Golden Bee was born at the critical turn-point of times in 1992. International biennale of graphic design in Brno, Poster biennales in Warsaw, Fort-Collins and Lahti set standards for creation and development of Moscow biennale.
However to start a new biennale turned out to be easier than to continue. The project proceeded with major difficulties, on voluntary basis, with a constant lack of manpower and finance and supported only by the professional design community. Since 2004 several Moscow design studios which have become guardians of the biennale have been contributing to the success of the biennale. Today a number of public organizations and state institutions that comprehend the importance of introduction of Russian graphic design into the international cultural environment, who feel the necessity of professional growth and development of modern visual culture are supporting organization of the biennale. Through all these years we could also feel constant friendly support of the international design community. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to this excessive number of people who have been involved in Golden bee through all these years.
From the very beginning Golden bee has been carried out as a Russian project in terms of its vast and broad style - in comparison to many other biennales there have been made no restrictions on the number of works accepted for the competition. And the reason is that we had been isolated for too long from the rest of the world and we were eager to see live as many as possible works of our international colleagues. Moreover the exhibition halls of the Central House of Artist allowed this liberty. We have always prepared the exposition from the viewpoint of graphic marks with the priority to being picturesque, expression and integrity of the show, created with the double-coding system - simultaneously for professionals and mass public.
The final exhibition of Golden Bee 8 which is based on the results of work of the Pre-selection committee represents designers from 43 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belorussia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Zimbabwe.
The key point of the Moscow biennale is poster. This is a special genre in graphic design. Poster being a "grand form" shows the very essence of the cultural aspect of the profession, it demonstrated creative concepts and modern plastic tendencies. Having looked through about three thousand posters, the Pre-selection committee chose over 700 works for the final exhibition. Besides Russia, Iran and Poland are represented with the biggest number of posters outnumbering traditional favorites Japan and China.
Two additional anniversary nominations are represented at Golden bee 8. The nominations are "Futurism 100" and "New Cyrillics 300". Nomination "Futurism 100" is devoted to centenary of the artistic movement which gave an impulse to avant-garde of the 20th century. The artistic world has already started a series of museum projects, exhibitions, performances and creative actions. Nomination "Futurism 100" is the first input of graphic design into this process. The pre-selection committee has chosen about 100 projects of various genres of graphic design for the final competition.
However, futurism is a matter of both common cultural and artistic concern. It has a special impact on graphic design having changed its stylistic paradigm. Even today we can all see and feel the consequences of the futuristic visual explosion. In general terms, all posters of Golden bee biennale could be considered under this nomination as all of them own to futurism their inner freedom, energy and dynamism.
The second additional nomination is dedicated to 300 years anniversary of civil typeface in Russia which is even more important for graphic designers. Three hundred years ago Peter I renewed the appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet. Therefore the nomination is called "New Cyrillic". It is represented by nearly 200 projects which give a comprehensive overview of modern artistic search in the sphere of typeface design.
Normally the highest level of the professional Hamburg account at competitions is set by the jury. And we are proud of the juries which have been here in Moscow as they all included superstars of graphic design. And this time the jury team is outstanding. As usual all jury members will give public lections and presentations which is especially important for students and young designers. It will not be an exaggeration to say that Golden bee owns a lot to many students. A significant part of responsibilities on preparation and organization is carried out by the students of Higher Academic School of Graphic Design associated with the Moscow art college of applied arts and by students of some other institutes. However in turn students own to Golden bee the unique experience and possibility of diving deeply into the atmosphere of current modern problems of plastic arts. Several generations of graphic designers were brought up on the master-classes of Golden bee.
Graphic design today is one of the most innovative and prospective spheres of creative activities. It introduces changes into lives of millions of people day by day influencing their emotions and consciousness via visual information. It plays a growing role in shaping visual landscape of contemporary environment which becomes more and more artistic and spectacular. Moscow international biennale of graphic design Golden Bee 8 invites professional and general public to discover the best works of graphic designers from all over the world.