Plans to open “Russian Tate Modern” underway

Moscow will soon have its equivalent of London’s Tate Modern art gallery with Constructivist architect Konstantin Melnikov’s bus garage near Kazan station tipped as the most likely location for the new museum. In an interview with The Art Newspaper, Marina Loshak, the director of Moscow’s Pushkin Museum, revealed plans for the new space, which has already been dubbed the “Pushkin Modern”.

Loshak has been quick to develop the new museum’s international network, seeking advice from the director of London’s Tate museums Nicholas Serota and liaising with foreign collectors. Highlighting the importance of cultural exchange during times of political turmoil, Loshak revealed plans to borrow the bulk of the museum’s art from foreign, private collectors in the west as well as in China and Japan. She said: “Any cultural exchange, especially between museums, does a lot not only to ameliorate the diplomatic climate, but also the overall relationship between countries and cultures.”

Although no details of potential art purchases have yet been publicised, reports from February this year confirmed that Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky had allocated a record 1 billion roubles ($27m) for new acquisitions in Russian museum collections in 2014. The ministry has been working closely with the Pushkin Museum since the start of this year, when it announced a new competition to develop the architectural concept for the expansion and reconstruction of the museum.