Multimedia Exhibition Projections of Reality

On March 5th, the exhibition of documentary multimedia projects 'Projections of Reality' will open at the 'Krasny Oktyabr' factory venue. The exhibition includes projects by over 20 authors working in photography, video, and multimedia formats. These projects feature multichannel video installations, web projects, and interactive documentary films, including highly acclaimed works by world-renowned photographers Tim Hetherington, Alex Majoli, Brenda Ann Kenneally, and Yuri Kozyrev, as well as productions by Magnum In Motion and The New York Times multimedia editorial team. The exhibition also showcases early experiments in interactive journalism by Daniel Meadow and a series of vibrant projects by young authors from Russia and the CIS. 'Projections of Reality' introduce the Russian audience to new media—a comprehensive phenomenon that combines multimedia technologies, new narrative methods, and information dissemination channels that are replacing traditional media, including interactive ones. The main theme 'Collisions with [Un]known' reflects the presence of tangible and intangible elements in the world around us. Through the images of 'Collisions,' they address the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of people in various life situations. The exhibition allows viewers to enter unfamiliar, amazing, and entirely personal spaces of those often overlooked by traditional media. 'Collisions' present an eclectic collection of stories covering various topics and geographical locations. 'Collisions' are an attempt to make viewers reflect on what matters in the modern world concerning time, place, joy, sadness, premonition, worry, and personal experience. The call to reduce the distance between the viewer and the characters is at the heart of all the presented stories. To collide means to start a dialogue, to interact with others. The feeling of 'presence,' mood, participation in the experiences of the photographed subjects is present in the works of almost all authors—from sleeping soldiers in Afghanistan by Tim Hetherington and snowmobile rides with the Sámi in northern Norway by Erika Larsen, to Andy from the gang areas of Brooklyn by Brenda Ann Kenneally and teenagers from a provincial boarding school by Dmitry Markov. The exhibition 'Projections of Reality' will be presented at other venues in Russia and abroad in 2010-2011. Curators of the exhibition: Lisa Factor (Russia), James Wellford (USA). The exhibition will also feature lectures by photographers and multimedia producers: Tim Hetherington (USA-UK), Brenda Ann Kenneally (USA), Mark Lubell (USA), Bjarke Myrthu (USA-Denmark), Samuel Bollendorff (France), Yuri Kozyrev (Russia), Todd Heisler (USA).