How has television reshaped daily life and global connections in ways that remain relevant today? What are the possibilities and limitations of these media systems that emerged in the 1980s? Can the signal be disrupted?

Join us in the study room where Iuliia Glushneva will present her exploration of the CCA Collection using the concept of the “telebridge.”

In 1982, the telecast Moscow—Space—California, a live satellite broadcast linking Moscow and California, marked the beginning of “telebridges” in the Soviet Union. These programs connected audiences across Cold War divides, creating rare, real-time exchanges between distant places. Soon, telebridges became popular public events, often shown on large outdoor screens in Moscow, reflecting a growing electronic culture that reshaped how people experienced distance and connection.

This public session examines how television influenced the relationships among geography, architecture, and urban space in socialist countries, including the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Cuba. It also asks how physical environments—such as national borders, city planning, and design systems—shaped television.

Through archival sources like press coverage and design documents, participants will learn how television systems were developed, from electronics production to interior broadcasting spaces. The session also highlights international collaborations such as the Intervision network, which links multiple countries.

This event will be held in English and is free of charge. However, as space is limited, registration is recommended.

This event is part of the Friday in the Collection series, where guests are invited to explore our collection with one keyword, and to curate a selection of objects they will present in the study room for one afternoon. Through findings, expected or not, and storytelling, they draw relationships between the objects, the audience and their own stories and interests.

Iuliia Glushneva is a media scholar specializing in global television and video history, technology and infrastructure studies, and socialist and postsocialist creative industries. She holds a Ph.D. in Film and Moving Image Studies from Concordia University and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University in Montreal.