For everyone who missed Utopia Saved, the exhibition of the work of South Korean artist Lee Bul, and for everyone who would like to see it again, we have created a virtual tour that will allow you to walk through the exhibition virtually.

Preparations for the exhibition in Manege have been underway for about two years. Lee Bul has been quite active in all aspects of the project, from developing the initial idea and selecting the works to preparing the catalogue and coming up with architectural solutions for the exhibition.

"Lee Bul’s longstanding fascination with utopia entered a new phase in the first decade of the 21st century, when she started creating architectural sculptures and drawings inspired by Constructivism and Russian avant-garde art and architecture. The artist uses icons and tropes from utopian modernism, transforming, allegorising, and juxtaposing them in her own creative works. She engages with utopian modernism with empathy and originality, with critique and imagination."

Sunjung Kim and SooJin Lee, exhibition curators

The project has also focused on the creative visual dialogue between Lee Bul and the Russian avant-garde. Included in the latter are works by artists Kazimir Malevich, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Aleksandra Ekster, architects Ivan Leonidov and Iakov Chernikhov, scientist and thinker Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, and others.

The exhibition has been organised by Manege in cooperation with the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and forms a key part of the Year of Cultural Exchange between Russia and South Korea (2020), which is taking place to mark the 30-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Partners: The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, The Russian Culture Foundation, The St Petersburg Committee for Culture, The IX St Petersburg International Cultural Forum, The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, The Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE).

Curator: Sunjung Kim
Co-Curator: SooJin Lee
Project Initiator and Director: Anna Kirikova