A Cup of Consonances. Mediation in the Expanded Field

The third season of a programme dedicated to a collective contemplation of exhibitions at GES-2.

Programme 

The exhibition A Cup of Consonances. Approaching Rozanova creates a space for dialogue among several generations of female artists—from Olga Rozanova and other representatives of the Russian avant-garde to Soviet nonconformists and contemporary creators experimenting with sculpture and installation. This intuitive dialogue focuses on artistic method, rather than a specific school, tradition, or movement.

As part of the Mediation in an Extended Field programme, we will explore and interpret artworks and curatorial concepts using various techniques. Our main focus is on the relationship between anachronism and contemporaneity, the theme of temporal fragmentation, and the echoes of the past that carry a revolutionary potential for art yet to be discovered. Most meetings take place in small groups, where participants work closely with mediators.

How did avant-garde imagery influence fashion? How did early twentieth-century composers’ experiments shape contemporary music? How has the Russian avant-garde’s influence extended across time and space? Why does returning to Olga Rozanova’s art propel us forward rather than backward? These questions will be explored through lectures, public discussions, mediator-led tours, reading groups, and performative practices.

Work group
Karina Chernyshova, Masha Galochkina, Darya Goryacheva, Nika Karpenko, Sergey Kochkurov, Danya Korshikov, Anya Leonova, Katerina Lyainen, Alina Miroshnik, Nastya Palit, Maksim Starichkov, Ekaterina Voronovich

Coordinator
Sonya Mezhericher  

Producers
Angelina Vorona, Maria Pogodina  

Programme

Prologue 

New Life. (Non)Feminine Dress Code 

Migrations and Transformations 

Projections of Hearing 

Video work without context 

Through Other Eyes. Reading groups 

Two Kings 

Through Closed Eyes 

Open interviews 

Prologue

A series of meetings designed to provide an in-depth understanding of the cultural and historical context in which Olga Rozanova and the other artists featured in the exhibition lived and worked. Together with GES-2 mediators, invited researchers, and artists, we will read and discuss texts that offer new perspectives on the exhibition and help formulate personal interpretations of its works.

All lectures are accompanied by interpretation into Russian Sign Language.

The Past as the Future

Когда: 6 фев, 19:00–21:00
Где: Центральная платформа

Like the Russian avant-garde as a whole, Olga Rozanova’s work was not merely a branch of European modernism. Thanks to her and other artists of her generation, the traditional understanding of art and its role in society was transformed. Rozanova vividly conveyed the event-driven essence of things, capturing what was happening rather than depicting what already existed.

We will discuss how the movement Approaching Rozanova is an attempt to return to the unrealized potential of avant-garde art—a future left behind at the beginning of the twentieth century and lost in the decades that followed.

Lecturer

Igor Chubarov is a doctor of philosophy, professor of the department of ontology and the theory of knowledge at the philosophy faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

To Rozanova!

When: 13 Feb, 19:00–21:00

How did the Russian avant-garde spread across Russia in the early twentieth century, and how, decades later, did researchers rediscover it in places from Yelets to Totma and Samara? The lecture will focus on the legacy of Olga Rozanova and the fate of her works, which after the artist’s death in 1918 ended up in the Museum Bureau and later in the Museum of Painterly Culture. Additionally, we will explore Rozanova’s innovative techniques and concepts which had a major influence on Western abstract painting in the second half of the twentieth century and remain relevant to this day.

Lecturer

Andrei Sarabianov is a researcher of the Russian avant-garde, historian, PhD in art history, curator, editor of the three-volume Encyclopaedia of the Russian Avant-Garde, and author of numerous monographs and publications.

Through Other Eyes. Reading groups

When: 8, 22 Feb, 7, 21 Mar, 4 Apr, 19:00–21:00

A series of meetings aimed at providing a deep understanding of the cultural and historical context in which Olga Rozanova and other female artists featured in the exhibition lived and worked. Together with GES-2 mediators and invited researchers and artists, we will read and discuss texts that allow us to see the exhibition from a new perspective and formulate our own interpretations of the works.

Photo: Anya Todich

At the first meeting, participants will get acquainted with the text by American researcher Linda Nochlin, Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? (1971), and discuss it with psychologist and identity researcher Anna Kray.

At the second meeting, we will examine an excerpt from the book by Olesya Avramenko and Galya Leonova, Her Life in Art: The Education, Career, and Family of the Female Artist in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (2023), with film director Sasha Karmaeva.

