them with well-deserved awards. The industry should know the names of the best in their field. Furthermore, it is equally important, during the selection process, to form a registry of trusted and reliable partners, whose services meet the highest standards of quality, and in whose professionalism museums can be absolutely confident, and to whom they can safely turn for help in implementing the boldest and most complex exhibition projects," noted Olga Galaktionova.

"In every field of art, there are professions that remain invisible to the audience, and museum and exposition activities are no exception. The work of lighting designers, exposition designers, architects, and designers often goes unnoticed not only by the audience but also by professionals. 'Forma-Art' is not just well-deserved recognition; it is also a kind of rating, a certificate of quality for exposition companies and specialists. We hope that this is how the award will be viewed by colleagues in the very near future," emphasized Ivan Lykoshin.

The special prize was awarded to the International RUSSIA EXPO.

All the winners were awarded exclusive statuettes created by Roman Yermakov — a talented artist and participant in numerous exhibition projects and contemporary art festivals both in Russia and abroad. The multicolored figurines were created as part of the author’s project "Dancing Axis of the Fifth Dimension" and referred to a world where the usual laws of physics do not apply. The idea and appearance of the sculptures resonate with the main themes of the award — the development and support of the constructive aspect of the art industry, the identification of its current trends, the embodiment of bold creative ideas, progressive technologies, and unconventional solutions.

The industry award "Forma-Art" will be held on a regular basis. Its main goal is to highlight and recognize the achievements of members of the professional community whose work is in the practical realm of creating exposition displays and events. The primary task is to form a registry of professional and reliable companies that can be trusted to organize exposition spaces with confidence.

The award will contribute to the development and support of the constructive component of the art industry, the identification of its current trends and progressive technologies, the enhancement of prestige, and the realization of the potential of technical specialists in the museum and exposition sector. "Forma-Art" is also designed to assist the museum community in finding professional partners capable of adequately and qualitatively implementing even the boldest creative ideas, regardless of their specificity, complexity, and scale.