Modern and Contemporary Art in the Russian Museum Context

Abstract

The article considers contemporary and modern art in Russia as reflected in museum curatorial projects. The concepts of large-scale museum exhibitions are based on certain categories that correspond to following qualities: the connection with the centuries-old tradition, myth-making, ludic aspects and internationality – openness to the perception of other cultures. The article analyses exhibition projects in the beginning of the twentieth century, in which contemporary art is demonstrated in the space of tradition, the media context, the everyday context and the context of cultural myths and symbols. The problem of determination of the aesthetic value of contemporary art is stressed in the space of the museum, and represented artworks receive a bigger expressiveness in the neighborhood of works of traditional art. Exhibition curators effectively use aesthetic and formal contrasts; sometimes classical artworks themselves suggest new ways of understanding meanings, hypothetically included in contemporary art – as seen in the projects at the Hermitage, the State Russian Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery, where curators can unite or contrast tradition and modernity.