The Appearance of the First Volume of the Novel in a Thousand Volumes

A performative presentation of the book The First Volume of the Novel in a Thousand Volumes—the first canonical collection of texts by Sergey Kalmykov, published by ORTA in collaboration with Vlast Publishing. The presentation took place in the monumental Marble Hall of the House of Officers in Almaty.

Developed as a performance-ritual within the semi-mystical space of the former Soviet Officers’ Club, the work unfolded amid large-scale reproductions of paintings by Almaty-based artists, printed on monumental sheets of engineering paper. Alexandra Morozova tested her technique of the Guide-Performer using Kalmykov’s texts, while live music and the performative environment were generated by participants of the Fragile Orchestra.

The project emerged from a series of ORTA workshops under the same name, bringing together participants through an open call, including both artists and individuals from outside the creative fields.

Produced by ORTA.