[ about the project]
The uniform kit design is an artistic reinterpretation of El Lissitzky's famous work "Beat the Whites With the Red Wedge!" first published in Vitebsk in 1920.
The unique project, unparalleled in the world, was realized through a partnership between the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center, Daniil Chalov, and the creative football company "Nothing Ordinary", with the support of the Vitebsk Art School History Museum and FC Vitebsk.
The unique project, unparalleled in the world, was realized through a partnership between the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center, Daniil Chalov, and the creative football company "Nothing Ordinary", with the support of the Vitebsk Art School History Museum and FC Vitebsk.
In celebration of three major anniversaries of 2020 - 100 year of UNOVIS, 60 years of FC Vitebsk, and 130 years of the prominent artist and architect El Lissitzky - a unique uniform kit inspired by suprematist ideas of the Vitebsk art school has been designed and presented to the football club.
THE UNIFORM
The uniform kits have been added to the collections of the Vitebsk Art School History Museum and one of the largest museums for contemporary art, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
In October 2020, the unique football kit was officially handed over to museum collections. The ceremony was attended online by Van Abbemuseum director Charles Esche, Russian art department curator Willem Jan Renders, and Erik Jan van Oosterhout, Head of Office of the Netherlands Embassy and temporary charge d'affaires of the Netherlands in Belarus.
In October 2020, the unique football kit was officially handed over to museum collections. The ceremony was attended online by Van Abbemuseum director Charles Esche, Russian art department curator Willem Jan Renders, and Erik Jan van Oosterhout, Head of Office of the Netherlands Embassy and temporary charge d'affaires of the Netherlands in Belarus.
«This project tells a story that demonstrates how time and circumstances are irrelevant for a true masterpiece. Even 100 years after its creation, art can continue to thrive, adapting to the context of contemporary culture, and each time gaining new life and new value».
Daniil Chalov, initiator of the uniform kit design project, ex-player of FC Vitebsk
«We strive to create projects that celebrate Belarus and its cultural heritage around the world, discovering new ways to present this heritage so that it remains vibrant and dynamic, rather than a static monument. The recognition our projects receive is further proof of the professionalism and potential we possess in our country».
Maya Katznelson, founder of the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
[ to read ]
INTRESTING
«Football players are like canvases. 11 easels stood before the whole world showing what kind of great things used to happen in Vitebsk».
«There is a fine line where art and football merge. Both are a game that hides a lifetime inside».
«The strip is a tribute to suprematist artist El Lissitzky's 1919 poster, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge».
[ thanks for the support ]
MASS MEDIA
«Until his last days El Lissitzky wouldn't stop improving. He treasured every moment, was eager to live his life to the fullest, saying: "...but this is a crime against the time. We don't have too much of it and it must be used for persistent study of the living experience that is being constructed in contemporary times, and not in the romantic escape from today…". What was helping him to feel alive was his art and the endless energy of his talent that he was generously gifted with by the Universe. This project, to my mind, is exactly this - a living experience built into the modern day, as an answer, or maybe even a challenge, busting the stereotypes».
«To return to the example of Vitebsk, it's easy to see the brief moment of UNOVIS as a great football squad coming together and breaking up. Pen, the distant mentor and supporter, at the beginning; Chagall as a genius player-manager whose relationship with his star player, Malevich, broke down irretrievably in bitterness and acrimony; Lissitzky the grafter and producer, who would later move and achieve much bigger fame abroad before returning to Russia; it's not a cheap parallel to apply these kinds of relationships in a football context».
«Chagall and Malevich in art are like Messi and Ronaldo in football. Malevich is Ronaldo - he has the system of suprematism, manifests, the clarity of ideas. Chagall is Messi. A pure talent, a man from space - you look at his paintings and feel like you're on a different planet».
«Van Abbemuseum for Contemporary Art in the Netherlands has highly appreciated the project and expressed the desire to add the kit to its collection. The museum director Charles Esche noted that "one of the most powerful drawings that El Lissitzky made in Vitebsk was the poster "Beat the White With the Red Wedge!". The uniform for FC Vitebsk is a link between the avant garde and the pop culture».
Arguments and Facts
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«A unique project has become possible due to the partnership of the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center and the company "Nothing Ordinary" with the support of the Vitebsk Art School History Museum and FC Vitebsk. The uniform kit has been presented to the club as a gift».
Chrysalis Mag
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«FC Vitebsk players get a tailored uniform kit. The kind nobody has ever had in the history of football».
TUT.by
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[ to watch ]
VIDEO
Kit design: Vladimir Gorz
Image photoshoot: Daria Eremeeva
Image photoshoot: Daria Eremeeva
Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
Creative Football Association "Nothing Ordinary"
Creative Football Association "Nothing Ordinary"
PROJECT ORGANIZERS
FC Vitebsk
Vitebsk Art School History Museum
Vitebsk Art School History Museum
PROJECT PARTNERS