The first permanent
museum on the Moon

What can a book the size of a finger-tip tell us about the Moon and humanity?

Moon Bound, a 1 cm³ miniature book being sent to the Moon this year as part of a science rover, will be presented in Plovdiv, inviting visitors to explore relationships among art, science, and the Moon. The exhibition centers on a single question: How does the Moon see the Earth? Alongside the book, the exhibition features artworks in multiple formats that create an immersive experience blending scientific research with artistic imagination.

Presented inside the Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis, the exhibition places contemporary space-focused art within a historic setting. The ancient architecture creates a powerful contrast, connecting humanity’s earliest cultural history with modern visions of space exploration and our place in the cosmos.

The exhibition is presenting:

— The Moon Bound Book by Moon Gallery
— The ISS Payload by Moon Gallery
— FENUA: The Last Fragment by Paulina Almeida
— Time Slices by Lakshmi Mohanbabu
— Alien from the Mechanical Angel by Luis Bernardo Guzmán
— Imprint of Lightness by Jeanne Morel and Paul Marlier
— Inner Telescope by Eduardo Kac
— Un·Earthing (playsuit for Mars) by Ralo Mayer
— Measuring Mistakes by Ulrike Kuchner
— Cosmic Dancer by Arthur Woods
— Flight Candidate #9 and Substruction by Hans Brooymans
— Tantalum Ring, After Schengen series by Kongo Astronauts
— Self Portrait on the Hubble Space Telescope of NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld by Michael Soluri

The opening took place on 23rd of February at 18:00.

The opening evening welcomed a wonderful audience – 180 guests, reaching full capacity of the venue. NOVA TV and Bulgarian National Television were on the ground with live coverage, and Moon Gallery participated in a full 1-hour live show on Plovdiv Societal TV.

The opening was accompanied by live music – blending classical and jazz, performed by renowned musicians from the European Capital of Culture 2019: Miroslav Turiyski, Alexander Lekov, Zhelyazka Belchilova.

Dates: 23 February – 15 March.
Opening times: 9.00 – 18.00.
Last entry: 17.15
Address: Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis, 2 Knyaginya Maria Luiza Blvd. Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Entry is free of charge.

The exhibition has been curated by Luis Bernardo Guzmán.

Lead funding for the Moon Bound exhibition has been provided by the Bulgarian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Center for Projects – Plovdiv. This exhibition is supported through Project BG-RRP-11.024-0037 ‘Book for the Moon’; by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, administered by the National Culture Fund of Bulgaria.

Each month, Huis van het Boek hosts a Book Lunch as part of its mission to be a place for everyone connected to the book in all its forms – a platform for institutions, creators, and readers.

On January 15th, we’re delighted to invite you to the Moon Bound Book Lunch. This session will introduce the Moon Bound Book — a project promoting the discussion of larger questions about the relationship between the arts and space sectors, and the value of artists’ engagements with space exploration. The event will offer an opportunity to learn more about the development of the Moon Bound Book and some of the included artworks, with presentations and insights from its contributors.

Speakers:

– Anna Sitnikova
– Jeroen van der Most
– Peter van der Putten
– Mary Kuiper
– Lisa Pettibone

After the presentations, guests are invited to join an informal conversation and networking.

Location: Huis van het Boek, Prinsessegracht 30, 2514 AP The Hague.

Event time: 15th of January, 12:00 – 13:00

From November 3rd to 7th, Nicosia, Cyprus hosted the Moon Bound exhibition at the Cyprus Space Exploration Organization (CSEO) as part of the COSPAR Scientific Symposium 2025.

The opening took place on November 4th at 16:00, with Barbara Brownie introducing Moon Bound and sharing the story behind its unique mission. The exhibition provided an engaging space for dialogue between art and science, celebrating human curiosity and creativity as a vital companion to space exploration.

Moon Gallery Foundation presented the first curated artists’ book destined for the Moon — a miniature volume enacting a dual gesture of exploration: reaching outward to the Moon’s south pole, and turning inward to the infinite realm of human imagination. Besides the book, the exhibition included other items such as sculpture, a digital archive, and seeds, offering visitors a diverse collection of artistic expressions and symbolic artifacts connected to space and discovery.

The project inspired reflection: for all of human history, we have looked up from Earth at the Moon; now, as we travel to the Moon in order to better understand it, we are challenged to ask—how does the Moon see the Earth?

Featured works on the show:

– Moon Bound book
– Lifeship Pyramid
– Lifeship Seed bank
– Lunar Sample Return 1 (LSR-1) by Jack Madden
– Earthling-Conduit of Emotions by Eva Petrič
– Sending Energy and Power to the Moon by Mary Kuiper
– Oceans Deep: Blue Marble by Richelle Ellis
– Flight Candidate #8 by Hans Brooymans
– Time Slices by Lakshmi Mohanbabu
– FENUA: The Last Fragment by Paulina Almeida
– “Moon Village”: A Global Science Opera artwork by Oded Ben-Horin, Kjetil Sømoe, Janne Robberstad

Visitors experienced a thought-provoking blend of artistic ideas and scientific ambition across all works presented at the exhibition, exploring connections between the cosmos and human imagination.

Each piece demonstrated how creative practices illuminate our place in the universe and the experience of space exploration itself.