Fifth international Khardzhiev Conference

Michael Hagemeister: Michael Hagemeister studied History, Slavic Languages and Literatures, and Philosophy at the universities of Basel and Marburg. His PhD thesis Nikolaj Fedorov. Studien zu Leben, Werk und Wirkung came out in 1989. He has published widely on Russian philosophy and intellectual history, utopian and apocalyptic thought, Russian anti-Semitism and (neo-)Fascism, and especially on the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’.

Nikolai Fedorov: In his Philosophy of the Common Task, Nikolai Fedorov outlined a bold project. He wanted to overcome death, restore all past generations and reach out into space. Such ideas met with a lively response in avant-garde circles after the Russian Revolution, but no one was so deeply influenced by Fedorov as the artist Vasily Chekrygin. 

Anton Vidokle and Daniel Muzyczuk: Citizens of the Cosmos examines the artist Anton Vidokle’s films and the Cosmist philosophy underpinning them. It features essays and conversations with Vidokle by seminal contemporary theorists, curators, and artists: Franco “Bifo” Berardi, Keti Chukhrov, Liam Gillick, Boris Groys, Daniel Muzyczuk, Miguel Amado and Georgia Perkins, Elizabeth Povinelli, and Raqs Media Collective. This is the first book to survey Vidokle’s Cosmism-related filmic output, begun in 2014, and includes full scripts from the films. 

Kateryna Lysovenko: Kateryna Lysovenko received a classical art education at the Odesa Art College, followed by the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv. Recently she took part in the exhibition Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories. Art from Ukraine. Museum De Fundatie, Zwolle 2023 My presentation offers a critical look at Cosmism, as well as directions in my artistic practice relating to resurrection, utopia and ideal. In Cosmism, resurrection is the goal of saving the world; for me, the image or idea of resurrection is an act of disagreement. Cosmism is utopian, I will talk about two aspects of utopia – the danger of the totality of utopia, but also the critical potential of utopia. Cosmism also talks a lot about the ideal future person; we will consider the repressiveness of this ideal, as well as its danger for every living and non-ideal body. 

Saodat Ismailova: In 18,000 Worlds, Saodat Ismailova explores the invisible foundations of Central Asia. Moving from personal to collective memory, she connects the myths from the region to its recent history and addresses its spiritual heritage for healing. In 2022, the artist and filmmaker received the Eye Art & Film Prize for her oeuvre, which devotes attention to the complex, layered culture of her motherland Uzbekistan. 

Yuliya Sorokina: Yuliya Sorokina, PhD, is an independent curator, writer and associate professor at the Temirbek Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan, currently a scholar at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Shortly before his death in 2002, Kazakh artist Sergei Maslov began writing a science fiction novel called Astral Nomads, which was dedicated to the life of contemporary Kazakh artists aboard a space station in the future. I decided to pay homage to Maslov’s memory by creating a digital archival resource of the same name. I was prompted to do this by the fact that many artists in the Central Asian region, just like yesterday, today, and even in future, lack the space and opportunity to preserve their heritage for future generations. Our artists' practices often draw on the legacy of the first avant-garde, as its authors and works were exiled to Central Asian cities due to the Red Terror, or were evacuated there during World War II, which had a great influence on  the region's art. How do these practices enter into a dialogue with the ideas of the avant-garde and how are they transformed here and now? 

Yuliia Elyas: Yuliia Elyas is a visual artist and writer originally from Ukraine who is currently a Fellow for Situated Practice at BAK, Utrecht. In her presentation, Yuliia explores the process of knowledge production within the framework of Cosmism. She draws from philosophical concepts and transitions to societal and personal experiences, reflecting on her upbringing in Dnipro, Ukraine, a city shaped by its post-secret, and post-rocket industry history. In an era where space conquest is reconsidered in the context of colonial expansion, she critically revisits narratives surrounding Cosmism. 

Fripulya (Fedir Tetianych): According to Tetyanich, Fripulya was ‘a code emitted by humankind as radio waves or light beams, containing all data about itself. Fripulya can be used to recreate humankind anywhere in space.’

Nikita (Mykyta) Kadan: Nikita (Mykyta) Kadan graduated from the National Academy of Fine Art (Kyiv) in 2007, where he studied at the department of monumental painting under professor Mykola Storozhenko. Recently he took part in the exhibition Kaleidoscope of (Hi)stories. Art from Ukraine. Museum De Fundatie, Zwolle 2023 In the face of  the death cult of Russian imperialism and the resurrection of its geopolitical expansion ‘Русский мир’ (Russian world), the West rests in a self-satisfying illusion of undisturbed safety. At the same time, catastrophe continues to be outsourced to its so-called peripheries. Over a century ago, Cosmism imagined universal immortality and eternal life for humankind, but today its provisions sound more idealistic than ever. As the bodies are abducted and deported, as they are disposed of in mass graves and mobile crematoriums, the question arises: who defines the materialist conditions of the dead and the undead in times of carnage and total annihilation? Who controls the march of those to be immortalized and what could the resurrection site be? Before approaching the cosmo-idealism of the new galactics, it seems we need to first look deep into the underworld of forgetfulness. In their talk, Nikita Kadan and Natalia Sielewicz will discuss these issues, referring to two resurrecting projects by Kadan: the unrealized reconstruction of Biotechnosphere in Popasna (Luhansk region) – an autonomous unit for shelter, energy storage and transportation originally designed by Ukrainian visionary artist Fedir Tetyanich for Popasna in 1985 (and now completely obliterated following the full-scale invasion). Secondly, they will refer to The Chairman of the Globe, an unrealized monument to Velimir Khlebnikov by one of the founders of the Ukrainian avant-garde, Vasyl Yermilov for the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.