5TH URAL INDUSTRIAL BIENNALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
The Main Project of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial will take place at two venues: The Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant and the Coliseum Cinema.
33B Vostochnaya St., Ekaterinburg
Tue — Sun: 12.00 – 21:00
The Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant named after E. S. Yalamov is one of the largest enterprises in the optical industry and one of the key organizations in the “Schwabe” Holding Company, which is part of the Rostec State Corporation. UOMZ is considered to be one of the current leaders in optical instrument making. The company develops and manufactures optical-electronic systems for all types of weapons, as well as civilian items, such as: medical, lighting and geodesic products.
Founded in 1837 in Moscow by a merchant Fedor Schwabe, the plant began its history as a company selling optical instruments. After the October Revolution of 1917, the firm “Schwabe” was renamed to JSC “Geophysics”, and was nationalized. In 1941, production was evacuated to Sverdlovsk. After the war, the plant remained in the Urals.
The 5th Ural Industrial Biennial exhibition is located in the premises of the optical production building. The building is operational — on the third floor there are still functioning production zones where plates, prisms, lenses, crystals, optical coatings for laser technology and other components for the whole range of the plant’s products are made.
In addition to optical production, printed circuit boards were manufactured on the 4th floor of building No. 2 from the late 1990s until 2007. Also, until the 1980s, there were areas for the production of optical-electronic systems on the 4th floor.
After the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial exhibition finishes, the manufacturing of civilian items, as well as skilled-experimental production is planned on the 2nd and 4th floors of the building, as part of the successful implementation of UOMZ’s policy and strategy of diversification, i.e.: increasing the volume of non-military product output at the plant.
43 Lenin Ave., Ekaterinburg
Tue — Sun: 12.00 – 21:00
The history of the Coliseum cinema spans more than one and a half centuries. Designed by the architect Karl Tursky in a classical style, it was erected in 1845 at the initiative of the chief of the Ural factories — Vladimir Glinka, and was intended to serve as the first city theater.
In 1885, the City Theater was the first institution in the city to have public lighting installed. Its source was a generator located in the courtyard. On November 7, 1896, the first cinema screening in Ekaterinburg was held here.
The building began to function consistently as a cinema from 1912. It was named the Coliseum in 1914. After the 1917 revolution, the cinema began to use the name October, which was common in the Soviet years. It returned to using its historical name in 2002.
Today, the cinema is undergoing another transformation. The Ural Biennial acts as a pop-up project, the purpose of which is to reconfigure the use of this historical monument and prepare it for a new life. This building cannot be deprived of the cultural function originally associated with it.
For the Biennial, this site has become a home not only for the art of cinema — some of the works for the Biennial’s main project and also a large-scale public program are to be held here. The art here is shown from different points of view, and the diverse program allows audiences to acquaint themselves with the subject at any level.
The subject of immortality makes us wonder how a cultural agenda is transformed, and how art evolves throughout history. The famous maxim ars longa vita brevis is embodied here in literal form: in our project the Coliseum cinema is a pavilion reflecting the immortality of art.