As part of the UK-Russia Creative Bridge online forum, the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy in Moscow organized a panel discussion with V&A curators, Geoffrey Marsh and Kate Bailey, the masterminds behind landmark exhibitions David Bowie Is and Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, and Tatiana Getman, Head of Special Projects at the Tretyakov Gallery and curator of the immersive exhibition The Russian Fairy Tale. From Vasnetsov to the Present.
Museums are constantly adapting to the requirements and challenges of the time. The Tretyakov Gallery curator Tatiana Getman and her colleagues from the V&A discussed the most significant challenges faced by a modern museum: how to compete with giant digital platforms, how to build a narrative between ancient artifacts and contemporary art, and how to remain relevant and attractive to the public, despite having lost a monopoly on art.
About speakers
Kate Bailey is Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance, V&A.
Kate is the curator of V&A’s upcoming major exhibition Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser scheduled to open in May 2021. She has also recently curated Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, which opened at the V&A in September 2017 and has since toured in Europe and Middle East. Kate has over 20 years’ experience working extensively on the design and content development of new museums and exhibitions, seeking innovative and theatrical interpretative and display solutions to complex and challenging subjects. Kate is the V&A Curator of Scenography and Design. Kate’s other recent V&A exhibitions include Russian Avant-Garde Theatre: War, Revolution and Design (2014); Glastonbury Land and Legend (2015); Music Hall: Sickert and the Three Graces (2013) and the touring video installation, Five Truths (2011), which traveled to Stanislavsky Electrotheatre in Moscow.
Geoffrey Marsh is the Director of the Theatre Collections, V&A.
Geoffrey Marsh’s past exhibitions at the museum include ‘You Say You Want A Revolution?’ Records and Rebels 1966-70 (2016), David Bowie Is (2013), The Story of the Supremes from the Mary Wilson Collection (2008) and Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes (2010). Previously, he ran the London office of AEA Consulting and was Director of Development at the Imperial War Museum, which included the project team for the new IWM North in Manchester. Geoffrey has often worked as a consultant for the planning of cultural developments including projects in Australia, Canada, Italy, Belgium and Iraq.
Tatiana Getman is Head of Special Projects, Tretyakov Gallery.
Author of the idea and curator of The Russian Fairy Tale. From Vasnetsov to the Present, an experimental immersive exhibition which invited visitors on a journey through Russian folklore. Based on a synthesis of fine art, literature, multimedia technologies and theatrical scenery, the exhibition involved all the diversity of sensory perception.