The founders of the Palace of Fine Arts made an unerring choice of participants for the opening celebrations of this unique cultural centre in the heart of Europe. The prestige of Russian art was so great that the participation of Russian creative forces in this programme was simply essential.

This large-scale Russian cultural project, the centrepiece of which was the ‘Exhibition of Old and New Russian Art’, was a huge success in Belgium and beyond, thereby ensuring the new arts centre’s fame and recognition. Representatives of the Russian émigré community – artists, dancers and historians – played a key role in the preparation and execution of this project.

The exhibition remains to this day one of the greatest displays of Russian culture abroad during the interwar period.

In Russian with a PPT in French