“Citizens of the
Cosmos” is an exhibition of four films by Anton Vidokle exploring the
narratives and imagery of Russian Cosmism, tracing its history and highlighting
its contemporary relevance. Curated by Miguel Amado and Alexandra Balona.
The films were shot at diverse locations, ranging
from Moscow to Tokyo, Kiev, and Alma-ata and Karaganda in Kazakhstan, and
employ local protagonists—artists, farmers, taxi drivers, dancers, security
guards. They use cinematic devices situated between documentary and fiction,
and engage with themes of biopolitics, universalism, utopia, revolution, and
museology.
Russian Cosmism is a constellation of theories and
projects—philosophical, artistic, scientific—informed by the writings of the
Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov (1829–1903) and bringing together
discourses of Marxism, Russian Orthodox Christianity, Western Enlightenment,
and Eastern philosophy. It involves conceptions of technological immortality,
resurrection, and space travel, and speculates on how these ideas might be
materialized through artistic, social, and scientific means.
