Michael Najjar

12 December, 2014

Michael participates at Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India

Michael Najjar´s has been invited to participate at the 2nd Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kerala, India. “Whorled Explorations“, the central exhibition features 94 artists from 30 countries.

The 14th to 16th Century was the time when astronomer-mathematicians belonging to what came to be known as the Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics, were making transformative propositions for understanding our planet and locating human existence within the wider cosmos. They were making mathematical breakthroughs, amongst them treatises on trigonometry and calculus. Acknowledging this vibrant history, Kochi might serve as an interesting site to invoke the mysterious expedition of our planet Earth, our shared dwelling hurtling through space at a dizzying velocity. None of the interdependent co-habitants of this twirling tenement seem to experience its speed or comprehend its direction; a productive state of uncertainty from where we may investigate several questions about our existence, take stock of our collective conflicts and ecological footprint, even as we continue to examine our place in an ever-inflating cosmos. Whorled Explorations is conceived as a temporary observation deck hoisted at Kochi. The exhibition draws upon a wide glossary of signs from this legendary maritime gateway to bring together sensory and conceptual propositions that map our world referencing history, geography, cosmology, time, space, dreams and myths.

Michael Najjar presents his video work “orbital cascade_57-46“ at the Biennale. The Video visualizes the quantity of defunct objects in orbit around the Earth from 1957 to 2046. This includes everything from spent rocket stages, and old satellites to fragments resulting from disintegration, erosion, and collisions. Currently there are about 600,000 objects larger than 1 cm in space, orbiting Earth at a velocity of approximately 28,000 kmph and posing a severe threat to satellites, space stations, and manned space flights. Each spherule in the video represents a real existing object orbiting in space starting with the very first object in space, the Sputnik 1 satellite launched in 1957. The year 2013 marks the start of a simulated worst-case future scenario that assumes two realistic collisions, which would dramatically increase the amount of space debris, collisions known in aeronautics as the “cascade effect.” The visualization was realized in collaboration with the Institute of Aerospace Systems/TU Braunschweig, Germany.

Michael participates at Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India

Art Basel Miami Beach

new artwork "arctic streams"

Exhibition views Fotografiska Stockholm

Solo presentation at Paris Photo

Exhibition at Fotografiska Stockholm

Residency at Shanghai Museum of Glass

Lecture Astronomy Museum Shanghai

DEEP PURPLE - Scientific Expedition to Greenland

Exhibition at Kunsthalle Bahnitz

flashback: UKE Hamburg

new artwork "netropolis | shenzhen | 2024"

Interview with Space Ambition

new artwork "CDF-X"

Exhibition JUT Art Museum, Taipei

new artwork "fusion power"

ARCO Madrid

Exhibition "A Constant State of Transformation", Melbourne

Podcast "FotoPsychoLogisch"

Symposium "Enter the Future"

Exhibition at Caixa Forum, Madrid

Exhibition at ArtScience Museum, Singapore

"orbital ascent" special edition

Exhibition at BANK Gallery, Shanghai

Podcast "Fotografie neu denken"

Michael shoots at ITER Fusion Ractor in France

Nanjing Artfair, China

Wired UK magazine

Ars Electronica Festival - Who owns the truth?

Final test flight of Spaceship Unity

Civilization exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, London

Michael at the Starbase

new artwork "starbase II"

ART SG Singapore

"cool earth" exhibition at Studio la Città Gallery

Screening at COP27

Lecture at Deutsche Museum München

CIVILIZATION exhibition at Museo San Domenico

Frieze Seoul

Arctic expedition

Galería Juan Silió presents "cool earth" exhibition

New series "cool earth"

New Artwork "starbase"

mission:space re-edited version

new artwork "down to earth"

Michael visits STARBASE

New book "outer space v2"

Exhibition at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg

Historic Spaceflight of VSS Unity

"Overview Effect" exhibition at Museum for Contemporary Art, Belgrade

Solo Exhibition "outer space" in Beijing

National Air and Space Museum aquires 3 artworks for permanent collection

New publication "Space is the Place - Current Reflections on Art and Architecture"

"outer space | portfolio box 2020" is now available

"New Classics of Mountains and Seas" Exhibition at Zhejiang Museum, China

"FUTURO" exhibition at Galleri d'Italia, Vincenza

"Space Works" exhibition at Tampere Art Museum, Finland

"CIVILIZATION" at Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

new artwork "crew dragon"

Large scale mural "lunar explorers"

skype interview with curator Benjamin Weil

new artwork "ascension"

"terraforming" video on view at Studio National des Arts Contemporains

VSS Unity spaceship transferred to Spaceport America

new artwork "space renaissance"

Video interview on "outer space"

"Beyond the Horizon" - exhibition at Wittenstein Innovation Factory

"outer space" exhibition opens in Shanghai

"terraforming" exhibition at Galería Juan Silio, Spain

New artwork "lunar explorers"

Photo shooting at CERN

new artwork "ignition"

"intergalactic" exhibition at BNKR in Munich

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

Shooting of Soyuz rocket launch in French Guiana

CIVILIZATION exhibition opened at the UCCA Beijing

Lecture at the European Space Research and Technology Center

A Bright Future - New Scientist magazine publicates the artwork "synlight"

VSS Unity - Welcome to Space !

Opening of the epic landmark exhibition „CIVILIZATION“ at Museum MCA, Seoul, South Korea