Russia: "Le Garage", a unique place for contemporary art in Moscow
Audio 02:40
The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, also called simply the Garage, is a private art gallery in Moscow.
WikimediaCommons / Sergey Norin / CC BY 2.0
By: Étienne Bouche Follow
6 min
In a context of political hardening in Russia, cultural institutions are trying to escape this general tightening.
This is the case of the Garage, located in the heart of Gorky Park, in Moscow.
This private museum of contemporary art is supporting a change in society: it imports concepts from abroad, connects Russia to the world and now organizes its triennial of contemporary Russian art.
Its second edition opened in mid-September and exhibits the works of 75 artists from across the country.
Publicity
from our correspondent in Moscow,
At the entrance to the exhibition, three wall panels form a sort of funeral memorial.
Over the entire surface, small figurines are housed in identical niches.
On their knees, their faces in tears, they pray.
Created from bread crumbs, according to artist Andrei Kouzkine, they represent the tragic history of Russia and its innocent victims.
Yaroslav Volovod of the Garage museum explains the bias of this triennial: “
The first edition was above all an opportunity to discover contemporary creation.
The specificity of this is to have relied on the artists: those who had participated the first time each selected an artist to exhibit.
The exhibition curators have thus made the choice, which can of course be discussed, to let the artists choose and to step back themselves.
"
In this eclectic selection, the politics are often allusive, sometimes more explicit.
The Chechen artist Aslan Goïsoum has thus chosen to exhibit a portrait painter from the 19th century.
The painting represents General Ermolov, a major figure in Russian imperial policy in the Caucasus.
For Anastasia Mitiouchina, curator of the exhibition, the triennial invites reflection and dialogue: “
As an individual living in Russia, I would like to see the idea that there are non-binary systems progress.
If we look at our television and official culture, the "us" is always distinguished from the "other", from the "enemies".
It is a very rigid binary system in which a model, ours, must impose itself by crushing the others.
This exhibition, because it was conceived in a horizontal logic, also speaks of that.
"
In Russia, contemporary art is not favored by the state.
It is the private sector that makes it its mission to support it.
Anton Belov, director of the Garage: “
The Garage museum allowed the appearance of contemporary art in Moscow.
Thanks to him, many decide to settle here, in particular for the artist residencies launched by the museum.
I would say that the Garage has shaped a whole category of people who are educated in contemporary art.
People who are interested not only in contemporary art in Russia, but also in contemporary Russian art.
The Garage was their gateway to contemporary artistic forms.
"
Because of the coronavirus, the triennial had been postponed for several months.
In theory, it should last until January, provided that the rebound in the epidemic does not once again force museums to close their doors.
► A Beautiful night for all people
, second Russian Contemporary Art Triennial, Garage Museum, Moscow, until January 17, 2021.
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