NewsRussia
US and Russia 'leave aside the politics' to restore Raphael frescoes
A grant of over $100,000 has been given from the US to St Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum for the maintenance of three 16th-century school of Raphael works
NewsRussia
For Putin’s birthday, Pussy Riot hangs rainbow flags on Moscow’s government buildings
The activist performance artists called their actions “a gift as a symbol of the love and freedom that are lacking” for LGBTQ communities in Russia
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Hermitage plans ‘exchange of outstanding and significant exhibits’ with National Museum of Iran
Despite pandemic, Russian and Iranian museum directors met online to discuss future cultural collaborations
NewsExhibitions
Exhibition in forest outside Moscow enchants Russian art world
“Form of soft protest” is likened to the optimism of the early 2000s
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Has Putin’s $1.6bn plan to build new cultural centres throughout Russia hit the rocks?
Foundation running the huge project has cut more than 80% of staff, but construction continues
NewsBelarus
Belarusian opposition leader and arts promoter Maria Kolesnikova charged with organising a coup d'état
Aleksandr Lukashenko regime continues to crackdown on Belarus’s contemporary arts community
NewsArt market
Cosmoscow determined to be first major fair to go ahead
Event still plans to run this week and hopes for a less distracted local Russian collector base, starved of international art travels
NewsArt market
Belarus art collector Viktor Babariko, rival to President Alexander Lukashenko, jailed before election
Former chairman of Belgazprombank, which owns works by Chagall and Soutine, was arrested in June on charges of laundering $430m but many suspect it was politically motivated
NewsPolitics
Belarus protest work—painted with a police baton—sells for three million rubles
Contemporary artists in the country are reacting to the crisis after allegations of election fraud and police brutality
NewsRussia
State Russian Museum staff decry damage to antique picture frames
Petition to museum management raises alarm over frames in "critical condition" from improper storage
NewsMonuments
Signed, sealed, delivered: new monument honours couriers on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic
Unveiled in a business centre in Moscow, the statue by contemporary artist Alexey Garikovich was commissioned by top Russian e-commerce and foodtech companies
NewsMonuments
Russian art collector Andrei Filatov offers to buy America’s problematic statues
His Art Russe Foundation has made offers to preserve monuments of Theodore Roosevelt and Alexander Baranov that have been the target of protesters in the US
NewsRussia
Forty protestors detained for defending Russian activist facing prison for posting art with LGBTQ message
Russia's arts community rallying behind Yulia Tsvetkova whose trial starts in July
NewsRussia
Russian theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov found guilty of fraud and ordered to pay $1.85m in damages to culture ministry
Accused of embezzling funds while staging a contemporary arts festival, Serebrennikov faced six years in prison but was handed a suspended sentence
NewsRussia
Culture crackdown ahead of Putin's referendum
Artist Pyotr Verzilov was sentenced to 15 days in prison for "petty hooliganism" in latest clampdown on the arts in Russia
NewsUnesco World Heritage Site
Religious sites in Russia and Ukraine hit hard by coronavirus thanks to pilgrims and poor social distancing
Many Unesco World Heritage sites that are also working monasteries have been accused of reacting slowly to the pandemic
Analysiscoronavirus
Russian museums in crisis: State Hermitage projects losses of almost half its annual revenue after closing for two months
Loss of tourism and oil market crash because of coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc as institutions seek state help
Newscoronavirus
Russia’s culture minister has coronavirus
Appointed in January, Olga Lyubimova is the third Russian government minister to announce a Covid-19 diagnosis in the past week
NewsDiscoveries
Cache of Russian avant-garde works surfaces in regional museum's basement
Art historian Andrey Sarabyanov is planning a new exhibition of forgotten pieces by Kandinsky, Rodchenko and Stepanova
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Moscow’s new GES-2 arts centre delays grand opening to 2021
Coronavirus uncertainty postpones Ragnar Kjartansson exhibition, but power plant museum still aims to welcome locals this year
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Barcelona rejects plans for outpost of Russia’s State Hermitage Museum
Hermitage officials dismayed after city council refuses planning permission for new venue, citing multiple concerns
Newscoronavirus
Coronavirus: Russian museums hit as Chinese tourists stay away
Russia has banned Chinese citizens from entering the country, slashing attendance at cultural institutions in Moscow and St Petersburg
NewsBillie Eilish
Teenager from remote Russian town draws pop superstar Billie Eilish for Vogue cover
