What is magnesium? Where does it develop? What contains it? What are its benefits? Where is it used? Visitors to the new exhibition The Magic of Magnesium, which opened in the Magnezit Museum on February 9, are going to get answers to these questions.

The lobby of the museum had been redecorated for the exhibition, so the visitors actually start exploring unique, even amazing properties of magnesium from there: the walls of the lobby became dark gray, turning into the logical extension of the main space of the museum. The lobby welcomes the visitors with the first part of the exhibition, which resembles a labyrinth: pictures and texts suspended from the ceiling tell a story of the role of magnesium on the planetary level. The second part, covering application of magnesium, can be found in the interactive room. The third part, dedicated to the effect of magnesium on human health, is in the room for temporary exhibitions.

‘The exhibition The Magic of Magnesium is the product of concerted effort by specialists of the Magnezit Museum and a team from Moscow: the painter Aleksandra Rapoport and the designer Maria Laricheva as well as the cameraman Andrey Kovalenko, the film director Darya Shtyrkova and the film editor Viktor Krupnin, who made a movie about the magnesium mining at the Magnezitovaya mine. The premier of the movie also took place today,’ says Egor Larichev, the supervisor of the exhibition. ‘As we created the images for the exhibition, the task we set for ourselves was not just about illustrating the essence of a particular fact about magnesium but also about connecting those facts to culture and art. That’s why you can see here Picasso drawing the atom of magnesium, references to Salvador Dali, and various movie characters. The resulting visual metaphors have all turned out to be different and interesting. Aleksandra took a humorous approach to the project. For example, the fact that magnesium is able to mitigate allergic reactions is illustrated by an image showing a Kustodiev's lady on an orange-colored coach. A top hat in a royal mantle is an excellent metaphor for the fact that the purity of treated magnesium is as high as 99.9 percent.

In addition to the illustrations, the display includes exhibit objects: samples of magnesite (a mineral whose main component is magnesium carbonate) from the Satka Deposit and the Nizhne-Priangarskaya industrial site of the company, fireproof products, souvenirs made of magnesite, and a unique product – a cosmetics line: magnesium-based skin care products that are made in Satka.

- ‘Magnesium is responsible for the youth of the skin as it regulates its elasticity. People don't get enough magnesium from their diet these days. Specialists of our enterprise pioneered the use of magnesium as a component of cosmetics in Russia as an attempt to help people to compensate for that deficiency,’ Aleksandr Rychkov, Technical Director of Magia Magnia company tell us. ‘In our cosmetic products, we used the results of recent science intensive work that identified magnesium-based anti-stress ingredients that are the best adapted for the human body. The special type of cosmetic periclase and the scrub products based on it have received the ‘top marks” from the National Cosmetic Chemists Society of the Russian Federation: the new products were awarded the BIORUS quality sign and received certificates of the NCCS, which is Russia's first system of expert assessment of natural ingredients and natural and organic cosmetics. This exhibition was conceived as way to broaden the understanding of the areas of application for magnesite mined in Satka. Apart from being raw material for refractory products, magnesite can be used in cosmetics and food supplements. We can see how broadly magnesium is being used. And if anyone finds another way to use it, the main goal of the exhibition will be achieved.’

- ‘A most interesting exhibition, which shows that the sphere of application of magnesite is much broader than we always thought it was. The fact that it can be used in cosmetics is astonishing. I liked the creative approach to the setup of the exhibition. The bright illustrations created by a painter is a true ornament to brighten our gray winter days,’ said Anton Migashkin, the Area Manager for product-making processes at Magnezit Group, as he shared his impressions.

The exhibition will be open through April 2. Admission is free. Call 9-46-84 to book your tour.

Source: Magnezitovets. Photo by: Vasily Maksimov.