Tsiolkovsky. Second advent. Exhibition by Arseny Zhilyaev

October 7–November 10, 12:00–8:00 pm

The exhibition by Russian artist Arseny Zhilaev is dedicated to the legacy of Russian Cosmism. Fixing on the figure of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the pioneering theorist and Father of Rocket Science, the exhibition explores the artist’s imagination of the life of a resurrected Tsiolkovsky and the museums of the future. The central axis of the exhibition is the vision of a future where the Earth has been transformed into the unified museological complex, The Cradle of Humankind, whose main exponents are historical figures who have been successfully resurrected through the advances in technology predicted by Cosmism. The artist positions visitors to New Holland as if they were the audience for these future museums, encountering a wing entirely dedicated to Tsiolkovsky. Legend holds that the Russian and Soviet space program arose from the Tsiolkovsky’s sketches and the rocket-like structure he described in his story, Beyond the Planet Earth, which was in fact a reconstruction created for the museum exhibition, Pioneers of Space Travel.

The exhibition will include symbolic tapestries, depicting the glorious return of the scientist, a gilded figure of Yuri Gagarin, alongside a model of Tsiolkovsky’s rocket, his work desk and other objects from the future space age.

Tsiolkovsky. Second Advent builds upon exhibitions of Zhilyaev’s works shown in Venice (Future Histories, with Mark Dion, curated by Magnus Petersen) and Ljubljana (the 8th U3 Triennial of Contemporary Art, Beyond the Globe, curated by Boris Groys).

Selections of the work on display appear courtesy of the V-A-C Foundation and Gazpromabank Art Collection.

Accompanying the exhibition is a program of lectures and film-screenings, dedicated to the history of Russian Cosmism. All events begin at 8:00 pm and are free to the public, through prior online registration.

October 13
Report by Michael Kurtov: Being and Earth

October 20
Screening of the films by Anton Vidokle. This is Cosmos and The Communist Revolution Was Caused By The Sun

October 27
Report by Anastasia Gacheva: The World of the Future, As Envisioned by Russian Cosmism

November 3
Report by Olesya Turkina: Imaginary Space Voyages

November 10
Report by Marina Simakova: Russian Cosmism and the Present, followed by a screening of preliminary version of Anton Vidokle’s film, Immortality and Resurrection For All!