DZIGA VERTOV. KINO-EYE

The Zotov Center presents the first exhibition in Russia dedicated to Dziga Vertov — a key figure of the Soviet cinematic avant-garde and a pioneer of documentary cinema. The exhibition-film allows visitors to literally immerse themselves in the director's artistic universe and see how his ideas were born — ideas that influenced all of contemporary culture, from cinema and mass media to music videos and reels. The Planet9 museum bureau developed the scenography of the exhibition and also realized the audio environment of the exposition, which is an integral part of the visitor experience.

Vertov believed that cinema is a way of thinking and a tool for understanding reality, which is why the project dedicated to his work is conceived in the format of an exhibition-film. In the exposition, which in plan resembles a round reel of film, the main events of the director's creative biography chronologically unfold — those of his group "Kinoki," their like-minded associates, critics, and followers. The films are complemented by photographs, animation, archival materials, excerpts from diaries, and newsreels.

The multilayered space of the exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to become active participants in the viewing process. Moving through the sections, the visitor simultaneously becomes a viewer of several dozen screens. The idea of the "kino-eye" — a hybrid of human vision and the "mechanical eye" — formed the basis of a principle that allows one not merely to see but also to perceive the exposition sensually.

An important semantic part of the exhibition is the audio environment — a specially staged radio interview with Dziga Vertov, in which his answers are precise quotations from the filmmaker's memoirs and diaries. The roles were voiced by Evgeny Tkachuk, Igor Mirkurbanov, and Olga Sutulova. The author of the musical concept was Russian poet and composer Oleg Nesterov. The entire musical score of the exhibition is drawn from his project "Three Degrees of Freedom" and is composed of film music by Oleg Karavaichuk, both that which made it into his films and that which remained off-screen as takes and outtakes.

Curators: Polina Streltsova, Polina Pribytkova, Konstantin Dudakov-Kashuro

Planet9
Scenography: Agniya Sterligova, Anna Chulkova, Darya Pozdeeva
Producer: Alexander Karmaev
Concept and Script of the Audio Environment: Angelina Skitovich

Graphic Design: KROKHA + CHEKED designers' association
Photo: Zotov Center