Ilya Kabakov (1933-2023) was a defining figure of Moscow's unofficial art scene. With installations such as „Der Mann, der in den Kosmos flog", he gained worldwide fame after emigrating to the West. In this publication, based on a conversation a few weeks before his death, he offers a poignant insight into his life in the Soviet Union and a critical reflection on the contemporary art world. At the same time, he explains what drove him as an artist and what he wishes to leave behind for posterity: "In my studio, I drew up many plans for installations. These were drawn very precisely in the hope that archaeologists would find and reconstruct them in some indefinite future. It was like a letter sent into the future, like someone throwing a bottle into the ocean in the hope that it might one day be found. And for that to happen, everything had to be done very precisely." In this final conversation, everything that shapes his deeply human art comes through: humor, a keen sense of observation, and creative stubbornness. And he argues: "Good art is art for everyone."

Claudia Jolles (b. 1958, Vienna), an art historian, independent curator, and art critic, lives in Zurich. She has been friends with Ilya Kabakov since the 1985 exhibition „Am Rande" at the Kunsthalle Bern.