Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is a Moscow-based museum and cultural institution founded in 2008 by Daria Zhukova and Roman Abramovich. Its name comes from its first home, the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage on Obraztsova Street. The museum’s current address is at 9 Krymsky Val, in the former Vremena Goda restaurant building, which was reconstructed to a design by architect Rem Koolhaas and the Dutch firm OMA. Garage’s work extends beyond mounting exhibitions. The museum collects and preserves an archive relating to the history of Russian contemporary art, publishes books on a broad range of contemporary-culture topics, hosts film screenings and lectures, and runs long-term programmes supporting artists and arts institutions outside Russia’s major cultural centres. In 2024, it began forming a collection of contemporary art. The collection includes painting, graphics, sculpture, video, objects and installations by Russian artists, with works dating from the 1980s to the 2020s; selected pieces are available to view in the museum’s open storage. The institution combines exhibitions with educational, film, library and public-programme activities. Its website lists visitor services, a library, events, guided tours, interpretation and mediation programmes, and inclusive events. The museum also operates an educational centre in Gorky Park and workshops and art residencies at VDNKh. Its programming encompasses contemporary art and wider cultural subjects, including cinema, music, architecture and the relationship between art and popular culture. Garage has occupied several notable Moscow sites. It used the Bakhmetevsky Garage from 2008 to 2011, moved to a temporary pavilion in Gorky Park from 2012 to 2015, and has been based since 2015 in the reconstructed Vremena Goda building. A further architectural project concerns the Hexagon pavilion: the museum describes plans for it to house exhibition spaces, a library, a bookshop, a café and a public courtyard. The museum presents itself as an institution attentive to its cultural context and to changing ideas about the role and responsibilities of a contemporary museum.

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art was established in Moscow in 2008 by Daria Zhukova and Roman Abramovich. The institution first occupied the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage on Obraztsova Street, a building designed by constructivist architect Konstantin Melnikov. The museum took its name from this first site. It remained there from 2008 through 2011, beginning its work in a building with a strong connection to Moscow’s architectural history. From 2012 to 2015, Garage operated from a temporary pavilion in Gorky Park designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. The museum’s presence in the park continued through other facilities: an educational centre opened there in 2013. Since 2015, the museum has been based in the former Vremena Goda restaurant, a 1968 building reconstructed to a design by Rem Koolhaas and OMA. In 2019, Garage opened workshops and art residencies at VDNKh, extending its activity to another Moscow cultural site. The museum’s institutional activities encompass more than exhibitions. It collects and preserves an archive on the history of Russian contemporary art, publishes books about contemporary culture, presents film screenings and lectures, and maintains long-term programmes intended to support artists and arts institutions outside major cultural centres. Its visitor offer also includes a library, events, tours, mediation and inclusive programming. The museum’s programme brings together contemporary art and related cultural fields, as reflected in projects addressing subjects such as popular culture, cinema, music and architecture. In 2024, Garage began forming a collection of contemporary art. The collection includes painting, graphics, sculpture, video, objects and installations created by Russian artists from the 1980s to the 2020s. Selected works are presented in the museum’s open storage, making part of the collection accessible to visitors. Garage has also described plans for the Hexagon pavilion, designed by Ivan Zholtovsky. In its proposed new function, the building is intended to accommodate three exhibition spaces, a library, a bookshop and a café, with its courtyard serving as an open public space. The museum says that the building is to be restored through a project by the Japanese architecture practice SANAA. Across its sites and programmes, Garage frames its work around collaboration, responsiveness to cultural context and ongoing consideration of the functions and responsibilities of a contemporary museum.

• 2024

  Begins forming a contemporary art collection

• 2019

  Workshops and art residencies open at VDNKh

• 2015

  Moves to the former Vremena Goda restaurant

• 2013

  Educational centre opens in Gorky Park

• 2012

  Moves to a temporary pavilion in Gorky Park

• 2011

  End of the initial Bakhmetevsky Garage period

• 2008

  Garage is founded and opens at the Bakhmetevsky Garage

A contemporary art museum and cultural platform combining exhibitions, collecting, archival work, publishing, education and public programming.

• Contemporary art exhibitions

  Exhibitions and displays presented at the museum, including works from its collection.

• Open storage

  A visitor-facing display through which selected works from the museum’s collection can be viewed.

• Books and publications

  Publications on a broad range of contemporary-culture topics.

• Film screenings, lectures and public events

  Cultural programming offered by the museum, alongside tours and mediation activities.

• Educational programmes and art residencies

  Educational activities, workshops and residencies associated with the museum’s Moscow sites.

• Start forming a contemporary art collectionOther

• Develop a new function for the Hexagon pavilionOther

1. 1О музее | Музей «Гараж»garagemca.org
2. 2Музей современного искусства «Гараж»garagemca.org
3. 3Павильон «Шестигранник» | Музей «Гараж»garagemca.org
4. 4Специальный показ «„Сделано в Милане“: история Армани и итальянской моды» | Музей «Гараж»garagemca.org