Russian television, notorious for state propaganda, has its civilised side. A recent episode of the weekly debate show Cultural Revolution, hosted by Mikhail Shvydkoy (Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for international cultural cooperation), recently asked, ‘Is Malevich’s Black Square a Big Con?’ Almost a century since Kazimir Malevich first hung his canvas, icon-style, in the upper corner of the ‘Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10’ in Petrograd in December 1915, this question still arouses feeling.

Facing an audience of artists, historians and museum curators, the distinguished film directors Andrei Konchalovsky and Alexander Mitta took opposing views. Black Square is not a work of art, Konchalovsky argued, waving printouts of Andy Warhol’s Dollar Sign and Damien Hirst’s shark in formaldehyde to illustrate his perfect agreement with