17 Ermolaevsky

ABOUT THE VENUE

The second building of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art at 17 Ermolayevsky Lane was completed in 1915 according to the design of Dmitry Markov for the Moscow Architectural Society and using the architects' contributions. The society was located here until its dissolution in 1932, then the house belonged to the Moscow Union of Artists (MOSA), where creative workshops and youth exhibitions were held.

On 3 December 2003 the building was opened to the public as an exhibition space for the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Now the building houses the MMOMA Educational Centre, a multi-disciplinary space that accumulates all the museum's educational initiatives. The centre was created based on international experience and modern museum technologies – everyone, regardless of their level of training, can receive new knowledge in the field of contemporary art and related disciplines.

The ground floor of the education centre features MMOMA Bread (every day from 10:00 to 20:00) and a specially equipped space for children's and teenage programmes.

The first floor, in the hall with a fireplace, houses the MMOMA Library, which contains more than 10,000 publications – books on the history and theory of contemporary art, catalogues and scientific works published as part of the museum's publishing programme, and a selection of Russian and foreign specialised periodicals. The library also presents the MMOMA archive and media library, which enables to get acquainted with various aspects of the museum's activity and its history.

The second floor of the Education Centre, space A, hosts research exhibitions of works from the museum's collection – a special exhibition programme Collection. Vantage Point. Analytical exhibitions help to contextualise works of contemporary art and not only complement the regular thematic exhibitions, but also allow the curator to focus on narrower themes and artistic phenomena.

Space B on the third floor is also dedicated to exhibition projects and the representation of current trends in artistic theory and practice, including international projects. Exhibitions are supported by a thematic selection of books in the library, group readings, and special thematic lectures. The fourth floor houses the centrepiece of the MMOMA Lecture Hall. The multifunctional space allows for several events to be held simultaneously, film screenings, conferences and other events. The Lecture Hall also hosts guest lectures with the participation of the museum's partners and experts. The Moscow Museum of Modern Art expresses its gratitude for the preparation and implementation of the project of the MMOMA Educational Centre to the museum's partners and patrons: Novatek, Gazprombank Private Banking, Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation, Aksenov Family Foundation.

MMOMA would also like to thank the Russian State Art Library, the Russian State University for the Humanities, the State Institute of Art History, the Goethe Institute in Moscow, the Strelka Institute, the Baza Institute, the Institute for Problems of Contemporary Art, the State Centre for Contemporary Art GCCI/ROSIZO, the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, the Victoria – Art of Being Modern Foundation, and the Regina Gallery for donating their publications to the Centre's library. The building is adapted for people with limited mobility, hearing and vision problems.

The architectural solution was realised by Workshop B.