Sixteen-year-old Nastya Kovtun is the youngest person ever to design a Vogue digital cover
NewsAppointments
Russia's controversial culture minister ousted in Putin's government reshuffle
But Vladimir Medinsky, who has been replaced by Olga Lyubimova, will 'not be left without work' in culture, the Russian President says
NewsPolitics
Russian government quits as Putin rewrites constitution—with the help of key cultural leaders
Directors of the State Hermitage Museum and State Tretyakov Gallery are part of a team enlisted to create laws that will allow the president to remain in power
PreviewExhibitions
Biggest ever Dalí show comes to Russia—where his work was banned during the Soviet era
More than 180 works will feature in the Moscow exhibition including a section focusing on Dalí's Russian-born wife Gala
NewsRussia
Russian museums follow Putin’s call for satellites in the regions
The Hermitage has opened a branch in Siberia, the Pushkin is renovating a Constructivist landmark in Samara and more agreements are in the works
NewsMuseum attendance
Influx of millions of Chinese tourists wreaks havoc for Russian museums
Electronic visas pave the way for ever greater visitors numbers, creating major logistical problems at Tsarskoe Selo and the Hermitage
NewsCensorship
UN condemns threats against Kyrgyz museum director who staged feminist art exhibition
Museum hosted a 'Feminnale' that included performance work highlighting plight of sex workers
PreviewExhibitions
Was Peter great? Moscow exhibition details tsar’s huge cultural impact
An avid patron of the arts and sciences, the emperor gave Russian society a new perspective on the world and elevated the country’s place within it
NewsPalmyra
Russia and Syria sign agreement to restore ancient city of Palmyra
Collaboration spearheaded by the State Hermitage Museum was made official in Damascus this week
NewsExhibitions
Russia, Germany and France join forces for 'incomparable' travelling show of contemporary European art
Exhibition showing "unique slice" of art from Europe will coincide with the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War
NewsRussia
Moving to the suburbs: vast museum collections centre destined for 'New Moscow'
State Tretyakov Gallery among 23 Russian museums planning to store and show works near former killing field Kommunarka
NewsAcademia
St Petersburg art school explores tie-up with China
Head of Repin Institute, which is popular with Chinese students, says it has "a lot in common" with Chinese art academies
NewsRussia
Art trove belonging to Russian billionaire fugitive found hidden in village near Moscow
Investigators find paintings and rare books missing from private museum belonging to banker Alexei Ananyev accused of alleged financial crimes
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Former Stedelijk director Beatrix Ruf will head to Moscow's Garage Museum
The German curator was previously accused of conflicting interests between the Amsterdam museum and her private consulting work
NewsMoscow
Austro-Russian project looks beyond Red Square to find the real Moscow
Multi-institution programme aims to introduce contemporary art to the capital's residents
NewsGES-2
Russian billionaire's huge Moscow art hub—designed by Renzo Piano—will open in September 2020
Leonid Mikhelson says that the "frightening" cost that he had initially anticipated for the GES-2 complex has doubled
NewsExhibitions
Major Kandinsky show opens in Saudi Arabia as Vladimir Putin arrives for rare state visit
Cultural programme of Russian art launches to coincide with president's trip to the Gulf state to sign over $2bn worth of deals
NewsMuseums
Staff quit in droves at Russian museum as ‘starvation wages’ bite
Deputy director’s swingeing salary cuts trigger resignations of around 50 employees at Moscow theatre museum
NewsArt crime
Man who stole painting in broad daylight from Moscow museum is sentenced to three years in prison
Denis Chuprikov took the landscape from State Tretyakov Gallery with the aim of "causing hype", he says
NewsRussia
Pushkin State Museum to take control of nine contemporary art centres across Russia
Handover from Russian culture ministry is expected to be completed in early 2020
PreviewCosmoscow
Russia's only international art fair tackles tricky topics
Cosmoscow's public programme will explore 'the crisis of faith in expertise' in the art market
NewsPolitics
The artists at the forefront of Russia's democracy protests
Street art and digital art used as tools of subversion, as artists themselves bear the brunt of a brutal government crackdown
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Uzbekistan's Nukus Museum names new director
Former Roerich Museum director Tigran Mkrtychev wins international competition to head up the famed Russian avant-garde collection long embroiled in controversy
News US politics
Russian artist denied US visa over ‘planted’ drugs
Artem Loskutov’s application was rejected on the same day that journalist and supporter Ivan Golunov was arrested
NewsRussia
Putin grants Russian citizenship to collector Sergei Shchukin’s grandson ahead of blockbuster Pushkin show
