Russian Culture Minister announces merger of National Center for Contemporary Arts and Pushkin Museum

Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky announced on July 2 that a major state-owned Russian contemporary arts center would be transferred from the state exhibition apparatus ROSIZO to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, one of Russia’s most prominent art museums. Medinsky said that merging the National Center for Contemporary Arts with the Pushkin Museum would provide additional symbolic and material capital for the development of Russian arts, particularly in the seven cities outside Moscow and St. Petersburg where the Center operates.

Medinsky explained that ROSIZO had taken on too many responsibilities and “couldn’t handle them all,” which resulted in inadequately maintained exhibit facilities for the National Center for Contemporary Arts. It was reported last week that the Center’s employees had petitioned the Culture Ministry for a transfer to the Pushkin Museum’s control.