11 April 2014 “Life on Mars” London

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This is free to attend but you must booked–I’ve reserved my spot! Life on Mars

Life on Mars

11th April 2014, 3space, 29-31 Oxford Street W1D2DR, 7-10pm

Photo Courtesy of Ruscico

The event Life On Mars invites all those fascinated with space to get together for a screening of the extraordinary Russian silent film “Aelita”, which this year celebrates its 90th anniversary. Throughout the night the audience will also engage in a dreamy travel through soundscapes and imagery created by contemporary artists. All right in the heart of the city.

For centuries humans have been fascinated by space travel. The attempt to penetrate space affirms our innate sense of curiosity and our need to widen frontiers and go beyond them.

The programme of the night evolves around the relation between Mars and Earth, drawing a link between two planets, reality and fantasy, science fiction and documentary. The evening is a tribute to nine decades of the Russian classic “Aelita” by Yakov Protazanov and the eve of the 53rd anniversary of the first human flight to orbit the Earth by Yuri Gagarin.

90 years after Protazanov’s film, Mars missions and colonisation are all suddenly coming into focus as close-to-realistic propositions. To celebrate humanity’s close encounters with the surface of Mars and ahead of the exhibition at the Science Museum in London this autumn on the Soviet space programme, this evening will link the two anniversaries, celebrating the film that contributed enormously to the popularization of spaceflight in Soviet culture in the ‘20s, and still today fascinates for its influence over future science fiction films.

As part of this special event, the venue will be transformed by selected international visual artists. Amongst them, artist, adventurer and future astronaut Michael Najjar, documentary filmmaker and former planetary scientist Christopher Riley, French visual artist Anaïs Tondeur, and, premiering his work in UK, Lithuanian artist Vsevolod Kovalevskij.

The night will also feature a sound performance, based on NASA transmissions, by the sound artist Andrew Page whose work has been exhibited in art galleries in the UK, Europe, America and Canada.

Renowned film scholar and Sight & Sound contributor Ian Christie will introduce the screening.

Visitor Information
11th April 2014 – 29-31 Oxford Street W1D2DR
Doors open at 6.45pm. The event starts at 7pm and is expected to end at 10pm.
Drinks will be available at the venue.
Free admission. Booking is essential, please RSVP: [email protected]
Press Information
For further press information please contact:
E: [email protected]
M: 07443 221377
The event is curated by Simona Zemaityte and Giulia Saccogna and is organized in collaboration with Ferodo Bridges and 3space.

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Dr Jill Stuart is an academic based at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is an expert in the politics, ethics and law of outer space exploration and exploitation. She is a frequent presence in the global media (print, radio, television, documentary) and regularly gives lectures around the world. From 2013-2017 she was Editor in Chief of the Elsevier journal Space Policy where she remains on the Editorial Board. She is also on the Board of Advisors of METI International, conducting scientific research into messaging potential extraterrestrial intelligence. She is one of an elite number of people to be endorsed by the UK Home Office as an Exceptional Talent Migrant/ World Leader in her Field. In 2015 she was awarded the prestigious Margaret Mead Award Lecture by the British Science Association in recognition of her cutting edge research. She is trained in both domestic and international mediation and has done consultancy work for the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. She has a sub-specialism in women, peace and security and gender based violence. She is a Trustee of Luton All Women’s Centre.

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