Григорий Ревзин о теории заговора в отношениях государства и искусства

Though it opened a mere six months ago, the new Museum of Modern Art in Perm has already garnered the reputation of a magic wand, transforming a dismal industrial city into a capital of fashion and culture. But this was no miracle—just the outcome of a carefully implemented plan. With the blessing of Senator Sergei Gordeyev, Marat Guelman—imported from Moscow to be the museum’s director—created a space that, rather than serving as custodian and promoter of cultural treasures, forms “hubs of social communication” and a “creative urban environment.” But there has been resistance to this new-fangled process—the local cultural opposition is vocally rejecting these outsiders.

The Third Moscow Biennale generated huge interest among the public. In just the first two days of “Against Exclusion,” the biennial’s main exhibition, the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture counted ten thousand visitors, all of them willing to wait in huge lines. Crowds could be observed at other sites of the biennial as well — at Winzavod, at the Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art, at the Tretyakov on Krymsky Val, at the former Red October chocolate factory, and almost a hundred other places that hosted parallel programming. The biennial’s sensational success by Moscow standards has been ascribed to the wisdom and experience of its curator, Jean-Hubert Martin, whose organizing concept, “art for everyone,” gave the event a democratic appeal. It is clear that his ideas connected with both the expectations of the Russian public and the vogue for contemporary art that has recently spread to the masses.

The Тhird Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art opened September 25. Jean-Hubert Martin, the curator, has a long and close history with Russia. Known for his work in the landmark exhibitions “Paris — Moscow” at the Centre Pompidou in 1979 and “Moscow — Paris” at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in 1981, he also organized a series of solo exhibitions for Russian artists in the West in the 1980s. Maria Kravtsova spoke with Martin to find out how accessible Moscow Conceptualism is to Western audiences, why Kabakov is a star, and how to counter the authority of the market.

The Russian artist, actionist, and curator Oleg Kulik, best known as the “human dog,” is curating an exhibition at TsUM, a department store, as part of the Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Kulik spoke with Elena Fedotova on how to make art into a spiritual practice, the fate of Moscow Actionism, and when he plans to finally shave his beard.

This year Russia showed the world almost the entire spectrum of its contemporary art in its current state — but breadth won out over clarity. Curators, foundation directors, collectors, and artists seemed to want to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the first, perestroikaera appearance of contemporary artists in Venice after years of Soviet-approved realism.

Seventy years ago, the Exhibition of Achievements of the People’s Economy (abbreviated VDNKh in Russian) opened in Moscow. Built on 150 hectares, the design was meant to be a grand representation of an ideal Soviet Union, a true communist paradise. Almost immediately, this masterpiece of propaganda was a hit. Few people living behind the Iron Curtain would have guessed that the architecture of the Soviet Empire belonged to a worldwide aesthetic that also appeared on the territory of the Soviet Union’s ideological enemy, the United States. VDNKh clones and prototypes appeared in several countries, but nonetheless, nothing can eclipse Russia’s unique “exhibition of achievements.”