THE ENDLESS LETTER ON INSTAGRAM STORIES
| Title | THE ENDLESS LETTER ON INSTAGRAM STORIES |
| Brand | RT |
| Product/Service | SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT |
| Category |
I05. Cultural Insight |
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Entrant
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RT Moscow, RUSSIA
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Idea Creation
|
RT Moscow, RUSSIA
|
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Media Placement
|
RT Moscow, RUSSIA
|
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Production
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RANEPA SCHOOL OF DESIGN Moscow, RUSSIA
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Credits
| Kirill Karnovich-Valua |
RT |
Creative Director |
| Elena Medvedeva |
RT |
Producer |
| Ania Fedorova |
RT |
Producer |
| Katerina Terekhova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Art Direction |
| Serge Serov |
RANEPA School of Design |
Curator |
| Maxim Makarychev |
Maxim Makarychev |
Music & Sound design |
| Gleb Burashov |
RT |
Social Media Strategy |
| Revaz Todua |
RT |
Designer |
| Eldar Salamov |
RT |
Producer |
| Lilly Kazakova |
RT |
PR Director |
| Ivor Crotty |
RT |
Producer |
| Ivan Fursov |
RT |
Producer |
| Katya Motyakina |
RT |
Producer |
| Margo Tskhovrebova |
RT |
Administrative Manager |
| Maria Doreuli |
Contrast Foundry |
Designer |
| Nikita Sapozhkov |
Contrast Foundry |
Designer |
| Liza Rasskazova |
Contrast Foundry |
Designer |
| Peter Bankov Bankov |
Peter Bankov |
Artist |
| Mikhail Sorkin |
Mikhail Sorkin |
Artist |
| Alla Dimaryova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Ana Green |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Anahanum Esedullayeva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Anastasia Kazachkova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Angelina Bagdasaryan |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Anna Zakharova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Irina Chigrinova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Irina Uladayeva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Alana Zekeyeva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Alyona Khudyakova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Alyona Redikultseva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Alisa Patrina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Anastasia Manysheva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Anastasia Ryabinina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Arina Bychkova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Baina Muchkayeva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Daniil Protasov Artist Protasov |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Daria Kondakova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Diana Yaroslavtseva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Ekaterina Fateyeva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Ekaterina Gashnikova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Evgenia Zaikina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Irina Gorelikova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Julia Fyodorova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Kira Goldobina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Kseniya Pasternyak |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Liza Razzhivina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Liza Tikhanskaya |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Maria Afonchikova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Maria Alekseyeva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Maria Spevakova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Maria Timoshenko |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Nauel Benku |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Polina Kashintseva |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Polina Zolotova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Sasha Ashikhina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Svetlana Vinogradova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Uliana Budennaya |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Uma Rabadanova |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Valeria Zhalnina |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
| Yana Nesterenko |
RANEPA School of Design |
Student |
Background
Between 1941 and 1945 over 25 million letters were posted and delivered in the USSR. Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Victory against Nazi Germany we have revealed a unique collection of 7,000 letters that were carefully preserved for decades in family archives. We decided to give them a new read in the format of Instagram Stories.
“Endless Letter” is a unique graphic series featuring hundreds of excerpts from original WW2 front-line letters with illustrations created by young students of the Moscow RANEPA Design School as well as renowned artists Peter Bankov and Mikhail Sorkin. Emotional quotes from frontline missives were shared line-by-line in Stories creating a kind of "endless letter" with an original non-stop score by young Russian composer Max Makarychev. Letters from military schools, from the front line, from factories, hospitals and abandoned homes, some filled with hope, some carrying cherished last words.
Describe the strategy
“Endless Letter” – is an emotional bridge between today’s peace and the horrific times of war when, against all odds, people loved, dreamed, experienced faith and anxiety. With “Endless Letter” our objective was to link the generations by narrative and visual means, with hope that our contemporaries and descendants will understand why this page of history should never be repeated.
These letters open up a different, private, story of the war; it is a unique testimony that truly connects us with that time. They speak of daily life during the war - what soldiers saw on battlefronts, how their families survived back at home, what people dreamed of, what they hoped for. More than 500 short quotes and accompanying illustrations by young designers are put together into a single “graphic” narrative on Instagram Stories to a non-stop original music score.
Describe the execution
We partnered with Moscow’s RANEPA Design School to make artistic illustrations to accompany each quote. Teachers, students, as well as famous artists Mikhail Sorkin and Peter Bankov took part in the project. Participation in the project was significant for students not only on an educational level, but also as a human experience, deeply affecting their emotions, feelings of empathy and compassion. It resulted in over 500 illustrations in a variety of shapes, from collages to portraits.
A specially composed 4-hour-long continuous soundtrack by Maxim Makarychev adds to the atmosphere of the “Endless Letter”.
The project features the unique #VictoryFont "May" which was created specially for the project - behind each character is a documented Reichstag inscription, hand-written 75 years ago by soldiers who conquered Berlin in 1945.
In September 2020 a large-scale exhibition was held in 12 main Moscow parks featuring over 250 works of the students.
List the results
"Lessons of Auschwitz" is part of the #VictoryPages project - a versatile social media documentary commemorating the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The digital, multi-platform, educational project assesses the historical magnitude of May 9th, 1945 through personal impressions of contemporaries and from the fresh perspective of digital art and creativity. It is a story of Victory told by the young, for the young, using the tools and language of modern media over five social networks.
Results:
- 40+ young artists
- 500+ unique illustrations
- Non-stop Instagram Stories soundtrack over 4 hours long
- Over 2 million views
- 100,000 engagements
- 30,000 subscribers
- Over 200 media mentions
Since the start of #VictoryPages on January 13th 2020 the project generated more than 35 million impressions, 250,000 engagements, over 50,000 followers, 4,000,000 video views (800,000 minutes of watch time) and 200+ publications in media.
Please tell us about the cultural insight that inspired the work
This project is about the fate of an ordinary person. A soldier. A wife. A mother. A child. A father. It is a story of families who had to face such a horrid burden - a story about millions of people who lived and died during the second World War. One can only truly understand the full scale through emotional experience: through personal stories. And there is nothing more personal than letters.
The team worked with the renowned “Letters from the front” archive, perhaps, the most full collection of families’ war-time letters. It took the authors over 5 years to gather thousands of frontline letters from all over Russia. We decided to use the piercing quotes to create the “Endless Letter” and post them as Instagram Stories.