Victory over the sun

As a prelude to the comprehensive exhibition of art by Kazimir Malevich and the Russian avant-garde that will open in our museum on 4 October 2015, the Fondation Beyeler will present a production of the Futurist opera “Victory over the Sun”.

First performed in St. Petersburg in 1913, this opera, with its numerous innovations in the realms of music and poetry as well as set and costume design, embodied the spirit and artistic energy of the times. Its creators – the composer Mikhail Matyushin, the poets Aleksey Kruchonykh and Velemir Khlebnikov, and the artistKazimir Malevich – heralded and gave visible form to the radical changes in music, literature and art that were in the air. Even today, Victory over the Sun is therefore still seen as epitomising the complexity and diversity of the Russian avant-garde.

The production, which opulently combines costumes and sets reconstructed on the basis of Malevich’s drawings, the original libretto and the music with its dissonant sounds and noises, was created by the Stas Namin Theatre in Moscow in cooperation with the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The opera, which is being generously supported by the Theater Basel, will offer the Swiss public an unforgettably intoxicating experience for all the senses.

The ‘Vodka Imperial’ bar will be open from 11pm until the end of the performance.

Presented by Fondation Beyeler, Theater Basel and Art Basel
Presenting Partners: AVC Charity Foundation, Cahiers d’Art