André-Marc Delocque-Fourcaud urges Russia to reunite collection in Moscow
NewsState Russian Museum
State Russian Museum refurbishment cancelled amid protests
The renovation threatened the museum's architecture and collection, plaintiffs argued
NewsState Hermitage Museum
St Petersburg's State Hermitage ponders Saudi Arabia satellite museum
The Hermitage will also expand its presence in Crimea with a new cultural centre planned in Sevastopol
NewsPussy Riot
Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina detained in Moscow on suspected drug charges
It is the second time in a month that the feminist activist has been arrested by police
PreviewExhibitions
Twelve exhibitions not to miss during Frieze New York
From the Leipzig School artist Neo Rauch at the Drawing Center, to Nari Ward at the New Museum, there's plenty to see around New York City during Frieze
AnalysisMuseums & Heritage
Nineteenth-century realists pull in mega-crowds as Russian museum attendance peaks
Exhibitions in Russia of homegrown artists attract proportionally greater numbers than blockbusters in other countries
News
Russian man strolls through Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery in thong underwear
The latest bizarre incident at one of Russia’s most important institutions was an “unsanctioned performance” according to the museum
NewsBiennials & festivals
Authorities cancel activist youth festival in Russia's Far East
Officials raise concerns that the festival was promoting an LGBT agenda
PreviewExhibitions
Ilya Repin remains the provocateur in Moscow show
Visitors of a certain age may well be shocked to find that ultimately the Russian artist loathed the Bolsheviks as much as he did the tsars
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Hermitage and Pushkin join forces to show stellar Russian collections of Modern art
The museums are pooling the divided collections of Sergei Shchukin and Morozov brothers for a quartet of exhibitions
NewsArtists
Long Island home and sculpture park of Ernst Neizvestny—who designed Khrushchev's tombstone—at centre of legal row
A dispute between Neizvestny’s wife and daughter threatens the late Russian artist’s estate and monumental works
NewsPrivate Museums
Grand opening of Russian billionaire’s power-plant museum is postponed to 2020
GES-2 will be part of Moscow's Museum Mile, linked to Garage, the Tretyakov and the Pushkin
NewsArt theft
Thief of Crimean painting at State Tretyakov Gallery apprehended
Brazen incident raises questions about museum security in Russia
NewsPyotr Pavlensky
Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky gets three-year prison sentence, but walks free for time served
Verdict was handed down in dramatic Paris hearing, which Pavlensky dedicated to the Marquis de Sade
PreviewExhibitions
Lost Frida Kahlo painting and Diego Rivera mural at centre of new show looking at couple’s Russian links
As the exhibition opens in Moscow, curators hope a photograph of the missing work might jog the memory of any witnesses
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Moscow residents petition Garage Museum to reject sponsorship from property developer
Activists say PIK Group's high-rise developments are environmentally unsafe and only aimed at making "super profits"
NewsConservation & Preservation
Restored Soviet apartment listed on Airbnb takes guests back in time to ‘1930s Russian utopia’
The 35m sq. one-bedroom flat has been carefully renovated to include avant-garde furniture and design
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Staff at State Russian Museum take legal action to halt renovation
Senior employees claim the $17m project threatens the Mikhailovsky Palace building and its collections
NewsPussy Riot
Pussy Riot to receive €37,000 compensation from Russia for human rights violations
European Court of Human Rights ordered payment over treatment of the group in pre-trial detention and treatment in court
NewsMonuments
Kant monument splashed with pink paint in Kaliningrad
Defacement may be politically motivated as nationalists see the veneration of the German figure as unpatriotic
NewsPolitics
Mount Athos, the Greek peninsula that is home to 20 monasteries, is under threat after Ukraine wins approval to split from the Russian church
Russian pilgrims can no longer participate in services or sacraments there
PreviewExhibitions
Niko Pirosmani: the ‘vagabond’ who inspired the Russian avant-garde
The self-taught artist, whose work commands surprisingly high prices at auction, is the subject of an exhibition at Vienna's Albertina museum
NewsJamal Khashoggi
Russia announces major Kandinsky show in Saudi Arabia amid Khashoggi murder controversy
A small number of works by the Russian avant-garde artist are currently at “Davos in the Desert” conference to act as teaser for future exhibition
NewsExhibitions
Citing 'rapidly developing' ties, Russian fund will take art exhibition to Saudi Arabia
Announcement comes as evidence mounts in slaying of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
NewsArchitecture
New Russian cathedral to feature frescoes celebrating armed forces
