Prince Yusupov: Time to Collect

The centennial of Arkhangelskoye Museum-Estate — already in the books.
Project Type:
Exhibition
Scale:

400 sq.m.

150 items

Clients:
The Russian State Library
Scope of works:

Masterplaning

Exhibition design

Graphic design

Location:
Ivanovsky hall of the Russian State Library
Programme:
December 2017 - September 2019
The project team:

Julia Napolova

Elizaveta Tsaplina

Anastasia Mokhova

Arkhangelskoye Museum-Estate celebrates its centennial with an exhibition about its founder, Prince Yusupov. He collected an extraordinary home library, incomparable for his time. The library is the exhibition’s protagonist. «Time to Collect» is about thoughtful and passionate life of a collector, his attempts to immortalize himself in collected folios and volumes.

The very etymology of the word «text» defined our artistic solution. «Text» means «fabric» in Latin — and so did we, decorating the space with fabrics. We printed the fragments of the collected books on them, literally allowing the fabrics to speak their second meaning. We invite the visitors inside Yusupov’s collection, allowing to walk through the covers and promenade across the pages.

We decorated the exhibition entrance, so that it turned into a poligraphy temple. The colonnade frames the walls of letters, while the collection catalogue lies on the altar as Yusupov’s own sanctum sanctorum. Every exhibition hall presents as a separate compartiment, a cozy furnished living room. In the centre — the giant showcase with authentic collectibles. The exposition brought together rare incunabulas, palaeotypies and the books of world-famous printing houses.

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