In this time-collapsing tale of Soviet astronautics, the artist duo ask who space is really for
Three metal benches, ornamented with floral arrangements, line a concrete wall. One by one, people fill the bleachers; two workers hoisted above the wall are rolling white paint over a series of international flags printed onto a space station billboard – France, then the UK, then Japan (that, a thankfully quick job). The camera shakes; the sound design roars; an intense white light blinds the onlookers – and there is lift off.
This performance, staged by artist duo Pejvak to resemble the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia’s spaceport in southern Kazakhstan, is soundtracked by gossipy soundbites, based on field recordings of Kazakhs impacted by toxic radiation in the Cosmodrome’s launch ‘fall zone’. “I tell them, what radiation?”, one voice says. “My meat is the best in the country!” Next, we (well, the camera) are hauled into the passenger seat of a freight truck, cinematographer Sadriddin Shahobiddinov’s shaky handheld camera all but up the nostrils of a fictional nineteenth-century man. He has been sentenced by the Tsar to hard mining labour for inciting workers to flee to the moon. “Star City”, he calls Baikonur. “It was my dream” – he fumbles to light his roll-up – “or maybe someone else’s.”
So Shokouk: A Cosmicomedy in Four Acts continues, moving through 17 onscreen minutes from a fictional Chinese infrastructure company’s karaoke bar in Uzbekistan, to a greyish abandoned USSR space station, orbiting in a starry sky flashing magenta. Indeed, the voiceover narration in this segment is in part informed by Andrei Ujică’s 1997 documentary Out of the Present – about Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev who was stranded in orbit during the dissolution of the USSR.
How to make sense of this time-collapsing tale of Soviet astronautics? Can science alone explain our place in the universe? What is human temporality in the context of spacetime? Despite their tongue in cheek humour and grand provocations, Pejvak are also interested in who space is for, and how counterfactual stories might help us better understand those whose lives and labour enable others to get there.
Screening dates:
Pejvak, Shokouk: A Cosmicomedy in Four Acts, 2023, 17 min
3–27 January 2025
© and courtesy the artist
About the artist:
Pejvak is an ongoing collaboration between Rouzbeh Akhbari (b. 1992, Tehran) and Felix Kalmenson (b. 1987, Saint Petersburg). Their films have screened in numerous international film festivals including at São Paulo International Film Festival, Tampere Film Festival, Doclisboa, Sharjah Film Platform, Kasseler Dokfest, Arkipel Jakarta International Documentary Experimental Film Festival, Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival and Media City Film Festival, winning awards including the Prix George at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, 2020. Their work has been exhibited at museums and galleries internationally including; Villa Arson (France), Van Abbemuseum (Netherlands), MAC VAL (France), M HKA (Belgium), Z33 (Belgium) and Si Shang Art Museum (Beijing). They were long-listed for the prestigious Sobey Art Award in 2023.
Film credits:
Directed and Produced by: Rouzbeh Akhbari & Felix Kalmenson
Screenplay: Gossip Dialogs written by Ulyana Toporovskaya and Lera Kim
Based on Field Research in Ulytau Region, Kazakhstan.
Monologue of Nikifor Nikitin written by Iraqli Qolbaia based on the archival fiction of Valery Pimenov, Dnipro, Ukrainian SSR in 1974.
Karaoke Written By Rouzbeh Akhbari and Felix Kalmenson based on the works of Omar Khayam and Nasirdin Al-Tusi.
MIR Monologue Written by Rouzbeh Akhbari and Felix Kalmenson based on the work of Carlo Rovelli. Additional dialogue is sampled from ‘Out of the Present’ by Andrei Ujică, 1997.
Cast: Zufar Raimov, Cheng Baoshan, Tsin Baoshan
Voice Actor: Carlo Cappai
Line Producer: Foziljon Yunusov
Director of Photography: Sadriddin Shahobiddinov
Art Director: Umarxo’ja Tillaxo’jayev
3D Animation: Jocopo Falsetta
Assistant Director: Ardasher Abdulhay o’g’li
Recordist: Zabixulla Shahaldarov
Best Boy: Xusan G’aforov, Fozliddin Musulmonov
Wardrobe and Makeup: Shaxnoza Valiyeva
Karaoke Music: Mengxiao Hu
Sound Design: Jokūbas Čižikas
Lyrics Translation: Tiange Yang & Jianru Jin
Picture Post: REJBEL.STUDIO
Color Grading: Konrad Zięcina
VFX: Paweł Rosiak
Title Design: Chris Lange
Extras: Hayrulla Sodiqov, Spartak Velsin, Ziyavuddin Karimov, Doniyor Rajabov, Abduhamid Abduvorisov, Zokirjon Otajonov, Islom Shorustamov, Turgay Esenin, Islander Abdumajid, Ruslan Haydarov, Evgeniy Anatulin, Yevgeniy Valdimirov, Ibrohim Xojimov, Sirojiddin Ataniyazov, Aleksandr Votinsev, Yunus Ali, Dior Toshmuhammedov, Feruzbek Rustamov, Umid Jalolov, Mark Abdullin, Ilhom Tilavov, Arman Hajimatov, Jamshid Atamov, Nadejda Vicheslav, Elena Tangriyeva, Umida Xolmurodova, Jangil Asay, Aygul Maratova, Shahida Artikova, Sarvinoz Valiyeva, Rushana Valiyeva, Aleksandra Timonova, Aselya Makarova, Lana, Lola Abdurahmanova, Valentina Maratova, Mara Hojiyeva, Feruza To’xtayeva, Omina To’xtayeva, Dilorom Hikmatullayeva, Dmitry Rogozin, Sohiba Rustamova, Juldiz, Anastasiya Vildanova, Lyubov Votinseva, Tatyana Timoryan, Yuliya Bagdanova, Xurshida Rasulova, Oysanam, Chinara, Roza Temirova, Munisa Sodiqova, Shaxnoza Murodova
Special Thanks to: Nick Aikens, Nav Haq, Alice Brygo
Produced as part of a fellowship with: Van Abbemuseum and L’internationale
Made possible by the support of the: Canada Council for the Arts
Each month in Art Lovers Movie Club, we select artists’ videos and screen them exclusively online at artreview.com
