“Listen to see if something comes back”

The undated photo from the 1980s (source: Scress Society for the Study of Russian and Soviet Studies, London) reports the installation of a new radio telescope at the Byurakan Observatory

On Mount Aragaz lies an abandoned space center from Soviet times, but also an internationally renowned research institute. Does the past and future meet there?

Both places are only three or four kilometers apart and are commonly referred to as the Aragaz Space Center. The Byurakan Science Center is a still active observatory. The Orgov radio telescope facility was once a world leader and slowly fell into disrepair after the end of the Soviet Union. Both places tell related but distinct stories.

»The fact that Americans and Soviets met there in the middle of the Cold War to debate whether other forms of intelligence existed out there is fascinating. World astronomical history was written there.”

Orgow shows clearly what ambitions this Soviet empire had, but also how it went to ruin. Today the buildings have fallen into disrepair, grazing cows and sheep come and go in the administration building, and you can still see objects and wall paintings that breathe the spirit of progress and science of the seventies. Byurakan, on the other hand, still works. Science is carried out in the observatories, with researchers and doctoral students from all over the world.

The first CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligence) conference took place in the Byurakan Observatory in 1971. It was about the search for extraterrestrial civilizations and the question of how to contact them.

That Americans and Soviets met there in the middle of the Cold War to debate whether other forms of intelligence existed out there is fascinating. World astronomical history was written there. It is also an interesting trail to trace back how to deal with tension and pull yourself together. And in a way it's also about the universal whole, about how you talk about people.

What role does the history of Armenia play in your project?

It's about what divides and what we have in common, about the relationships between Armenian and Soviet society. The question of center and periphery is also addressed. Seen from the center of Moscow, Armenia was on the edge. Together with our partners, in particular the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art, we are designing the festival from an Armenian perspective and exploring the country's history. Last but not least, the Russian war in Ukraine makes it clear that we have to talk about “the” East in a completely different way.

»The perception of the planet as a vulnerable, limited system makes global dependencies visible.«

How did the artists proceed and what can be experienced?

A residency with artists from several European countries who work in the field of sound art and multimedia took place in June. We use an art room and several corridors with live performances, as well as puppet and shadow play and graphic recording as visual components. The opening is in November. Among other things, the master copy of the Nebra Sky Disk will be presented in its own sound installation.

Will the exhibition finally be shown there?

In spring 2027, a partial edition of the show will stop in Berlin, and in the summer it will go to Nebra and the nearby Museum of Prehistory in Halle, where the Sky Disk is a sensation in the history of astronomy.

The name “Stellar Frequencies” suggests it: the sound will play an important role. Why are sounds the crucial medium of the project?

Music of the spheres and harmony have long been topics in philosophy. But we no longer understand that sounds hold the universe together in a metaphysical but material way. Immediate communication is possible with sound because we are directly connected to it. We send signals and listen to see if something comes back. The radio telescope is something like a huge musical instrument and a loudspeaker at the same time. This led to the project idea of using music as a medium of reflection.

So it's about imparting knowledge?

Big questions are presented in an understandable way: How can you talk to young people about technology, astronomy, economic and political interests? If the sky itself is managed, by government and military headquarters, but also by the economy, what does that mean? In the Anthropocene, in which humans have a decisive influence on the earth, questions arise about an exit strategy. When soon there are more satellites than real stars in the sky, when Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk consider how best to colonize Mars, we ask how to refer to space differently. This is very topical, because dealing with space sharpens our understanding of the earth. The perception of the planet as a vulnerable, limited system makes global dependencies visible. This means that people and the question of their responsibility appear in a different light. Basically it means: Can one return to something like a “cosmic sense” and “common sense” of the universally human?