The recently restored 19th-century Imperial Farm in the northern part of the Alexander Park houses the sci-tech art exhibition Crypto/Farm, which is open with free admission 12pm-8pm daily from 6 June to 2 November 2025.
Supported by the Sber bank, the exhibition is a co-project of Tsarskoe Selo and the Art & Science Centre of St Petersburg's Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO) University, whose students and graduates showcase their digital installations, NFT, video art, AI, VR, XR, AR and sound art.
The young media artists present seven installations creating an artistic space inspired by French sociologist Bruno Latour's actor-network theory. A space with no hierarchy between human and non-human entities, where people, animals, bacteria, things and technologies become full-fledged actors. Digital techs are used to represent the Imperial Farm's historical and natural heritage through means such as: interactive video mapping based on traditional sewing patterns, plant ornaments and blockchain network architecture; decentralised digital systems imitating analog processes in agriculture; 3D printed porcelain dishware; and reconstructions of the Farm's former exotic animals by using neural network algorithms. It's all about communication between man and nature in the context of science and new technologies, with the help of advanced tools like Sber's Kandinsky AI.
Among other excitements, the installations offer a VR experience of the 19th-century Farm through birds' eyes, a control over "rivers of milk" via "interactive bacteria", and even Carl Linnaeus' flower clock.
Exhibition Curator: Olga Vad, Head of the Art & Science Master's program at ITMO University.
Artists: Anastasia Verzhbitskaya, Talyana Vyaltseva, Anelj Eralieva, Irina Kalapyshina, Polina Kudinova, Masha Skvo, Elena Sokolova, Alexei Fesjkov, Lyudmila Fridman, Ekaterina Yudaeva.
This exhibition is part of Art Farm of Tsarskoe Selo, the first large-scale project held at the newly restored Imperial Farm. Dedicated to land art (a.k.a. environmental art), the project also includes a summer festival, art object workshops, and an art laboratory. Our visitors will enjoy special guided tours, talks with land artists, Art & Science lectures, landscape mediations, and guided walks in the parks.