Third edition of contemporary art fair 1703 opens in St. Petersburg

The opening ceremony for the third edition of St. Petersburg Art Fair 1703 took place today in the Manege Central Exhibition Hall at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024. The project was launched at the initiative of Gazprom and is being implemented with the support from the St. Petersburg Committee for Culture.

Taking part in the ceremony were Sergey Kupriyanov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee – Head of Department at Gazprom, and Boris Piotrovsky, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg.

The number of the participants of the fair grows with each passing year. In 2024, the event welcomes a total of 41 galleries and production groups from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, Istanbul (Türkiye), and Dubai (UAE).

The art fair concept implies that the visitors can see various forms of contemporary art, from the traditional categories of sculpture and painting to installations and digital images. This year, the exhibition features four sections titled Basis, Algorithm, Project, and Material.

The Basis section brings together both well-known, long-established galleries and newly-created ones that have a permanent exhibition program; the Algorithm section is for galleries that display digital art; and the Project section presents on-line galleries, artist associations and groups that do not use any permanent exhibition spaces. The Material section showcases collectible design items and 3D artworks from galleries that study how artists work with different materials, for instance, glass, textiles and ceramics.

The Collections section is traditionally on display in the fair's non-profit art space. This year, it features four projects. For the first time ever, among them is a presentation of artworks by the alumni of the Ilya Repin St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts.

The fair has become a new center of gravity for art galleries from Russian regions that are actively participating in the artistic life of the country and shaping new artistic ideas and concepts.

Since the autumn of 2023, the 1703 project has been delivering its one-year series of lectures at various cultural venues of St. Petersburg. The program of the lectures has been developed by the organizers jointly with the Masters art school. During the cultural-and-educational events within the series of lectures, which are designed to be held for one year, experts share their knowledge about the industry of art and the tasks to be solved by art fairs. The series of lectures are free of charge for the audience; preliminary registration is required.

At the fair, its visitors will also be able to enjoy lectures, discussions and mediations. This year, they will focus on such topics as the promotion of cultural projects; art in Russian regions; and the interaction between art and business.

The 1703 fair will be open through June 9.

“St. Petersburg has always been a major center of attraction. But we must not stop at what we have already achieved, we must keep going forward.

All of the projects run by Gazprom in the city, namely its construction, conservation and landscaping projects, aim to create and develop major attractions across St. Petersburg. The 1703 fair has the same task. It attracts people who are interested in contemporary art. It compliments what the city already has to offer. We have the best museums. However, we did not have a large-scale fair like this, so Gazprom has created it,” said Sergey Kupriyanov.

“Today, many guests have gathered in the Manege, including not only the professional community, but also the residents and visitors of our city who are contemporary art enthusiasts. St. Petersburg has always been on the cutting edge of contemporary art, and today it still is. Together with our strategic partner Gazprom, we are holding the 1703 fair for the third time. The number of the participants and visitors of the fair is growing every year, thus indicating that contemporary art has a very active life and is successful and in demand, which is just as it should be,” said Boris Piotrovsky.