Creating Contemporary Art Museums in the Post-Soviet Space

The recent years have seen a veritable boom in post-Soviet museum restructuring, renovations, additions, master- plans, new interior designs, architectural concepts and competitions that meet advanced international standards. From Riga to Vilnius, from Moscow to St. Petersburg, post-Soviet art museums are developed by renowned international architects (e. g. Rem Koolhaas, Lord Norman Foster, Frank O. Gehry, Zaha Hadid). Slogans such as PermBao - an acronym of the Ural capital Perm and Bilbao - signal the increasing significance museum developers and political planners are attributing to museum buildings as a catalyst for urban renewal in a broader context. In 2010, United Russia, Russia`s ruling party, adopted the cultural policy declaration "Cultural alliance" in an attempt to foster sustainable contemporary art and museum structures in major cities throughout the Russian Federation. The project examines the complex interrelationship of art, economic capital and political clout in the post-Soviet states. The topical focus is on the process of institutionalizing contemporary art in already existing and in newly created museums, in galleries and new art venues as well as on transforming museums into contemporary, internationally competitive art institutions. It will comprise research on patrons and politicians who are backing contemporary art - be it as members of the federal, regional or local cultural bureaucracy, as part of the culturally active members of the new economic elite or as individual proponents. Chronologically, the period of 1991-2011 will be covered, including an overview of the fundamental measures laid earlier during perestroika. Geographically, it will focus on the Russian Federation, with special consideration of the general post-Soviet development. The proposal is conceived as a follow-up project to Post-Soviet Art Museums in the Era of Globalization, finished in 2011 and funded by FWF. This preceding study analyzed the transformation of post-Soviet museums with the end of Communism, covering a broad geographical range (Baltic States, Ukraine, and Russia). It resulted in a major conference and publication output - covering museological changes (such as the re-integration of once tabooed avantgarde, modern, non-conformist and religious art), the varying regional development as well as the general restructuring of art museums. By focusing on the contemporary art museum development, the projected study will conquer new terrain. It will draw on rare empirical data (much of it in Russian) and a broad comparative framework (partly accumulated during the previous study). It will combine approaches of various disciplines - museum and cultural studies, theories of distinction - and contribute to the knowledge of international research focuses such as Global Art + Museums, ZKM Karlsruhe. The results will be discussed in academic exchange and made available as a cross-disciplinary comprehensive study, published according to Open-Access-requirements.

The millennium ushered in a veritable boom in post-Soviet museum restructuring, renovations, additions. Master-plans, new interior designs, and architectural competitions met advanced international standards. From Riga to Vilnius, from Moscow to St. Petersburg, art institutions have since been developed by renowned (inter)national architects, among them the Pritzker-award winners Rem Koolhaas, Lord Norman Foster, Shigeru Ban, Renzo Piano, and Zaha Hadid. Museum developers and political planners joined forces: They increasingly viewed cultural and museum projects as a catalyst for urban renewal in a broader context. Slogans such as PermBao an acronym of the Ural capital Perm and Bilbao were indicative of this trend. The project PERMM in the Urals launched in 2008 signaled major changes ahead. In 2010, United Russia, Russias ruling party, followed; it adopted the declaration Cultural alliance in an attempt to foster contemporary art and sustainable museum structures in major cities. The following years brought many twists and turns, but also a major expansion of the museum field (as exemplified by NCCA and their growing regional branch network, New NCCA, Garage and other projects) despite political backlash. The project examined the complex interrelationship of cultural, economic and political capital in the post-Soviet states, with special emphasis on the Russian Federation. The topical focus was on the process of institutionalizing contemporary art in already existing and in newly created museums as well as on transforming museums into contemporary, internationally competitive institutions. It comprised research on patrons and politicians acting in support of contemporary art as representatives of the federal, regional or local cultural bureaucracy, of the new economic elite or as individual proponents. It shed light on the progressively changing field of museum studies and curatorial work. By focusing on the contemporary art museum development, the study conquered new terrain.As a result of Open Government Russia, a policy initiated by the former President Medvedev, the project benefitted greatly from the growing archival material and empirical data published in the emerging online repositories of cultural and government institutions. It thus drew on rare official, non-profit and corporate empirical data (mostly in Russian) documenting contemporary museum policy and development from perestroika to Putins third presidential terms. The results of the project have been discussed (and published) in academic circles and presented in conferences; a monograph was published according to Open Access regulations (FWF-E-Book).