Development of the international Supernova project

Supernova is an international cultural project created to support women with migration and refugee experiences through photography, art, and public exhibitions.

The project combines educational programs, creative workshops, exhibition activities, its own magazine, podcast, and an international community of participants. One of the key tasks was to create a digital environment that would help to tell the stories of the participants, introduce the audience to the exhibitions and form a recognizable brand of the project.

Additionally, it was necessary to develop a separate web representation for the founder of the project, curator and art critic Katharina Mikhrin, combining professional activities, exhibition projects, mission and cultural initiatives.

The project is aimed at an international audience, so full support for multiple languages has become an important requirement.

The team’s task was not just to create a website, but to create a single digital environment for several areas of activity.:

• the international Supernova project;
• the curator’s personal brand;
• exhibition activities;
• educational programs;
• digital magazine;
• podcast;
• communication with participants and visitors.

It was necessary to implement:

• the main website of the project;
• multilingualism;
• separate language landing pages;
• personal website of the author;
• exhibition gallery;
• sections with reviews;
• subscribe to the news;
• application forms;
• FAQ;
• digital magazine;
• a convenient content management system.

It was also important to provide for the further development of the project: the launch of a print store, the expansion of the catalog of participants and the creation of separate pages for the authors.

As part of the project, a group of related websites and pages was created.:

The main Supernova website

The main site contained:

• information about the project;
• Mission description;
• photos from exhibitions;
• feedback from the participants;
• video;
• The questions and answers section;
• feedback forms;
• subscribe to the newsletter;
• digital magazine;
• the author’s and curator’s pages.

Personal website of Katharina Mikhrin

A separate website on its own domain has been developed for the project curator, including:

• biography;
• education;
• professional achievements;
• awards;
• exhibition activities;
• description of projects;
• information about Supernova;
• podcast;
• contacts;
• links to social networks.

The site was an independent resource, but it logically remained part of the overall digital system of the project.

The project is aimed at an international audience, so multi-language support has been implemented.

The main site worked on:

• Russian;
• English;
• in German.

Additionally, separate landing pages were developed for German and English audiences.

This approach made it possible to adapt the content to different user groups and increase the accessibility of the project outside of one country.

WordPress was used for development.

The system allowed:

• quickly launch new partitions;
• it is convenient to manage content;
• publish news;
• update exhibition materials;
• add photos and videos;
• independently edit information without the involvement of developers.

Working with a large number of media files has become a separate task, as the project actively uses:

• Photo;
• video materials;
• digital publications;
• presentation materials.

Therefore, special attention was paid to optimizing the page loading speed.

One of the interesting features of the project was the integration of its own magazine.

To do this, the Flipbook plugin was used, allowing:

• view the issues directly on the website;
• Flip through the pages;
• to get acquainted with materials without downloading files;
• to keep the usual format of the printed edition in a digital environment.

This approach has made the magazine a full-fledged part of the project, and not just a set of PDF files.

As part of the development, the following were implemented:

Main site:

• Main page;
• About the project;
• Exhibitions;
• Gallery;
• Reviews;
• Journal;
• FAQ;
• Contacts.

Curator’s website:

• Biography;
• Education;
• Awards;
• Exhibitions;
• Projects;
• Podcast;
• The mission;
• Contacts.

Multiple sites within the same project

In fact, it was necessary to create not one website, but several related web resources at once.:

• the main website of the project;
• multilingual versions;
• separate landing pages;
• the curator’s website.

At the same time, the user had to perceive them as parts of the same system.

Working with a lot of content

The project includes:

• Photo;
• video;
• articles;
• journal;
• information about exhibitions;
• podcast materials.

It was necessary to organize the structure in such a way that the administrator could easily update the materials without the involvement of developers.

International audience

It was important to ensure a user-friendly experience for users from different countries.

Therefore, they were implemented:

• multiple languages;
• separate pages for different audiences;
• independent landing pages;
• a unified content management system.

After the launch, the project received:

• modern digital representation;
• multilingual website;
• a separate view of the curator;
• digital magazine;
• application collection system;
• convenient content management;
• the basis for further development.

The website has become not just an information page, but a tool for promoting a cultural project, exhibition activities and the international community of participants.

Supernova is an example of how, even based on WordPress, you can create not just a website, but a whole system of related resources for an international cultural project.

Within the framework of one solution, the following were combined:

• main site;
• three languages;
• separate landing pages;
• curator’s personal website;
• digital magazine;
• podcast;
• exhibition activities;
• forms of communication with the audience.

The project helped to bring the offline initiative to a digital environment and make it accessible to an international audience.