Happy holidays from Garage

Dear friends of Garage,

New Year is just around the corner and I would like to thank everybody who was with us in 2017. I would like to thank those who visited the museum: first-time visitors and returning visitors and, of course, GARAGE cardholders. I am grateful to Garage patrons and partners for supporting our initiatives and helping us make contemporary art accessible to a wider audience.

In 2017, we made more friends. Over 700,000 people visited Garage this year. And I’m happy to say that we continue to grow. On Instagram alone, 100,000 followers keep an eye on Garage, and @garagecat has more than 6,000 fans. This year Garage arranged some 3,000 educational events for Museum visitors, 706 tours (132 for people with disabilities), and served 3,400 burgers from Garage Café’s Takashi Murakami special menu.

In 2017, Garage screened 113 movies about art in the new summer cinema on Garage Square; organized the first Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art that brought together around 70 artists from all over Russia; doubled the size of Garage Library, opened Garage rooftop pavilion for patrons, partners, and GARAGE cardholders; extended our grant program in support of emerging artists, and launched the Russian Art Archive Network, an international online catalogue of documents on the history of Russian contemporary art from the collections of Garage and partner institutions. These are just some of the many projects we brought to life.

I would also like to thank all those who supported the Museum’s external projects: Garage pavilion at Astana EXPO 2017, the exhibition Co-thinkers at Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg, the exhibition Proof at Brooklyn Museum in New York, and Garage projects on New Holland Island in St. Petersburg. Next year we will go even farther afield.

For us, 2018 marks an important milestone. Garage turns ten and Gorky Park, where we are located, will be 90. We’ve prepared quite a program to celebrate: as well as exhibitions, eduсational programs, and new publications, we plan to launch the Garage Live program of performances and artist residencies at VDNKh. And there are lots of surprises in store, as Garage has long been more than just a Museum.

On behalf of Garage team I wish you a Happy New Year. May the coming year be filled with new achievements, new impressions, inspiration, and joy.

See you at Garage!

Yours sincerely,

Anton Belov