The 3rd Contemporary 1703 Art Fair opened in St. Petersburg

The number of the art fair participants is growing every year. In 2024, the art fair presents 41 galleries and creative associations from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, Istanbul (Turkey), and Dubai (UAE).

The concept of the fair is to introduce visitors to various forms of contemporary art, from usual sculpture and painting to installations and digital images. This year's exposition is divided into four sections: Base, Algorithm, Project, and Material.

The Base section includes both well-known, long-established and recently established galleries with a permanent exhibition programme; the Algorithm section includes galleries working with digital art; and the Project section includes online galleries, art associations and groups working without a permanent exhibition space. The Material section showcases collectible design objects and three-dimensional art objects presented by galleries that explore artists' work with different materials, such as glass, textiles, and ceramics.
The programme of the fair is traditionally complemented by the non-commercial Collections section. This year, four projects became its participants. One of them presents works by graduates of the Repin St. Petersburg Academy of Arts for the first time.

The fair has become a new centre of attraction for galleries from the regions of Russia, who play a distinguished role in a creative life of the country, forming latestartistic ideas and concepts.

The 1703 project has been implementing an annual lecture programme carried out in collaboration with the Masters School at cultural venues in St. Petersburg since 2023. Throughout the year, cultural and educational lecture events are organised: experts talk about the art industry and the aimsof the fairs. The lecture events are free of charge and are available to everyone by pre-registration.

Lectures, discussions and mediations are also organised for visitors during the fair. This year they are dedicated to the promotion of cultural projects and art in Russian regions, and interaction between art and business.

«St. Petersburg has always been a powerful centre of attraction. But we should not stop, we intent to move forward. All Gazprom's urban projects, in construction, restoration, and landscaping, are aimed at creating and developing centres of attraction in St. Petersburg, and 1703 Art Fair alleges it. The fair's audience are those engaged in contemporary art. It complements what the city already has in place. We have the best museums. And there was no such fair of such a scale, and Gazprom created one,» said Sergey Kupriyanov.

«Today there are many guests at the Manege, they are the professional community, as well as lovers of contemporary art, residents and guests of our city. St. Petersburg has always been at the cutting edge of contemporary art, and it continues to be so today. Together with our strategic partner Gazprom, we are organizing 1703 Art Fair for the third time. The number of participants and visitors is increasing every year, which means that contemporary art is very active, successful and in demand, as it should be,» said Boris Piotrovsky.

«1703 Art Fair was initiated by Gazprom PJSC in 2022, it was a natural step in the systemic support of culture and art that the company provides to St. Petersburg. On behalf of the entire fair team, as well as on my own behalf, I would like to thank Alexey Borisovich Miller for his trust and support. We thank Gazprom PJSC for giving our city this wonderful celebration of art. We would also like to thank our partners who are presenting their stands at the fair this year,» said Alisa Presnetsova.