From the author:

“Before We Disappear” is a documentary exhibition about the muted reality behind the voices of change.

Over the course of two years, I collected fascinating and frightening facts about the world we live in and the one we will leave behind. I exchanged information via email with researchers, media outlets, museums and individuals. I personally verified much of it by travelling to many of the the locations myself. Everyone I contacted supported my efforts, sharing the results of years of research and allowing me to use their material in the exhibition.

My research explored when humanity first began to realise that we ourselves are part of the problem and which independent organisations first drew attention to that. I also examined how frightening the scale of our waste problem is, how social influencers think about saving the world, and how artists and unknown heroes achieve more than some of the world’s largest and best-known organisations.

I began with extinct and endangered animal species, discovered parallels with great lost civilisations, and arrived at the best example of all: the people who are working to save the future.

About the exhibition:

At first glance, the subject is disturbing. Yet, through examples and up-to-date information about extinct animal species and great lost civilisations, the exhibition becomes an inspiring collection of facts, people and stories that safeguard the future and help ensure it can continue to exist.

It is an exceptional digital visual narrative about our ecological legacy and the inspiring people and ideas that give us hope to move forward.

The exhibition presents major figures of our time such as Jane Goodall and David Attenborough, as well as online heroes such as Dean Schneider and Rémi Gaillard, alongside numerous unknown individuals and independent organisations doing far more than their better-known public counterparts.

• When did we first realise that the planet is a living organism?
• Is there a gigantic garbage patch in the ocean?
• Is it really true that only two members of some species remain?
• How important are whales in relation to global warming?

These are just some of the questions that “Before We Disappear” explores in a digital documentary narrative created through the magic of 3D projection mapping.

The exhibition is supported by information from National Geographic, The Global Rewilding initiative, The Ocean Cleanup, Sea Shepherd, the Jane Goodall Institute and Dean Schneider, as well as by personal meetings with local communities and visits to reserves.

Materials from the public collections of NASA and Google have also been used.

Suitable for children and adapted for people with disabilities.

Poliforma Team

Idea and realisation: Polina Gerasimova / Poliforma Studio
Music and sound design: Ivan Velkov (P.I.F.)