Illustration as a Way to Survive contrasta the ways in which two artists, lya Kabakov and Ülo Sooster lived and worked in the Soviet Union from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. During that time, art was subject to strict censorship and neither Ilya Kabakov or Ülo Sooster produced artworks that fitted the approved Socialist-Realist model. As a result, Kabakov and Sooster worked as children’s book illustrators to earn their livings, while producing their own art in secret. However, the two artists responded very differently to their double roles. While Kabakov learned to give the publishers exactly what they wanted, doing the illustrations as quickly as possible so he could concentrate on his own art, Sooster could not make the distinction between the pictures he made ‘to order’ and the paintings he produced privately. Specifically created by Ilya Kabakov, Illustration as a Way to Survive is a fascinating and colourful exhibition of illustrated children’s books, drawings and paintings by the two artists. The exhibition is also Kabakov’s homage to Ülo Sooster, who died in 1970.