The third reading group looks at Nadezhda Plungyan’s book The Birth of the Soviet Woman: The Worker, the Peasant, the Pilot, the “Ex,” and Other Women in Art, 1917–1939 (2022).

At the fourth meeting, we will discuss Lucy Lippard’s Sweeping Exchanges: The Contribution of Feminism to the Art of the 1970s (1980) with artists Mika Plutitskaya and Liza Neklessa.

The final meeting will feature a collective reading and study of the Manifesto of the Union of Youth (1913).

Experts

Sasha Karmaeva is a film director, screenwriter, and educator.

Liza Neklessa is an artist and participant in the exhibition A Cup of Consonances. Approaching Rozanova.

Mika Plutitskaya is an artist, participant in the exhibition Sorcerers at GES-2. In her performances, painting, and graphic works, she explores the theme of collective memory.

Authors and mediators:

Katerina Lyanen and Alina Miroshnik are mediators at GES-2.

Projections of Hearing

This series explores the relationship between Futurist-era visual art and music, tracing their influence on contemporary practices.

The early twentieth century—when Olga Rozanova created her works—witnessed radical experiments in both visual arts and music. With invited speakers, we will “hear” how avant-garde compositions shaped our modern understanding of music and sound. Participants will listen to works, analyse their structure, and document their responses.

How does a musician’s skill balance against their choice of instrument? How do performance techniques affect audience response? These questions will guide our discussions.

Authors

Anya Leonova and Maxim Starichkov are mediators at GES-2.

Vitalina Strekalova is an art historian, curator, director of the SoundArtist.ru community. She composes experimental music and creates art under the pseudonym vitalinair.

The music of Bernard Parmegiani

When: 1 Mar, 16:00–17:45

French composer Bernard Parmegiani’s work De Natura Sonorum is one of the most important pieces in twentieth-century electroacoustic music. “To say anything about this composition, if you haven’t heard it yet, is like spoiling a great movie,” says mediator Fyodor Vetkalov. “All you can say is that this work is considered an important milestone not only in electronic music but in all Western European music as a whole. Why this is so will become clear during the listening and discussion.”

Fyodor Vetkalov is a musician and composer. He has written music for contemporary dance performances, films, and installations. He is one of Russia’s leading experts on synthesizers and modular synthesizers. He has worked with artists such as Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), and Mujuice. He created a lecture course on the theory and practice of modular synthesizers, Synthman.Class, which has been attended by professionals from the gaming industry, sound designers, musicians, and sound enthusiasts. In addition to private group and individual lessons, Fyodor teaches a course at the Department of Contemporary Music at Moscow Conservatory, and also teaches sound design and sound art at the Higher School of Economics. He also delivers a series of lectures as part of his activities in the SoundArtist.ru community.

The Music of Trevor Wishart

When: 15 Mar, 16:00–17:45

The English composer, performer, and improviser Trevor Wishart not only developed original software tools but also published two books on sound art. In them, he presents his theoretical and philosophical ideas and discusses the techniques of creating electroacoustic compositions.

“Wishart’s Imago is based on a short fragment of the sound of whiskey glasses clinking together,” says mediator Alexander Senko. “Using his own software, Wishart creates an expansive, dynamic piece. The composer had two goals: to construct a logical flow of sound events and to create multiple audio layers interacting with each other. This approach enhances the spatial and textural complexity of the work, offering listeners an engaging sonic experience.”

Author

Alexander Senko is a sound artist, composer and creator of multichannel audio and interactive installations. As founder of the Acoustic Images laboratory, he develops unique applications in the Pure Data software environment, combining electronic music techniques with mathematical patterns and algorithmic composition. His practice spans audio-visual performances, electronic and electroacoustic music, often exploring sound interpretations of paradoxical theories. He frequently collaborates with academic, jazz, and rock musicians, while also working as a sound engineer and educator.

The Music of Luc Ferrari

When: 29 Mar, 16:00–17:45

Luc Ferrari was a close collaborator of Pierre Schaeffer in the Musical Research Group (GRM), where participants focused on the creation and study of electroacoustic music. “For me, he is as legendary a figure as John Cage,” says mediator Gleb Glonti. “While Cage proposed the concept of 4’33”, Luc Ferrari is the author of the concept of ‘almost nothing’ (‘presque rien’). He legitimised the genre of field recordings in the form we know today. The Presque Rien cycle is what we will be exploring."

