In Venice the 52nd Biennale of Contemporary Arts is held from June 10 to November 21. This year Russia presents a great amount of artists, some of them are regular participants of the Venice Biennale, but there are also new names, exhibited on the Biennale for the first time. Interactive attraction of Julia Miller “Click I hope” at the entrance to the pavilion disposes visitors for a positive perception of the exposition: visitors willingly poke their finger at the inscription “I hope” written in 50 languages and see at the screen how many people did the same.

The exbition in the Russian pavilion was a great success. The audiences applauded installation by Alexander Ponomarev. The composition makes use of genuine car windscreen-wipers which clear off ads from TV screens replacing them with a beautiful view of Venetian lagoon. Visitors also like so-called “Shower”, work by Arseny Meshcheryakov. They enter the shower room tiled with monitors instead of ordinary tiles which broadcast various TV programmes and vigorously switch on taps in the hope to tune to the programme they want. Unfortunately, the contemporary information flow can only be weakened but not switched off at all.

At the Biennale works of Russian artists are presented not only in the national pavilion. The exhibition’s main pavilion houses works by Andrei Monastyrski, Dmitry Gutov and Ilya Kabakov, installatuons by Andrey Bartenev. Photo exposition of Stas Polnarev titled “Ruins” and “Panorama” of St. Petersburg artists are shown separately.

There is one more Russian exhibit which is on display outside the exhibition’s site. Prominent Russian sculptor Georgy Frangulyan erected a monument on the lagoon’s water surface. There is an opinion that it is impossible to get permission for unveiling a new monument in the Italian city-museum but the sculptor hopes that the monument will remain in Venice after the Biennale.

The same day with the formal opening of Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale Olga Sviblova - director of Moscow House of Photography- was celebating her Birthday! Company Prolab-centre congratulating Olga Lvovna Sviblova on her Birthday, wishes her inexhaustible creative energy, happiness, success in new large-scale projects, as well as to continue development of Photographic Art in Moscow and throughout Russia. On behalf of the Prolab Nikolai Kanavin congratulated Olga Sviblova.