MOSCOW— It seems that in the Russian capital only the inexpensive megamalls are hiring these days; they need support for the hoards of people looking for deals. But art is never cheap, and in Moscow’s art world the atmosphere is one of extreme uncertainty. Even one of the city’s most financially stable venues — Dasha Zhukova’s Center for Contemporary Culture Moscow, or the Garage — may be facing an uncertain future because of a possible waning interest on the part of its founder. The Russian it-girl was named editor in chief of Pop magazine last month, and the Garage press office won't say what effect the appointment will have on her brainchild. For now, though, the show will go on: On March 19, the center will open the multi-artist exhibition “A Certain State of the World,” from the François Pinault collection. Subodh Gupta’s skull made from kitchen utensils, Mind shut down, will greet visitors at the entrance; it seems skulls, if Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted For the Love of God is any indication, have become art-world signs of well-being, not death.

For most institutions on the scene, however, money is the issue. The 2009 Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin and scheduled to begin September 24, is still seeking sponsorship, a source who works for the event told ARTINFO. Although a number of special projects are in the works — including a large Antony Gormley show sponsored by the Russian luxury goods firm (and Phillips de Pury & Company owner) Mercury Group — the overall look and feel of the event remains unclear. Biennial representatives say that nearly everything from actual artworks to special guests will be decided at the last minute, depending on how much funding can be raised.

The fate of the biennial will undoubtedly affect that of Art Moscow, Russia’s biggest contemporary art fair, which last month was postponed from May to September. (The announcement came less than a month after ARTINFO broke the news that this year's edition of a longer-running event, the Moscow World Fine Art Fair, had been canceled.) Organizers say that Art Moscow was pushed back in order to coincide with the biennial and therefore draw as many international guests and art lovers as possible, but between the current economic situation and some organizational challenges dating back several months, the fair still seems destined to have lower attendance and sales figures than ever before when it finally opens.

Last fall, in the midst of the economic crisis, Expo-Park Exhibition Projects, Art Moscow's organizer, raised booth rates from €185 ($240) per square meter in the 2007–08 season to €285 per square meter, in an attempt, it seems, to prevent future losses. Many galleries declined to participate as a result, and a delegation of Moscow dealers made an official plea to Expo-Park to lower the rates. The company’s director, Vasily Bychkov, obliged with a compromise, lowering prices to €225 per square meter.

The majority of galleries accepted the new terms, and it seemed that everything would be fine. But last week, ARTINFO got word got that some were starting to pull out again. A St. Petersburg gallery director said the owners of his space had ultimately decided to pass on this year's Art Moscow, despite already having paid for their booth (they are entitled to a full refund). He added that other St. Petersburg dealers are considering this option as well, preferring to show at European fairs instead.

Art Moscow’s coordinator, Ekaterina Zvyagintseva, had a different explanation: “Maybe they want to pull out and re-enter to save money on euro exchange rates,” she suggested. She said that there are 35 confirmed exhibitors (10 fewer than last year) so far, and that a special project by Russia’s 2007 Venice Biennale representative, Alexander Ponomarev, is in the works. No details have yet been released about Ponomarev's installation, titled Nemo, but given his practice of creating large and complex structures with a mix of interactive media and organic materials like water, it will undoubtedly be worth seeing.

Zvyagintseva also said that Triumph Gallery, which represents controversial Kandinsky Prize–winner Alexey Belyaev-Gintovt, Jake and Dinos Chapman, the Russian collaborative AES+F, and others, will expand its booth for this year’s fair. The gallery is on the rise these days, with an exhibition by gallery artists Tanatos Banionis currently running at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (through March 22). A collective, Tanatos Banionis took its moniker from Soviet actor Donatos Banionis’s name; the artists in the group prefer to remain anonymous themselves. It is reported that Triumph's director, Dmitry Hankin, is a member of the project.

Their exhibition at the Moscow museum, “Divine Wind,” spans several floors, and includes digital prints, photos, an installation of broken teacups, and a video. It presents a concept that only sci-fi fans could decipher — something about kamikazes, war, and martyrs. Overall, the production value of the show seems far more impressive than anything in it. The budget for the exhibition is undisclosed, but appears generous: The group paid five young women to have full-color, temporary tattoos drawn on their backs as part of the project. At the opening, the women were seated naked and perfectly still behind a replica of a Japanese home, a "performance" for which each took home about $400, ARTINFO has learned.

Zurab Tsereteli, the founder and director of the Moscow museum, the president of the Russian Academy of Arts, and a kitschy sculptor whose influence extends even to the U.S., gave an impassioned and impromptu speech for Tanatos Banionis. “These guys are not throwing bricks in windows, they are real artists,” said Tsereteli, 75. Triumph has clearly found a strategy for countering the economic disaster: use splashy, controversial work to woo the Russian art world and hopefully, Russia's rich.