* Field recordings are audio recordings made outside of a studio. These can include sounds from nature for research purposes or recordings used as background noise in cinema. With the advent of high-quality portable equipment, field recordings have become an independent form of art.

Author

Gleb Glonti is a sound artist and sound researcher. He is a professor in the Sound Art and Sound Design programme at the Faculty of Creative Industries, Higher School of Economics. He is the head of Kotä creative initiatives agency and sound research laboratory. Glonti is the general producer and curator of the Experimental Music and Art Expo.

Through Closed Eyes

When: 3, 30 Mar, 13 Apr, 19:00–21:00

Participants will explore the art of the past and present through a meditative state of stillness. Beginning as a public dialogue at the exhibition, the exploration will evolve into a personal inner monologue for each participant.

After viewing the exhibition, we will attempt to unite works directly or indirectly related to the theme of dreams into a single composition through performative practices. We will then discuss memories of colour, material, texture, and form in these works, and listen to audio notes made during a walk through the exhibition. In this way, we will shift from visual perception to auditory, retaining only what remains under closed eyes.

Authors and mediators

Nikita Slavich is a director of participatory and site-specific theatre, curator, and a GES-2 resident.

Karina Chernyshova is a mediator at GES-2.

New Life. (Non)Feminine Dress Code

A series of mediator tours, public talks, and performative practices dedicated to women’s clothing in Russia in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, its social and cultural function, and its representation in art.

Many Russian artists and designers of the avant-garde era created clothing for the modern woman and developed fabric designs. Later, the media and mass culture used the clothing of female characters to emphasize the transformations they were going through (as seen in the film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears) or to create the image of the ideal Soviet woman. In recent decades, the role of women’s clothing has continued to evolve, so that it is no longer primarily a social and cultural marker. Together with the mediators, participants will explore their own style and the female images presented in the exhibition, looking for similarities and differences between them.

Mediated tour

When: 12 Mar, 19:00–21:00

Clothing is an important marker of social change. During the tour, we will explore the exhibition A Cup of Consonances. Approaching Rozanova and discuss how women’s work attire evolved from the 1920s to the 2000s, as well as how these changes influenced mass culture—and vice versa.

Mediators

Karina Chernyshova, Darya Goryacheva, Nika Karpenko, and Alina Miroshnik are mediators at GES-2.

Nastya Palit is a designer and model maker, and works at the GES-2 Visitor Services Department.

Public talks

When: 6 Apr, 14:00–16:00,

A series of two meetings dedicated to the transformation of women’s dress code in the USSR and Russia. On 6 April, we will discuss the trends of the 1960s—2000s with art historian Ekaterina Andreeva, and on 23 April, we will examine the period from the 1920s to the 1960s with fashion expert Ilektra Canestri. Both meetings will begin with a conversation in the exhibition space of A Cup of Consonances. Approaching Rozanova followed by further discussion on the Left Platform.

Mediators

Ekaterina Andreeva is an art historian, author of the YaAndArt educational project on history, art, and culture.

Ilektra Canestri is a fashion and design expert, and a journalist. Curator and lecturer of educational programmes at the British Higher School of Design and the Moscow School of Cinema. Regular lecturer at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

Performative practice

When: 18 Apr, 19:00–21:00

Participants will try to get a feeling for their outward appearance and compare it with works of art in the exhibition using performative techniques and photographs they take themselves. Special attention will be given to colour, texture, and composition.

Mediators
Karina Chernyshova, Darya Goryacheva, Nika Karpenko, Alina Miroshnik, Nastya Palit.

Video work without context

When: 16 Mar, 19:00–21:00

The role of video in art is still not fully defined. Unlike cinema, where the space of the movie theatre dictates specific viewing rules, video works displayed in an exhibition imply a special logic of interaction with them. The screen is integrated into the exhibition, and a work that typically requires attention for a certain period of time becomes one of many equal artistic objects. The viewer is free to choose when and for how long to watch the video, or perhaps only give it a fleeting glance. Additionally, an object of this kind, which serves as part of a collective exhibition, transforms into an element of a general artistic statement.

During the mediator tour with the participants of the Malyshki 18:22 group and GES-2 mediators, we will discuss the perception of video both within the exhibition and outside of it, using the Malyshki 18:22 installation presented in the exhibition, and their archival video works as an example.

Authors and mediators

Danya Korshikov and Anya Leonova are mediators at GES-2.

