Unexpected Eisenstein: The Exhibition

About Unexpected Eisenstein

Curated by leading Eisenstein expert and Kino Klassika trustee Ian Christie and GRAD director Elena Sudakova, the exhibition brought together nearly seventy sketches from the Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum and Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). A rare chance to consider Eisenstein beyond his great films The Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, it explored his influence, among other things, on generations of British filmmakers from Lawrence Oliver to Derek Jarman, Sally Potter and Mark Cousins.

Macbeth Motifs

Unexpected Eisenstein offers a rare opportunity to see the development of several recurrent image motifs through Eisenstein’s life.

The character of King Duncan in Macbeth was a potent image source for Eisenstein from his early theatre designs while working with Meyerhold to the sado-masochistic erotic drawings of Eisenstein’s time in Mexico.

COSTUME DESIGN FOR KING DUNCAN IN MACBETH Sergei Eisenstein, 1922.
Costume design for King Duncan in ‘Macbeth’.
© Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, Moscow.

A film: Eisenstein on Lawrence

Film maker Mark Cousins imagines a conversation between Eisenstein and English writer DH Lawrence. This playful film essay carries forward Mark’s dialogue with Eisenstein’s from his film ‘What is this film called love?’

Eisenstein’s Legacy: An Academic Conference

We host a two day academic conference at the Courtauld Institute with co-organisers GRAD London and Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre to present new international research on Eisenstein’s legacy.

Love, Lust and Laughter at Pace Gallery

We host an exhibition of rarely seen Eisenstein erotic drawings titled ‘Love, Lust and Laughter’ with Pace London and presented by Joan Neuberger to highlight this little studied aspect of Eisenstein’s creative process.

Eisenstein in Mexico

In collaboration with A Nos Amours we host for the first time ever consecutive screenings of versions of Eisenstein’s unfinished film Que Viva Mexico with a panel discussion with Owen Hatherley, Erika Balsom and Sophie Fiennes.

Alexander Nevsky

We invite famed contemporary composer and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev to introduce a rare sold out 35mm screening of Eisenstein and Prokofiev’s ground breaking venture into sound film, the historical epic Alexander Nevsky.