MOSCOW— It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Economically speaking, the third Moscow Biennale, which opened last Friday and runs through Oct. 25, couldn’t have come at a more uncertain moment in the Russian art world, but it turned out to be impressively widespread and ambitious nonetheless.

Granted, not everything went well. Several special projects were lost to bureaucratic challenges and a lack of funding. Anthony Gormley was supposed to install several of his sculptures in Moscow’s city center, for example, but the organizers couldn’t get clearance from the capital’s government. French artist Bertrand Lavier lost an exhibition space in the Museum of Architecture because of disagreements with its director. And a planned survey of Arte Povera artists and a curated show titled “Capitalism as Religion” were canceled due to lack of funds.

Usually the Moscow Biennale is a strange combination of the guest-curated main project, different special projects installed in venues large and small around town, a parallel program of independently organized events, and gallery shows that may or may not be connected to the biennale’s topics. In a way, it is the high point of the Russian art calendar: Every curator and dealer wants to be part of the feast.

That kind of attention, of course, can also bring scrutiny. Victor Misiano, a prominent Russian curator with several international projects on résumé, told ARTINFO that he is highly skeptical of an art event that centers on a state-funded main project. Misiano thinks the biennale should be independent, because, as a primary funder, the state has the authority to vet and censor works. The latter issue was famously introduced during the first and the second biennales, when their organizers announced that exhibitions were not to tackle sensitive issues like Russian politics or religion. While all three biennales have gone off without any major scandals erupting, at least publicly, censorship remains a possibility that can’t be overlooked.

While the biennale has always relied on a combination of funding from the state (which has remained steady this year) and corporations (which seems to have declined), this year the main project may have been backed largely by a new kind of sponsor.

This year’s pivotal exhibition is a reincarnation of curator Jean-Hubert Martin’s “Against Exclusion,” on view at Dasha Zhukova’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture. It’s rumored that Zhukova’s boyfriend, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, picked up Martin’s fee, estimated at €200,000 ($294,000). The exhibition is an updated version of his groundbreaking show “Magicians of the Earth,” which debuted at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1989. Rather than focusing on a specific theme, the show aims to present a global survey; with 25 countries represented, Martin strives to present a multicultural outlook with multiple centers of attention. Among the 80-some artists taking part are several of the original artists, local creatives, established names like Anish Kapoor and Wim Delvoye, outsider artists, and newcomers from the East and Africa.

The re-creation has garnered rehashed, and strengthened, criticisms. Now, as in 1989, some are saying that Martin is part of the problem of colonialism, not its solution; that he repeats himself; that he hasn’t taken into consideration the history of the multiethnic empire that is the former USSR; and so on. For this writer, Martin’s formula worked: The show is heavy with works that engage the eye and play complicated games with the viewer’s sense of space, and the relationships between different aesthetics are startling, if not always convincing.

Deserving of special mention are the Russian artists who participated. Most of them performed at the height of their ability, making exceptional work, in particular Dmitry Gutov, who re-created one of Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist compositions in a ceiling installation made from abandoned, rusty iron. The parallel programs are no less engaging, with a show by Joep van Lieshout, organized by Germany's Museum Folkwang, on view at the Winzavod Art Center; Luc Tuymans’s latest series, “Against The Day,” at Baibakov Art Projects; and a very welcome selection of high-quality scholarly events that are sadly lacking in Moscow’s everyday art life.