A ceremony of opening the “Behind the Glass” exhibition of works by a professional photographer Sergei Koliaskin has been held at the Art Gallery of the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities. The exhibit includes 15 big-scale photo works created as a result of an unusual artistic experiment with plants.
Over the course of one year, the plants have been placed in closed aquariums with a special microclimate. In the isolated spaces, self-sustained ecosystems gradually formed: moss, lichens, other plants and insects appeared. After 12 months, the photographer captured the changes that occurred while not disturbing the delicate universe behind the glass.
“This is a very important project for me. I think that it’s one of the best artistic projects. The work on it began about 10 years ago. In this empty space, new worlds were emerging practically out of nowhere. At a certain point, there was no need to interfere: the plants themselves were creating everything they needed for life around them,” shares Sergei Koliaskin.
Taking pictures through the glass became the key artistic touch of this project. The viewers seem to peek into a separate reality and watch it from the sidelines.
The “Behind the Glass” project has already been demonstrated in various cities and countries. In London, the photo works were presented at the Royal Arts Exhibition and were awarded the bronze medal. Later the project was exhibited in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk.
According to the exhibition curator, Head of the SUSU Art Gallery Anatolii Razuev, the special feature of these works is the contrast between the dynamic world that human beings are used to and the space behind the glass, where time has a different pace:
“There is our world, on this side of the glass, where people have their own cares, they fuss and run around, and there is a different world, where time has a different pace, and totally different events take place. And these two worlds seem to exist parallel to each other. Our chance to see the aesthetics of completely ordinary things is probably one of the main specifics of this project.”
Everyone is welcome to attend the “Behind the Glass” exhibition at the SUSU Art Gallery (address: 76 Lenin Prospect) till September 10, 2026. Free entrance. The exhibition is open 10:00 till 17:00; Saturdays, 10:00 till 15:00; Sundays, closed.