One of the most obvious consequences of political and economical stabilisation in Russia is the growing interest of Russian society in contemporary culture, and more precisely contemporary art. In the last decade a new Russian art infrastructure has emerged through art fairs, galleries, non-profit exhibition spaces, festivals and conferences. For these reasons, 2005 was the right time for Moscow to create a major international art event, the first of its kind in the country.
The first Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, initiated by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, marked an important step forward in the process of reintegrating contemporary Russian art into the international art world. The Moscow Biennale intends to be not only a great event in the artistic life of Moscow and Russia but also to play an important social, cultural and political role internationally.
It aims to be not only a particular powerful event, but also a new institutional project that strengthens relationships between curators, art historians, managers, federal authorities, sponsors and trustees, mass media and public opinion on contemporary art both in and outside Russia itself. It is the organisers’ intention that the Moscow Biennale will be a reproducible strong structure that finds its place in the network of other major international art forums.
