First public library dedicated to contemporary art in Russia
Opening December 2014
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
Gorky Park
9 Krymsky Val
119049 Moscow
Russia
Hours: Monday–Thursday 11–21h,
Friday–Sunday 11–22h
T +7 495 645 05 20
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the establishment of the first public library dedicated to contemporary art in Russia, opening in December 2014. Led by Head of Research Sasha Obukhova, the library constitutes the largest specialized public collection of books in Russia dedicated to art of the 20th and 21st centuries. The collection comprises over 15,000 items, including rare antiquarian editions, monographs by leading art scholars, catalogues of group exhibitions and museum collections, artists’ biographies, journals on contemporary art and architecture, and publications on the theory of culture. The library will be open to the public, and the archive will be available by appointment for specialists.
Upon its opening in December, the library will be established in Garage Education Center, situated adjacent to the Exhibition Pavilion in Gorky Park. The space will provide reading areas and an electronic catalogue, as well as public access to the vast online resources of JSTOR and Artstor. In 2015, a permanent gallery devoted to exhibitions from the archive will debut as part of Garage’s new facility, designed Rem Koolhaas with OMA.
Sasha Obukhova states, “I am pleased to announce that after two years of intensive work we open Russia’s first public library on the history of contemporary art. Students, artists, researchers, professionals, and amateurs can come anytime and take advantage of early, hard-to-reach information on the history of international and Russian contemporary art. The next step is to work on the archive materials’ digital conversion and the formation of an electronic base available for access all over the world.”
In 2012 Garage acquired the comprehensive archive, which includes the documents, videos, and library from the Art Project Foundation. Library publications have been accumulated through strategically procured donations, gallery archives, and purchases from vintage booksellers. In addition, with the mission of creating an oral history of Russian contemporary art to underscore the archive, in June 2013 Garage began conducting interviews with artists across generations about their work and influences. Garage is gradually collecting and editing more material to be made available online by June 2015, and the entirety of Garage’s archive is being digitally converted with the goal of launching in 2017.
About Garage
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is a place for people, art, and ideas to create history. Through an extensive program of exhibitions, events, education, research, and publishing, the institution reflects on current developments in Russian and international culture, creating opportunities for public dialogue, as well as the production of new work and ideas in Moscow. At the center of all these activities is the Museum’s collection, which is the first archive in the country related to the development of Russian contemporary art from the 1950s through the present.
Garage exhibitions spark engagement with art and culture while exploring issues of local and global relevance; Garage education draws audiences of all ages through pioneering programs for both families and professionals; Garage publishing makes major cultural texts available in Russian for the first time and innovates new publications related to Garage archive, exhibitions, and other activities; Garage field research invites practitioners to develop fresh perspectives on Russian art and culture; the Garage grants program supports young Russian artists and spearheads a range of activities that incorporate Russian artists into the global art community—all of which contribute to the Museum’s role as a multifaceted hub for arts and culture.
Founded in 2008 by Dasha Zhukova, the institution is currently based in a temporary pavilion in Gorky Park created specifically for Garage by architect Shigeru Ban. In 2015, the Museum will move to its first permanent home—a groundbreaking renovation of the famous 1960s Vremena Goda (Seasons of the Year) pavilion in Gorky Park—designed by Rem Koolhaas.
Garage is a non-profit project of The IRIS Foundation.
