Sports museum opens in the Universiade Village

Led by a Krasnoyarsk artist, the project combines history with the most up-to-date technologies

KRASNOYARSK – Having just opened its doors in the Universiade Village a few days ago, the museum presents a variety of exhibits, and ranges from vintage albums and art objects to the latest interactive equipment. Four months in the making, artist Olga Golysheva has been working to bring this unique project to life – dedicated not only to the Winter Universiade 2019, but also to the 70th anniversary of FISU.

Immersed in five thematic zones of the museum, visitors can plunge into the history of the Winter Universiade and of Krasnoyarsk sports by studying handmade magazines, numerous original art objects, medals, sports costumes and other last century artefacts. A rare collection of stamps and postcards was also generously provided by a private collector.

The designer is especially proud of how the museum combines history and innovation. She has installed the torch of the 2019 Winter Universiade in the center of a unique holographic 4D pyramid, which she considers to be the heart of the museum. The projection of fire creates the illusion of an ever-burning torch, symbolizing the spirit and festive mood of the event.

“The Universiade is a student event,” the artist said. “This means that we need to adapt the presentation to the way the younger generation prefers to receive knowledge. New technologies come to the rescue, in which we will be able to awaken even more interest in this event.”

Among the other high-tech equipment in the museum, visitors can find liquid crystal matrices with textual, video and photographic materials displayed in the form of web journals. On the interactive table, everyone has the opportunity to test their knowledge by taking a quiz on various topics related to the Universiade and its long history. Finally, the so-called “Zone of an augmented reality”, introduces the mascot of the games – U-Laika- moving across the screen in sports images of the 11 sport disciplines of the Krasnoyarsk Universiade. U-Laika reacts to the movement of the audience and interacts with them, deftly leading the puck, then jumps on a snowboard.

Olga Golysheva, who is also the director of the museum, stressed that the implementation of the project was largely due to the support of the Universiade Organizing Committee, local administration, the help of volunteers and especially organisations and persons who were involved with sharing the exhibits.

The museum will be open until the end of the games, after which it will become part of the heritage of the Krasnoyarsk Universiade.