Photo by Sergey Poteryaev / The Village
The V Ural Industrial Biennale opened in Yekaterinburg today, it is one of the largest projects in Russia in the field of contemporary art. It is attended by over 75 artists and art groups from 25 countries. Rostec is the strategic partner of the Biennale for the second time. But for the first time, the exhibition is being held at the Corporation ’s site - the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant of the Shvabe Holding. Exposition halls will operate from September the 12th to December the 1st, 2019.
The Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant, which is one of the leaders in the Russian optical industry, is undergoing a phase of modernization. For this reason, part of the space is vacant and can accept the exhibition project and a large number of visitors. 10 thousand square meters were allocated for the exhibition on two floors of the optical production building, which are not currently used for production.
The main leitmotif of this year's biennale is Immortality. Shaoyu Weng (Guggenheim Museum, New York) is the project supervisor, suggested exploring the topic through the relationship between a man and technology and the attitudes toward death in different cultures and titled the main exhibition as “Overcoming the Boundaries of Immortality: to the multitudes of the future”.
This is a multifaceted topic that partially touches with the mission of Rostec as well, which is aimed at improving the quality and increasing the duration of peoples’ life through the creation of “smart” products. The theme of the Biennale organically looks within the walls of UOMP, thanks to the plant’s products – the medical equipment, among which is the equipment for nursing newborn babies.
