The MiG-21 Project – a Soviet Cold War fighter turned into a South African art piece, covered in millions of glass beads

The MiG-21 Project is an art exhibition by South African-born artist Ralph Ziman. It consists of a former Polish Air Force MiG-21 fighter entirely covered (inside and out) with tens of millions of glass beads. There is also a huge gallery of uniforms and garments in similar style in the main museum. The piece had its world premiere in 2025 in Seattle, but the exhibit is flying away on January 26. Ziman also created a similarly-adorned piece made from a Casspir armored vehicle that visited Seattle a few years ago; the MiG-21 is his latest in a series of art pieces centered around militarization of police. The underlying theme is based around the belief that by putting hands on something, and by changing its appearance you can take away its power and change its meaning.

The way this thing catches the light, especially surrounded by cold polished aluminum and concrete, is unbelievable. I would do anything to be allowed to get a top-down photo of this thing.