Rebranding of Ukrainian Art Museums: Design as a Cultural Strategy

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of branding campaigns of Ukrainian art museums and their impact on increasing the popularity of museum institutions; and finding out the effectiveness of design approaches in such campaigns. Research methods are based on the application of comparative, formal-stylistic, iconological analysis and deconstruction method. The novelty of the research is to analyze the branding campaigns of art museums in order to learn from their experience and effective design solutions. The article also reveals the problem of integration of the viewer into the museum environment and the attempt through design to go beyond the imposed stereotypes, to overcome the attitude to art as a field alien to the average viewer. Conclusions. As a result of the analysis of branding campaigns of iconic Ukrainian art museums we come to the conclusion about their efficiency both for separate establishments, and for all culture in general. Comparative analysis of different approaches has shown the importance of identifying the uniqueness of institutions and attempts to reflect it in the design of identity. And although today we can talk about the belated transformation of the museum environment in Ukraine, which has been shedding boring socialist-realist cloaks almost three decades after the restoration of independence, it is important to note that this process coincides with the global trend of renewal of world museums. Design is becoming a cultural strategy that aims more than changing the image: it must turn the museum into a subjective player in the cultural field, able to think not in terms of power but in terms of culture. Therefore, the rebranding of the country’s iconic art museums can be called without exaggeration one of the most important cultural achievements since the restoration of independence. This process also demonstrated the current demand for design as a cultural strategy that can establish visual bridges between art professionals and potential viewers, as well as change cultural codes, set trends and thus influence the change of image of the city and country.