Vapriikki presents a fantastic collection of agitation porcelain from the State Hermitage Museum

27.05.2011 09:24

Museum Centre Vapriikki, in Tampere, opens a new exhibition, entitled “Let’s Create a New World”, at the end of May. This displays a wide selection of agitation porcelain from St Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum. The exhibition is open from 27 May to 30 October 2011.

“Art belongs to the people”, said Lenin. This folk education project also involved the nationalised former Imperial Porcelain Factory, where notable artists were ordered to create brave, new porcelain art. Their work resulted in “agitation porcelain”, which proclaimed the ideas and ideals of the revolution and was an important propaganda weapon for the new rulers.

Agitation porcelain was produced by artists such as Kazimir Malevich and Nikolai Suetin in bleak conditions, sometimes in starvation, under the management of Sergey Chekhonin. In 1923–24, they designed their world-famous Suprematist works, including classics of design history, Malevich’s white teapot and the half-cup. Agitation porcelain immediately became eagerly sought-after by international art collectors. Yet it never became used by the masses, or art for the people.

In connection with the opening of the exhibition, Vapriikki is publishing an extensive exhibition catalogue (in Finnish) that sheds light on Soviet history of the 1920s and the Russian avant garde from the same period. The 1920s Leningrad – the cradle of revolution – and its fascinating agitation porcelain are laid on the plate for you!

About Vapriikki

Located on the banks of the Tammerkoski rapids, Vapriikki is a museum centre that offers things to see and do for the whole family. We put on about a dozen exhibitions each year, with their varied themes including history, technology and natural sciences. Vapriikki is also home to the Natural History Museum of Tampere, the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, the Shoe Museum, and the Doll Museum. Visitors are served by the museum restaurant Valssi and the museum shop, which sells a wide selection of literature and gifts.

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