“VODOPARAD-2006”: INNOVATIONS WITH TRADITIONS

In January, designers and architects gathered in the city of Kharkov, for the sixth annual exhibition “Vodoparad” which was initiated by UAJV “Vlada-Promtex”, the leading supplier of bathroom equipment and tiles. For the entire month, “Vodoparad” was the home of a multi-cultural pilgrimage receiving guests from Kharkov and Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhzhye, Lvov and Odessa, Lugansk and Donetsk, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Kazan and Ekaterinburg, other cities of Italy, Germany, Finland, Japan and China. Such a strong interest testifies to a high rating of the project.

Just The Facts
The sixth annual exhibition, “Vodoparad” is a highly esteemed event within the spheres of both public and professional forums. “Vodoparad” exhibition was awarded the silver medal of International Academic Rating of Popularity, the “Golden Fortune”, All-Ukrainian award the “People’s Respect”, and the M. Grushevsky award “For the Development of Ukraine”. The project has also won international recognition. After exhibiting in Milan, in the center of design in Essen, “Vodoparad-Collection” went on tour around Europe. In 2005, the project was presented at the International Exhibition of Sanitation, Heating and Air-Conditioning Sector ISH in Frankfurt and in the museum of design “Aquademie” in Schiltach. The most significant achievement of the project is its participation in the design competition “Industrie Forum Hannover”. The works of Anna Galushka, Ekaterina and Valeriy Kuznetsovs, Olga Vasilina were among the winners of the first round out of three thousand projects submitted by the designers from different countries. The work of Olga Vasilina won the second round. Thus, “Vodoparad” has surpassed the narrow professional bounds and has developed into an acclaimed event in the European design culture.

History Repeats Itself And That’s Why We Have History
The theme of the sixth annual exhibition, “Innovations with Traditions”, contains very different and creative interpretations: from art installations that resemble the beauty of the first frosty morning which envelopes a field of grass with a thin film of ice, to a washbasin which gives the illusion to be hidden under the cover of an office notebook. In addition, there are a number of projects which are reminiscent of the old truth: “history repeats itself and that’s why we have history”. In the exposition, there were objects with such grandeur and imagination presented, that one might assume it to be a grand-washbasin from the First designer, in the original version created by the Lord himself, in addition, creations molded by the hands of man with a design absolutely untouched since the time of Egyptian Pharaohs.

Thanks to the skill and innovation of the designers, everyday objects took new functions. For some designers the source of inspiration and the prototype of new shapes for a washbasin were an upside-down umbrella, a drawing-pin, a roll of toilet paper. Made of wood, plastic, glass, metal, leather, acryl, tufa, bamboo filament the objects of “Vodoparad” have demonstrated again the creative and experimental feature of the Ukrainian design.

There were two major factors that influenced and inspired the designers: the conversion of modern design product into the status of an archaeological object by means of artificial aging and its search for national identity in modern design contours. The latter demonstrates the appeal to natural shapes and also to the aesthetics of constructivism that had an influence on the development of the Kharkov School of Design which represents today an essential part of the Ukrainian culture.

Results Among the impressive list of exhibitors, were presentations of new collections from companies such as Hansgrohe, Viva, Bisazza – leading manufactures of bathroom equipment and tiles in Europe. This year “Vodoparad” has enlarged the number of friends. There were representatives from companies such as Viva, Bisazza, Rex, Imola, Jacuzzi joined by old partners such as Hansgrohe, Grohe, Villeroy & Boch, Huppe, Gessi, and Duravit.

The sixth annual “Vodoparad” exhibition has once again demonstrated the design potential of Ukraine. Among the forty eight presenters at the exhibition one can see the works of well-known professionals and novice designers. For many designers, “Vodoparad” was the launching pad which introduced them not only into the world of design but also has proved to be the gateway to the largest design centers of Europe. The sixth annual “Vodoparad” exhibition has not been an exception: a number of Ukrainian designers were invited to visit the largest companies of Europe and Germany. For the first time in the history of the project there were proposals by European firms to design equipment for bathrooms. The achievement clearly demonstrates that both the creators and participants of “Vodoparad” are on the right track and picking up speed for the project itself which is confidently joining the lines of professional developers of European design.

Svetlana Rybalko, Candidate of Fine Arts