The Transformation of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain: "The Malachite Casket" at the EXPO’70 World Fair in Osaka

Abstract

In 1970, the EXPO world fair was held in Osaka, Japan. In this exhibition, The Malachite Casket designed by the architect and designer, professor emeritus of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Tadas Baginskas, was exhibited in the Soviet Union’s pavilion. Artworks for this project were also created by other renowned Lithuanian artists – Romualdas and Algimantas Mizgiris, Kazimiera Zimblytė, Gintautėlė Laimutė Baginskienė, Laimutis Ločeris and Arvydas Každailis.

From the cultural viewpoint, it should be noted that while creating the design for The Malachite Casket, Baginskas tended to West-oriented design solutions, more abstract artistic expression and Scandinavian aesthetics. When Vassilyev remarked that his design would have been more suitable for the Scandinavian rather than Soviet pavilion, Baginskas took it as a great compliment showing his resolution to develop the West-oriented Lithuanian design trend.