ABSTRACT
Photographs of the Russian street taken during the six months the exhibition was open suggest a fantasy world—or perhaps a set for a fantasy play— into which people in contemporary dress have wandered by mistake. A page from The Illustrated London News demonstrates the visual competition waged by roof forms in the world of international exhibitions. The Old Russian Style that had satisfied the outside world's expectations of Russian culture for decades gave way, if only briefly, to a dynamic and unsettling neo-Russian Style. The empire was out to "get a big share of the world's commerce" and its dominant presence in Glasgow was seen to reflect the "pushfulness of the Russian." Looking down on the Russian compound from the north, viewers could admire the unbroken skyline of a magic kingdom, the kind they were familiar with from childhood storybooks, all gleaming spires and exotic shapes.
