Timothy Misir / MTLarge screens scattered throughout Manezh show projections of historical figures played by actors, who move from screen to screen and interact.

The Soviet Union in early 20th century, a time of social and political upheaval, was also an artistic utopia, and saw the interplay of suprematism, constructivism and futurism separate but connected art movements.

Moscow Manege

Anactor plays Sergei Eisenstein.

Collectively known as theRussian avant-garde, theater directors like Sergei Eisenstein, poets like Mayakovsky anddesigners such as Alexander Rodchenko, composers, architects andartists like Kandinsky, Malevich andLizzitsky were just afew of the many who tried topushed theboundaries ofculture andits possibilities.

Anew exhibition byDutch theater director Saskia Boddeke andBritish filmmaker Peter Greenaway, "The Golden Age ofthe Russian Avant-Garde" dramatizes these characters andimmerses viewers inthe context ofthat period, exploring thelives andworks ofits key figures through thelanguage oftheater andcinema. Twelve pivotal figures fromthe period of1910 to1930, played byRussian actors, are used totell thestory ofthis period ofcultural experimentation andinnovation.

More than 1,000 artworks, sourced fromgalleries andprivate collections around theworld, are displayed as part ofthe exhibit, but Greenaway andBoddeke add tothat byshowing thecontext inwhich these masterpieces were created, theexchange ofideas between artists andthe debates that surrounded them, pieced together frommemoirs, manifestos, newspaper articles, published works andpersonal artifacts.

The characters are shown on multi-screen projections fused with photos, film reels and film clips. They interact with each other, speaking and arguing across screens, and move from one screen to another. They are not presented in a fixed order, running in 15-minute loops, and one can move randomly from viewing one platform to another.

Moscow Manege

Anna Shepeleva plays Lilya Brik.

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Greenaway's New Exhibit Dramatizes Russian Avant-Garde