Sirius Arts Centre presents the exhibition Anton Vidokle and the Institute of the Cosmos. The exhibition features four films that look at Cosmism through themes of biopolitics, immortalism, interplanetarianism, revolution, nutrition, utopia, resurrection, and museology: Autotrofia (2020-23) and the trilogy This Is Cosmos (2014), The Communist Revolution Was Caused by the Sun (2015), and Immortality and Resurrection for All! (2017). It also features a specially designed Institute of the Cosmos gallery; part library, part archive, and part classroom, this includes a timeline of Cosmism and an extensive selection of historical and contemporary texts exploring Cosmism and related topics.

Cosmism is a constellation of theories and projects—philosophical, artistic, scientific—informed by the writings of the philosopher Nikolai Fedorov (1829–1903). It brings together discourses of Marxism, Orthodox Christianity, Enlightenment, and Eastern philosophy. Furthermore, it involves conceptions of technological immortality, resurrection, and space travel, and speculates on how these might be materialized through artistic, social, and scientific means.

Vidokle’s films are “tableaux vivants” operating between fact and fiction, reality and otherness, poetics, and ideology. They trace the history and current relevance of Cosmism and evolve into broadeThe exhibition Anton Vidokle and the Institute of the Cosmos features four films by Anton Vidokle that utilize the expansive themes of Cosmism as a lens to explore biopolitics, immortalism, interplanetarianism, revolution, nutrition, utopia, resurrection, and museology. It also features a specially designed Institute of the Cosmos reading room including a timeline of Cosmism and an extensive selection of historical and contemporary texts exploring Cosmism and related topics.

To accompany this exhibition, SIRIUS presents a public programme this October, including on the last day the exhibition is on view, comprising various events that engage with Vidokle’s practice and Cosmist ideas. These events include screenings, performances and readings, and involve the presentation of commissioned, newly made works by artists based in Cork City and County.

‘The Waters of Silence,’ a performance by The Quiet Club
Friday, 20 October
8–10pm
Free; no booking required

The Quiet Club is a collaboration between Cork City–based artists Danny McCarthy and Mick O’Shea. They employ a wide range of sound-making devices, from homemade instruments to stones, amplified textures, theremins, and field recordings. They perform a responsive and probing sound piece inspired by Cosmist ideas and the role sound plays in Anton Vidokle’s films.

Speculative analysis of the Timeline of Cosmism, led by Miguel Amado
Saturday, 14 October
3–5pm
Free; no booking required

The Timeline of Cosmism is a chronological mapping of critical developments in art, literature, science, politics, technology, and philosophy pertaining to Cosmism. SIRIUS director Miguel Amado examines the impact of Cosmist-related incidents and imagines future events on this trajectory.

‘Institute of the Microcosm: Death and Dreams,’ a lecture-performance by Sarah Long
Saturday, 28 October
7–8pm
Free; no booking required

The artist and writer Sarah Long considers Cosmist ideas through the lens of the Irish cultural context. This lecture-performance includes readings from Long’s autofiction pamphlet “Death and Dreams,” and reflects on narratives that continue to haunt and shape the Irish psyche, including the Famine, colonization, the relationship between religion and mythology, and the personification and politicization of the land.

Anton Vidokle’s Onward to the Stars! play performed by Eibhlís Beirne
Saturday, 28 October
8–9pm
Free; no booking required

Onward to the Stars! is a play by Anton Vidokle based on excerpts from Nikolai Zabolotsky’s poem “Mad Wolf” (1931) and passages from Svetlana Fedorova’s doctoral dissertation on Cosmist ideas. The play, presented for the first time in Ireland, is performed by the artist Eibhlís Beirne. Beirne draws from extensive research on Cosmism-related aesthetics to embody the various characters, including a wolf and a bear, through voice and movement.

Nocturnal viewing of Anton Vidokle’s Cosmist trilogy
Saturday, 28 October
9–11pm
Free; no booking required

Anton Vidokle’s first three films exploring Cosmism, made between 2014 and 2017, consider this philosophy’s historical influence and contemporary relevance. This event offers the unique opportunity to experience the exhibition Anton Vidokle and the Institute of the Cosmos in a nighttime setting.