Church is latest example of symbiosis between church and military patriotism
News
Garage Museum helps new Kazakh venue to get started
Collaboration in Almaty is expected to be long-term, but no money is changing hands
News
Russian authorities force Gulag museum to close
Volunteer-run organisation has been based in former Soviet secret police headquarters for the past decade
NewsPussy Riot
Pussy Riot protester Pyotr Verzilov ‘was probably poisoned’, doctors say
Medics in Berlin have not identified substance but are confident Russian will recover
NewsProtest
French court releases Russian protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky from pre-trial detention
Femen activists showed their support outside the courthouse by sewing their lips shut in a recreation of his first performance
NewsPolitics
Pussy Riot supporter Pyotr Verzilov in critical condition after suspected poisoning
Activist who was recently imprisoned for Russian group's World Cup protest in July "lost his vision, speech and ability to walk"
NewsArt market
Russia and Qatar cosy up at Cosmoscow as tensions continue in the Gulf
Moscow contemporary art fair features first Qatari contemporary art exhibition in Russia as the two countries try to foster cultural ties
NewsState Hermitage Museum
Putin demands ramping-up of cultural hub in annexed Crimea
State Hermitage Museum and Tretyakov are involved in arts centre in contested region
NewsBanksy
Banksy’s viral post about unauthorised Russian show is a sign of its success, organiser says
The street artist’s Instagram comment that the show has “nothing to do with me” set off an online debate about artists’ rights—which made him LOL
NewsRussia
Russian authorities stop Pussy Riot member from travelling to Edinburgh's Fringe festival
Maria Alyokhina had spent two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”
NewsRussia
Action star Steven Seagal is 'deeply humbled' by his appointment as Russia's special envoy
The actor, who will be working on improving Russian-American relations including culture, was granted a Russian passport by Putin in 2016
NewsDisasters & destruction
Syrian museums seek Russian expertise to restore destroyed Palmyra sculptures
Ancient city occupied by Islamic State was retaken by Syrian army with Russian support in 2017
NewsRussia
Putin praises Moscow's urban development in wake of World Cup success
But Russian president's remarks at eighth Moscow Urban Forum angered preservationists
NewsPrivate Museums
Moscow's Garage Museum still going strong at ten, despite co-founders’ split
Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova will continue to fund their contemporary art museum
NewsConservation & Preservation
Huge disparity in estimates to repair vandalised Ivan the Terrible painting
Ilya Repin’s masterpiece in Moscow’s Tretyakov gallery was struck with a metal pole in May
NewsPolitics
Founder of Museum of Russian Impressionism flees for the UK
Boris Mints’s institution says that exhibitions are continuing to run
NewsConservation & Preservation
Russia opens new exhibition centre dedicated to icons
The Grabar Art Conservation Center has launched the Ovchinnikov Ikonoteka space, which is named in honour of renowned restorer
NewsConservation & Preservation
Pharmaceutical company pledges to restore beauty at the Hermitage
The Hungarian firm Gedeon Richter to fund three-year project to restore works from the Russian museum that relate to the concept of female beauty
News
Siberian museum memorialises the Romanovs in house where they were imprisoned
Museum of the Family of Emperor Nicholas II in Tobolsk is Russia's first devoted to 'royal martyrs'
NewsRussia
Russian government urges museums to give discounts to World Cup visitors
Football fans get free entry at Tretyakov, but no special treatment at Hermitage
PreviewExhibitions
Solaris-inspired show in Florence sheds light on 'Soviet Renaissance'
Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli hosts exhibition of Russian nonconformist artists in first foreign venture by Moscow’s AZ Museum
NewsRussia
Famous Russian painting of Ivan the Terrible vandalised in Moscow
Man who confessed to being drunk on vodka tore painting in three places on Friday evening
NewsPhilanthropy
Russian billionaire’s Peri Foundation will keep paying for culture after arrest
It is business as usual, says the organisation’s director, as its founder, Ziyavudin Magomedov, remains in custody awaiting trial on racketeering charges
NewsConservation & Preservation
Caucasus government plans to beef up heritage laws to protect Medieval towers
The Russian republic of Ingushetia is hoping that improved conservation will lead to Unesco status
NewsVenice Architecture Biennale 2018
Russian minister issues Venice Architecture Biennale warning
Country's pavilion may be targeted as relations with the West deteriorate, Vladimir Aristarkhov says
News
Moscow museum opens archives of Stalin's Gulag labour camps
New research centre helps descendants discover fate of their family members
News
Pushkin director turns her office into a surreal art installation
The lower level resembles Hogwarts, upstairs is a blindingly white “meditative space”