On June 24, 2026, Gallery D137 celebrated its 30th anniversary.

When the gallery was founded in 1996, its name came about quite naturally. The gallery was located on a landing stage bearing the number D137. At the time, no one was looking for hidden symbolism in the name—it simply marked the beginning of a new story.

Three decades later, the name D137 has come to be perceived in a very different way.

Today, the letter D may stand for Dimension, as every exhibition opens a new dimension—the dimension of art, freedom, and creativity.

But the most remarkable part is the number 137 itself.

In modern physics, there exists one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of science. This number is associated with the so-called fine-structure constant, a fundamental physical constant whose value is approximately 1/137.

This constant determines the strength of the electromagnetic interaction—the very interaction that makes atoms, light, chemical bonds, and ultimately the Universe as we know it possible.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman described the number 137 as one of the greatest mysteries of modern science. He said that this number should be written on the wall of every physicist’s office as a constant reminder of how much we still do not understand about the structure of the Universe.

For this reason, 137 has long ceased to be merely a number. For many, it has become a symbol of mystery, harmony, the search for hidden laws of nature, and the aspiration to go beyond the limits of the obvious.

Looking back at the gallery’s history thirty years later, it is difficult not to see this as a remarkable coincidence.

A name that was once connected to a very specific place has gradually acquired a much broader meaning.

Today, D137 can be seen as the symbol of a space where art becomes a way of exploring the world.

And perhaps this is where the profound kinship between art and science lies: both the artist and the scientist begin their journey in exactly the same way—with wonder at the world, with the desire to go beyond the boundaries of the known and to approach a mystery that never ceases to inspire.

P.S. My sincere thanks to Oleg Gizatullin for the idea that opened a new interpretation of the name Gallery D137.