Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Turning a drawing into music, creating an installation for a capital museum, and creating an illustrated textbook are the projects teenagers work on in their workshops “Cascade digital” at VDNKh. This is a creative space where you can bring your boldest and most original ideas to life and express yourself in different ways. Children aged 13 to 18 discover their inner world, learn to think outside the box, and see many possible solutions for each task. These skills will come in handy in any profession, and even in life.
mos.ru correspondents visited the workshops and learned how the classes are conducted, what an artistic gesture is, and how sleep inspires creativity.
Embodiment of ideas
Teenage workshops “Cascade digital” are located in pavilion no. 49 at VDNKh. Previously, this building, built in 1954, was called “Sheep Breeding-2” and was part of a complex of buildings related to livestock farming. And in 2022, the workshops received it for permanent use from the Moscow Government with the support of Museum of Moscow.
“Our workshops appeared in 2018. Before that, my colleague Sasha Kheifets and I worked in museums and often thought: why do many modern teenagers get bored walking around exhibitions? We studied the results of sociological research and realized: at this age, a person is looking for himself, wants to create something of his own, it is difficult for him to passively observe. In addition, the process of growing up is underway, which is not easy for everyone. It is important to be heard, to find like-minded people. This is how the idea came about to create a space for contemporary art, where you can open up, embody any thoughts in creativity, communicate with peers. This initiative was supported by several cultural institutions at once – the Museum of Moscow, the Triumph Gallery, the creative industries center Fabrika. And in 2023, with the support of the Museum of Moscow, we moved to pavilion No. 49 at VDNKh, which became a permanent coworking space for teenagers,” says Lidiya Lobanova, head of the Cascade Digital teenage workshops.
The pavilion is white as a canvas, except for the burgundy frames around the windows, and this is symbolic: draw whatever you want. And indeed, inside it is decorated according to the project of the guys who study in the workshops “Cascade digital”: multi-colored walls, steps, ceilings, hammocks. In the language of modern art, this is one big installation.
“Before moving to VDNKh, we opened a two-week program, which was led by architect Natalia Zaychenko. Participants were asked to come up with a space in which they would feel comfortable and good,” explains Lidiya Lobanova.
Artbook and melodic emotions
The workshop trains about 100 children for free in 11 areas. Registration is available at website. In October, there is an open day, or fair as it is called here, and everyone can choose their profile, within the framework of which they will attend two-hour classes once a week. The authors of the project believe that during the year it is better for teenagers to focus on one thing: this way creative thinking develops more effectively. Among the most popular workshops are “The Place Where I Am” (understanding space, home), “Modern Theater”, “Documentary Writing Laboratory” (the basics of journalism).
We find ourselves in a workshop called “Museum and City.” Along the wall of the classroom are sheets of paper with lecture notes and students’ ideas. To the uninitiated, they may seem too unusual. For example: “I feel now that somewhere, in the sedge thickets or among the Himalayan cliffs, there is an amazing ability to address people directly.” This is how teenagers express their thoughts.
“The Museum and the City workshop is about how to fit modern exhibitions into the urban environment, expressing the attitude to the capital in them. In the future, my graduates will be able to implement their own museum projects. But before moving on to this stage, you need to learn to record any thoughts, not to deny them, even if at first glance they are strange. Therefore, we write everything down and hang it on the wall. At the end of May – beginning of June, we will present an exhibition of finished projects in our space, it will be a performance or installation,” explains the curator of the Museum and the City workshop Nikita Spiridonov.
The guys gather, each with a cup of tea and cookies: it is important for a creative person to experience pleasure – visual and gustatory. The curator reminds them of the material covered over the year. Performance and installation have much in common, but the first type of contemporary art is dynamic and interactive (for example, the artist invites viewers to draw something on prepared sheets), while the second is static. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to create from scratch – even a ready-made object can become a masterpiece.
In the next room, a workshop of artistic gestures is starting, led by Irina Litvinova and Dunya Frankstein. “We are professional artists and could teach teenagers academic painting. But we have a different goal – to show that absolutely everything can be turned into an artistic gesture,” says Irina Litvinova.
Thus, a graduate of the artistic gesture workshop Taisiya Sedova created an art book – a textbook about how the world works, made in the style of naive art. She sewed the pages and backing herself, wrote the texts by hand and illustrated them.
“Right now, high school students are busy, preparing to pass the Unified State Exam, enter universities, and additionally attend pre-professional classes. And Taisiya decided to unload them by depicting the world through the eyes of a child. She emphasized that everything around us can be not only complex, but also simple. By developing such projects, children gain self-confidence, independence, develop their imagination, and learn to refract the familiar into the meaningful,” says Dunya Frankstein.
The programs of the “Cascade digital” workshops are designed for a year, but some guys come back again, already in a different direction, and some stay here to work, like, for example, Ivan Sdvizhnikov, curator of the “Oscillations Laboratory” workshop. The young man works with his students on sound design and visual-sound installations and performances. He himself, while studying, developed several projects.
“In my classes, the kids also learn to translate pictures into sounds. First, they draw in a computer program, then the machine transforms the pixels into notes, and an abstract melody is obtained. Last year, my students created a project: they offered those who wanted to take a test on their emotional state on a tablet, and the speakers played each emotion,” says Ivan Sdvizhnikov.
Horses and Dreams
At the end of the academic year, participants in each workshop prepare a final project, which becomes an exhibit at the exhibition in Pavilion No. 49. However, not only graduates of the “Digital Cascade” can present their works: there is a program to support residents – beginning representatives of creative professions. To join it, you need to submit an application on the workshops’ website and send a presentation.
Thus, from March 27 to April 13, 2025, the exhibition “Dream in Hand” was held, dedicated to the role of the unconscious in creativity. Artist Ksenia Nagornaya brought here the installation “Fall” – this is a booth like those where they take instant photos, on its wall are black and white pictures of a person in fetters, sitting on a chair, and inside on the screen, strokes, candles, threads flicker to disturbing music. And Margo Churaeva prepared a series of drawings called “My Zoo” – they depict horses, made in different styles.
“These works are about self-knowledge through creativity. Teenagers are inspired by studying the paintings of their older friends or their peers, they also want to create something similar and, probably, get away from some prejudices, fears, doubts, and believe that everything will work out,” explains exhibition curator Asya Maksimova.
Not all graduates of the “Cascade digital” workshops see art as their calling. Many go into the field of information technology, economics, investment management and other areas. “It is important that in our creative space they find friends with similar interests, see their own potential, understand that they can do a lot and know how to do it, learn to defend their position. This will come in handy in life,” Lidiya Lobanova sums up.
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