res communis omnium

2023, audio installation, 33 novels

The concept of res communis omnium, rooted in Roman law, defines certain elements — earth, sky, and air — as belonging to all humanity. Traditionally applied to natural resources, its relevance persists in modern international law, particularly in discussions on intellectual property and cultural heritage.

One of its most striking manifestations is the transition of copyrighted works into the public domain — 50 to 80 years after an author’s death, individual ownership dissolves, and once-protected creations become accessible to all.
This installation project, what could be described as audio-cinema, explores more than 500 cultural figures whose works entered the public domain since 2022. Through historical analysis and visual lyricism, it reexamines 20th-century icons, revealing how their messages remain deeply relevant today. Acting as a time capsule, the project questions whether cultural memory is ever truly static, or if creative expression is locked in an ongoing cycle of reinvention. By navigating the fluid boundaries between legacy and reinterpretation, it asks: what does it mean for an idea to belong to everyone? and how do works, previously confined by copyright, transform when free to be reinterpreted, remixed, and reshaped?

authors: Yana Osman, Anton Khamchishkin
support:  Mikhail Bodukhin