International summit: Modern package, analytics, innovations, creative. The first day

What does package mean? What is it – formless material, such as paper, glass, plastic, metal or wood? Or does it mean anything more: something which has individual nature and philosophy? Are these we who manufacture package and at same time determine its style, or is it package which affects our life and completely changes it? The International summit: Modern package: analytics, innovations, creative, held within the framework of Rosupak-2007 exhibition is aimed at answering all these and many other interesting and burning questions. The organizers of this large event are: Joint Stock Company “International Exhibition Company” and magazine Packaging R&D, it is endorsed by World Packaging Organization, WPO.

This year the event of such a scale is held for the first time. On June 26 in Summit there took part: Keith Pearson, President of World Packaging Organization (WPO); Vladimir Chuikov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GOTEK Group, President of Rosupak exhibition, Lubov Arkhipova, Vice-president of COPE (Confederation of Organizers of Packaging Exhibitions), Executive Director of MVK (International Exhibition Company) and Olga Gulinkina, editor-in-chief of magazine Packaging R&D.
The Summit started its work with the speech of Olga Gulinkina, editor-in-chief of the magazine Packaging R&D. She spoke on the topic: “Package – product and factor of civilization”. Olga drew attention of the audience to the problems of packaging industry. In the first place it is a problem of compliance of information, indicated on package, with the contents. Companies often manufacture packages relying on customer’s wishes, and in this connection they often shut their eyes to reliability of declared information.
One can say a lot about philosophical aspect of package. For example Danish designers invented idea to sell air in package. These are not just empty bottles and boxes; these are packages-thoughts – markers of universal human happiness, keys to the lost calmness. A person is surrounded with all welfare of civilization in fuss of megalopolises, aggressive cities, but at the same time he lacks the main thing - harmony with nature and with himself. There is a chance that ides, offered by this projects, will find their reflection in people’s souls and minds; thus, concentrating on them, a person will make a step backwards – to his real nature, to harmonious relations and safe planet. Everyone will take what he needs most of all.
At the end of the speeches people were offered slides with wonderful photos of the projects made by artists and designers of packaging field. They showed packaged shores, rocks, monuments of architecture and even Reichstag! At a first sight one can think that these projects are useless, but they open people’s eyes to new perspectives, give another perception to package and other things, make people see what they have not noticed before.

Vincent Floderer, French artist, origami specialist, continued work of the Summit. The topic of his speech – “Nature and future of package”. He told the audience about origami - the ancient art of paper folding. He showed how one could make special figures out of one piece of paper without even cutting it. It shows that incredibly difficult figures can be made out of simple things. Designer’s speech was held in interactive way, all the participants of the Summit could try to make figures out of paper together with the master.

At the end of the first day of the Summit Yulia Vaserchuk, art historian, senior teacher of MSUP (Moscow State University of Printing Arts) told about package design as a mean of qualitative forming of environment.