Two Kings

When: 22, 25, 29 Mar, 19:30–21:00

For several decades, art historians paid little attention to Olga Rozanova’s artistic legacy. When they eventually returned to it, this period of temporary neglect only contributed to the triumphant reinstatement of the artist as a key figure of the first wave of the Russian avant-garde. Much like a magic trick, where an object disappears from view only to reappear spectacularly and capture the audience’s attention, Rozanova’s work resurfaced with renewed significance. This is not the only point of connection between her art and magic tricks—both share affinities with spiritualism and hypnosis, which saw a surge in popularity at the beginning of the twentieth century.

During the mediation tour with illusionist Ivan Donskikh, we will explore the intersections between avant-garde techniques and trends through magic tricks and by examining Rozanova’s “playing cards” series.

Authors and mediators

Ivan Donskikh creates magic tricks, props, and interactive objects. He explores the possibilities of magic and works on developing its theoretical foundations. His practice focuses on integrating magic tricks into cultural projects.

Danya Korshikov is a mediator at GES-2.

Open interviews

Two public discussions on the mutual connections between fine art, nature, and architecture.

Moderator

Sergei Kochkurov is the curator of mediation programmes at GES-2.

Art and Ecology

When: 8 Mar, 19:00–21:00

Since childhood, we have seen painted landscapes in spelling books and diagrams in biology textbooks, and discussed the environment in the classroom. This forms a clear perception of nature as a static object of observation. But in reality, nature is much broader—it contains the eerie, the mesmerizing, and the overwhelming, encounters with which can alter human consciousness.

These darker aspects of nature have always fascinated artists. In European Romanticism, for example, nature appears as a formidable and unpredictable force with its own will. Today, in light of the changes in social sciences and the humanities, visual art offers new possibilities for interpretation—such as rethinking familiar concepts such as “the environment,” “substance,” “matter,” and “the forest.”

In a conversation with Galina Andreeva and Konstantin Plotnikov, we will explore the boundaries of our perceptions of nature, theories of “dark” ecology, the cultivation of bacteria, and the “green belt” in contemporary art.

Speakers

Galina Andreeva is an artist. Originally trained as an engineer, she studied at the School of Architecture and Design and graduated from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Moscow. In her installations, video works, and performances, she explores human identity and its relationship with nature and the environment. She has participated in group exhibitions, including the 4th Artmossphere Biennale of Street Art, ART/HELP in Muzeon Park of Arts, and Graduation ‘22 in Zaryadye Park.

Konstantin Plotnikov is an art historian with a PhD in Philology, and Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities at the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology of the Institute for Social Sciences at RANEPA. He is also a lecturer at the Moscow School of Contemporary Art (MSCA). His research interests include the theory and philosophy of art, the methodology of contemporary art, and the history and theory of culture.

Architecture and Contemporary Art

When: 20 Mar, 19:00–21:00

For over a century, art criticism has addressed not only artworks themselves but also the environments surrounding them. The permanent or temporary architecture of a museum, public urban spaces, and carefully designed interiors become integral parts of an exhibition, capable of complementing and altering the meaning of the works. Visitors increasingly find themselves in a synergistic space where visual art, sound, design, and digital interfaces create a combined effect that no single medium could achieve on its own.

Together with architects Sasha Kim and Anastasia Gritskova, we will discuss examples of these projects and the diverse relationships between visual art, architecture, and exhibition design—their ability to take on hybrid forms, or to disappear to make room for artistic expression.

Speakers

Sasha Kim is an architect and the founder of sashakim.studio. She is the architect of the exhibition A Cup of Consonances. Approaching Rozanova.

Anastasia Gritskova is an architect, and partner and co-founder of the NOVOE architecture office. She was the architect of the exhibitions A Brief History of Absence and Polarization: Ellina Gennadievna and Alighiero Boetti at GES-2.

Migrations and Transformations

When: 9 Mar, 15:00–16:30

In her short life, Olga Rozanova changed her place of residence several times, and her artistic style underwent a number of profound transformations. In a special tour by independent mediator Tina Shirokostup, we will explore the connections between these processes.

Through a selection of Rozanova’s works created at different times, we will discuss how a change of environment affects a person and, in turn, how the individual influences the surrounding space. Together, we will reflect on adapting to new places, loneliness in a big city, the act of domesticating space, and the search for a safe refuge that can partly replace a lost homeland—and trace how these themes resonate in Olga Rozanova’s art.

The tour is part of the initiative for collaborative cultural production with visitors at GES-2.