HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL at photography festival in China

On September 19, the 25th Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP) opened in the city of Pingyao, Shanxi Province, China. The festival featured works by 16 students from the ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, selected through the international student photo competition HSE Creative Open / Photoproject.

The idea for the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL’s participation in the festival was first discussed in January 2025 during the inaugural seminar of HSE Creative International — an initiative of HSE University’s Institute for Creative Industries Development that helps students and young professionals build international careers in design, photography, media art, and visual communications.

The event brought together academic program leaders, artists, and government representatives from Russia and China for an in-depth dialogue on intercultural collaboration, with particular focus on the role of educational institutions in shaping international careers in the creative industries. In her address, Liu Xiaoxia, Director of the International Program of the Pingyao Photography Festival, invited Russian students to join the upcoming anniversary edition of the festival, highlighting it as a launchpad for young creatives seeking international recognition.

The selection of participants for the exhibition was based on the results of the international photo competition HSE Creative Open / Photoproject, which received more than 300 submissions and was also organized as part of the HSE Creative International program. Following the decision of the HSE Art Gallery curators, the exhibition featured works by 16 HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL students whose projects earned the highest scores from the jury, which included both HSE faculty and professors from leading creative universities in China. The selected students were: Alisa Lapshina, Daria Kalnina, Elizaveta Davydovich, Andy Korpio, Alexandra Parail, Ulyana Makarova, Anastasia Progatskaya, Lyubov Gubskaya, Arina Vakilova, Mikhail Frolov, Anastasia Khaidukova, Maria Blaschik, Yulia Petrenko, Pavel Kamenschikov, Daria Blinova, and Andrey Valmus.

According to observations from members of the festival organizing committee, the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL’s exhibition attracted significant interest not only for the quality of the works but also for its overall concept, which resonated with audiences from different cultural backgrounds. Located in a pavilion with wide openings overlooking sunlit greenery, the exhibition offered a poetic vision of everyday life and seamlessly became part of its surroundings. 

At the festival’s opening ceremony in Pingyao, HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL was represented by Natalia Logutova, Deputy Director of the HSE Institute for Creative Industries Development and initiator of the HSE Creative International program; Irina Chmyreva, HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL lecturer, photography historian, and curator; as well as Alisa Lapshina, Head of HSE Photolab.

Alisa Lapshina’s participation was particularly symbolic: she is a graduate of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL. While still a student, she presented her project Matter at the Pingyao Festival in 2023. Her work was also shortlisted in the HSE Creative Open competition. Today, Alisa represents the university as a professional, accompanying student projects and promoting HSE University on the international stage.

In the morning, at the exhibition opening, Alisa Lapshina presented the showcase and announced the photography competition Capturing Pingyao: PIP25 Photo Contest, which invited photographers to explore and capture the city’s unique charm, historic architecture, and vibrant cultural life. With the support of Chinese colleagues, an active dialogue with the audience was established, and the competition was completed in just two days — possibly the fastest project in the history of the DAFES platform.

The competition jury included representatives of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and the Institute for Creative Industries Development — Natalia Logutova, Irina Chmyreva, and Alisa Lapshina — along with international experts: Professor Liu Yajing (Communication University of Zhejiang) and Professor Zhang Hui (Xi’an University of Technology). This jury composition brought together the expertise of leading Russian curators and organizers of major photography projects with the academic and cultural perspectives of colleagues from China.

In addition to the rich exhibition program, Natalia Logutova and Irina Chmyreva delivered a presentation in which they introduced the academic programs of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and the HSE Institute for Creative Industries Development. They also shared the experience of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL students in building international careers and presented university platforms designed to support and promote students in the creative industries, such as DAFES, Deziiign, Creative City, and others.

Natalia and Irina were joined by Alisa Lapshina, who spoke from personal experience — as an HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL graduate, a finalist of HSE Creative Open / Photo Project, and now Head of HSE Photolab — on how these tools help young creatives develop international careers.

Special attention during the presentation was given to the Creative City platform, where students work with cultural heritage and local identity. Colleagues from a wide range of countries — including leading educational and project institutions in China, Mongolia, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, the USA, and Canada — expressed strong interest in HSE’s digital infrastructure and its methods for promoting young professionals through project-based learning.

The presentation concluded with a practical session offering advice on promoting projects and building connections with experts. As examples, successful student cases implemented through HSE platforms were highlighted.
 

For the students, participation means adding their projects to an international portfolio and opening up opportunities for further presentations within professional contexts both in Russia and abroad. For HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, the festival marks an important step in strengthening international ties: cooperation with leading Chinese academic and cultural institutions will enable the development of new joint educational and exhibition projects.

In autumn 2025, the HSE HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and the Institute for Creative Industries Development will organize a large-scale contemporary photography exhibition, China–Russia: Cultural Codes. The exhibition will take place in both Russia and China and will feature works by established masters as well as students from both countries. Importantly, the student contributions will be selected from among the finalists and participants of the HSE Creative Open / Photo Project, including talented students from leading Chinese partner universities.

The selection of works will be carried out by a joint Russian–Chinese curatorial group. The project will also be accompanied by a wide-ranging public program of lectures, workshops, and portfolio reviews, and will receive broad coverage in the media and on social networks.