Grand Opening for The MiG-21 Project World Premiere Art Exhibit June 21
Stunning exhibit with re-imagined fighter jet opens with a day of art activities plus film screening with Project artist Ralph Ziman and his creative team
SEATTLE, June 7, 2025—June 21 is Opening Day for the world premier of The MiG-21 Project, a dazzling exhibit of South African artist Ralph Ziman’s 5-year, multidisciplinary project transforming a 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, which also includes original Afrofuturistic flight suits and helmets, videos, photographs and artwork created for the Project.
The Grand Opening day features a screening and art talk with The MiG-21 Project team including artist Ralph Ziman, team project manager and filmmakers, plus community art projects, beading activities, family art workshops and more from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The exhibit and events are free for Museum Members and with general admission; group rates available. The MiG-21 Project will be on view until Jan. 26, 2026.
The MiG-21 Project Documentary Screening and Talk with the Artists
2 to 3:30 p.m.
Artist/filmmaker Ralph Ziman, filmmakers Nic Hofmeyr and Paul Duran-Lemos, and The MiG-21 Project manager Nick Bonamy will screen their 25-minute documentary about the Project, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A moderated by The Museum of Flight Lead Exhibit Developer Cody Othoudt. Check out a preview of the video here.
The film details the exhibit’s path from 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. The documentary also looks at the history of the plane and how MiGs’ presence in the Angolan Civil War ultimately hastened the end of white rule in South Africa, plus historical footage and personal interviews including a Polish Air Force pilot who flew this MiG-21 in the 1980s, a South African Border War pilot, and introductions to 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.
The panel will discuss the artist and filmmakers’ personal experiences with the MiG while growing up in South Africa, plus the historical material discovered while weaving the story of The MiG-21 Project. The team will share the Project’s technical details, and delve into the artistic, conceptual and sociopolitical interrogations that come with reclaiming salvaged objects of war into works of art. The discussion invites us all to ask how we reckon our personal histories and experiences through art.
Background on The MiG-21 Project
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.
“The aim of The MiG-21 Project,” said Ziman, “is to take the most mass-produced supersonic fighter aircraft and to turn it from a machine of war into something that looks beautiful and changes the meaning of it.”
Why Beads?
“There is no Africa without beads, it connects,” said bead artisan Thenjiwe Pretty Nkogatsi. "If you go deep within Africa, you find it’s the one thing. So that’s why you see beads are all over.”
Image above: The MiG-21 Project - "Ruacana Raider Returns," staged photo of woman wearing custom regalia in front of the beaded MiG-21 fighter. Photo courtesy The MiG-21 Project.
Image below: The MiG-21 Project beaded MiG-21 fighter jet in a staged photo. Photo courtesy The MiG-21 Project.
%20600b.jpg?upscale=true&width=1200&upscale=true&name=Ruacana%20Raider%20Returns%20(print)%20600b.jpg)
-600.jpg?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=Mission-Ready%20(Complete)-600.jpg)
