Soviet Space Archive: Configuration II
10 – 31 October | Wed – Fri, 12.00pm – 6.00pm | Sat 12.00pm – 5.00pm
Private View: Fri 9 October, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Join us for the launch party that will include a Soviet Space Disco, with music
recorded in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Featuring DJs Mr. Pedro (NTS
Radio) and Johnny Dett (Dusty Fingers).
22 Calvert Avenue, London, E2 7JP
Calvert22.org
Calvert 22 is delighted to present Soviet Space Archive: Configuration II,
a project by artists Rory McCartney and Ella McCartney consisting of a
collection of photographs and ephemera dedicated to key moments
surrounding Soviet space exploration between 1957—1988.
Instead of defining or displaying a linear history, the exhibition explores how
images of significant moments can reflect different perspectives: constructed,
replicated and mass-produced.
The archive includes staged, state-issued publicity portraits of cosmonauts, as
well as photographs taken by the crew themselves while in orbit. The
cosmonauts therefore act as both the photographers and the subjects.
On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin was the first human to travel into space. The
details of his landing were debated for over a decade after the event. There
were different accounts and perspectives about what happened, some
believing that the cosmonaut used a parachute to land back on earth rather
than landing in the Vostok 1 spacecraft1. The majority of images in Soviet
Space Archive: Configuration II once belonged to Ivan Grigoryevich
Borisenko, one of the few individuals who witnessed Gagarin’s landing on
the Vostok 1 mission.
The exhibition features both public and private photographic documentation.
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space; her image is seen
on banners and posters held up by crowd members celebrating in the streets
of Moscow during the Vostok 6 mission in 1963. Tereshkova is also shown in
training before this space mission; prior to her flight into space, her identity
was a closely guarded secret 2.
Instead of presenting one definitive perspective, the exhibition celebrates the
many ways an archive can be assembled. Each time the archive is presented,
it is edited and ordered in different configurations, focusing on a different
narrative each time. Elements of the archive have been exhibited previously in
Interkosmos, Liquid Courage Gallery, Nassau, Bahamas.
1 Slava Gerovitch, 2015, Soviet Space Mythologies (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 2015), 34
2 Helena Kinnunen, “The First Lady of Space: Valentina Tereshkova”, Helsingin Sanomat, 14
September, 16, 2002
Notes to Editors
This exhibition has been co-curated by Rory McCartney + Ella McCartney.
Rory McCartney (b.1982) is an artist who lives and works in London.
Recent exhibitions include: Heated Words, London (2015),
Show-off, LeandaKateLouise, London (2015), Publishing and Censorship,
(bootleg) Lima Zulu, London (2014), Publishing and Censorship
Oriel Sycharth Gallery (2014), Concrete on Mars, Barbican (2013),
Graduated from the Slade School of fine Art 2010.
Calvert22.org
Ella McCartney (b.1985) is an artist who lives and works in London.
Recent exhibitions include BORG, Antwerp, Light / Colour / Object, Super
Dakota, Brussels, Image / Object, Folio Motto-Berlin and Tilt: International
Artist Residency, The Royal Academy of Art (all 2014)
Graduated from the Royal Academy Schools in 2011.
Event Programme
Family Workshop: Create your own Halloween Spacesuit
This free workshop will last for 1 hour.
Adults must accompany children at all times.
Families can explore the exhibition together, looking at photographs of Soviet
Space exploration. The workshop will be led by the curators of the exhibition
and will give you the opportunity to create your very own Halloween inspired
spacesuit to take home.
Venue address: Calvert 22, 22 Calvert Avenue, E2 7JP
Time: Saturday 31 October 2015, 3-4pm
About Calvert 22 Foundation
Calvert 22 is the UK’s only not-for-profit institution dedicated to the promotion
of contemporary art and culture from Russia, Eastern Europe and beyond. It
presents a dynamic programme of exhibitions, talks and cross-disciplinary
events with both emergent and established artists.
Vodka cocktails and refreshments at the launch party will be generously
supplied by Cult Events.
For further information and images please contact Ruxandra Mateiu at
[email protected] or on +44 (0) 203 651 2781.
Calvert22.org