The MiG-21 Project

About the Speaker

Ralph Ziman was born in 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. His practice is motivated by a sense of social responsibility toward global politics. Using imagery that is at once vivid and dark, he comments on serious issues such as human rights, life under Apartheid, and the arms trade. His work extends across a variety of media, including film, public intervention, sculpture, and installation. Ziman’s artwork has been exhibited by galleries and institutions in Europe, Africa and the United States.

About The MiG-21 Project
The MiG-21 Project is South African artist Ralph Ziman’s 5-year, multidisciplinary project transforming a 51-foot by 24-foot decommissioned Cold War era, Soviet-designed MiG-21 fighter jet into a stunning work of art, entirely covered in tens of millions of colorful glass beads. The re-imagined jet turns an icon of violence into a symbol of resilience and collaboration, and is the centerpiece of the exhibit, including original artwork, Afrofuturistic flight suits, large scale photographs, videos, and interactives.

The MiG-21 Project is the culmination of Ziman’s Weapons of Mass Production Trilogy, a 12-year project inspired by the artist’s experiences growing up in Apartheid South Africa and produced by teams on two continents—Ziman and his team in Los Angeles in collaboration with Southern African beadwork artisans. Together, they addressed the impact of the arms trade on global conflicts and the continued militarization of police forces around the world and responded by turning symbols of oppression into works of art that inspire a reflection on history and current conflicts.

About The MiG-21 Project Documentary
The 25-minute-long documentary details the entirety of the artistic process from Ralph Ziman’s inspiration for the project and acquisition of the MiG-21, to the international collaboration to create the beadwork and assemble the art piece, leading up to the project’s unveiling at The Museum of Flight. Also covered in the film is background on the MiG-21, including details about the plane used (decommissioned tail number 8971) and how MiGs’ presence in the Angolan Civil War ultimately hastened the end of white rule in South Africa. See historical footage and personal interviews, including the Polish pilot who flew tail number 8971 in the 1980s, a South African Border War pilot and the team of artists and craftspeople in Southern Africa and the United States who took on the huge task of covering the aircraft in tens of millions of glass beads.

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