Katyusha: Film Screening & Director Q&A

Join us for a special screening of Katyusha, a mesmerizing three-channel video installation by artist and filmmaker Stephen Hilyard, followed by a Q&A with the director.

Set against the haunting backdrop of Pyramida, a Soviet showcase community built in 1928 and abandoned in 1998, Katyusha explores the layers of memory, identity, and ideology embedded in this Arctic ghost town.

Through the lens of three fictional characters—the Guide, a Northern Fulmar seabird; and the Lovers, a ballet dancer and a basketball player—the film shifts between time periods, revealing fragments of life in Pyramida before its sudden evacuation.

Katyusha examines Pyramida’s legacy—once a Soviet dream, now a symbol of a failed utopian project.

About the Filmmaker
Stephen Hilyard is an artist and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, known for his work exploring the tension between idealism and reality. His projects have taken him to remote locations around the world, from Icelandic lakes to the high Arctic. His work has been exhibited internationally, with support from institutions such as The Huntington Library, The Harpo Foundation, and The American Scandinavian Foundation.

Host or Publisher The Wende Museum