Moscow Multimedia Art Museum

The Multimedia Art Museum of MoscowRussian: Мультимедиа Арт Музей (MAMM) is entirely devoted to artworks created with multimedia technologies. The museum has a large collection of photographs, video art, media installations, and media performances. The MAMM was founded on the grounds of the Moscow House of PhotographyRussian: Moskovskiy dom fotografii or Московский дом фотографии, and both were merged into the Multimedia Complex of Actual ArtsRussian: Multimediynyi kompleks aktualnykh iskusstv or Мультимедийный комплекс актуальных искусств. The integration of these is no coincidence – after all, photography is the earliest type of art which directly uses technology. The museum is located in OstozhenkaRussian: Остоженка, an ancient street of Moscow, where many 19th and early 20th century buildings have survived to this day. They certainly deserve a visit on one of a number of guided tours that take place here regularly. The museum building, known as Solovyovs HouseRussian: Dom Solovevyih or Дом Соловьевых, is also worth paying attention to. This is where philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, whose family lived in Ostozhenka Street from 1850, was born and raised. In 2006, the building was completely dismantled except for part of the facade during restoration works. Now, having been completed in glass, it looks rather eclectic. Inside, it features a minimalist, yet perfectly white seven-storey space with geometric passages, vaguely reminiscent of the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

EXHIBITIONS

Usually the museum runs three to four exhibitions at the same time, including its own and also guest projects. Importantly, on display there are works not only by contemporary artists but also by classical 20th century artists such as Vladimir Yakovlev, Oscar Rabin, and Ilya Kabakov. It was the MAMM that partnered with the Van Abbe Museum (Eindhoven) and the State Hermitage MuseumRussian: Gosudarstvennyi Ermitazh or Государственный Эрмитаж in organising the exhibition “Utopia and Reality? El Lissitzky, Ilya and Emilia KabakovRussian: Utopiya i realnost? El Lisitskiy. Ilia i Emiliya Kabakovy or Утопия и реальность? Эль Лисицкий, Илья и Эмилия Кабаковы” to mark Ilya Kabakov’s 80th anniversary. It displayed Lissitzky’s graphic works from the collection of the Van Abbe Museum, the initiator of the project, as well as Kabakovs’ works, many of which the Russian audience was able to see for the first time. It was a highly interesting idea to “compare” artists who are so unlike each other: Lissitzky, involved in the creation of the utopian Soviet project, and the Kabakovs, reflecting the implementation of this “utopia” in their works. As far as photography is concerned, such exhibitions as “Eye to Eye. History of StereographyRussian: S glazu na glaz. Istoriya stereografii or С глазу на глаз. История стереографии”, “Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879)Russian: Джулия Маргарет Кэмерон (1815‒1879)” fit in naturally with displays of the latest works like “Katya Yemelyanova. UNBLOCKEDRussian: Катя Емельянова. UNBLOCKED” and “Michal Rovner. DisplacementsRussian: Mikhal Rovner. Smescheniya or Михаль Ровнер. Смещения”. Alongside each exhibition, an educational program runs alongside it, including meetings with artists, lectures, guided tours, and workshops for children.

The museum holds two biennales; the PhotobiennaleRussian: Фотобиеннале (from 1996) and the Fashion and Style in PhotographyRussian: Мода и стиль в фотографии festival, originally part of the Photobiennale (a separate division since 1999). Festival exhibitions are held at Moscow’s best exhibition venues, e.g. the ManegeRussian: Манеж, the Moscow Museum of Modern ArtRussian: Moskovskiy muzey sovremennogo iskusstva or Московский музей современного искусства, the Ekaterina Cultural FoundationRussian: Fond kultury «Ekaterina» or Фонд культуры «Екатерина», and others. As part of the 2014 Photobiennale, over forty exhibitions were run within a month, among them “Jessica Lange. The InvisibleRussian: Dzhessika Leng. Nezrimoe or Джессика Лэнг. Незримое”, “Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969). Photos, Drawings, and PhotomontagesRussian: Ervin Blyumenfeld (1897?1969). Fotografii. risunki. fotomontazh or Эрвин Блюменфельд (1897‒1969). Фотографии, рисунки, фотомонтаж”, “Philip Jones Griffiths. PhotographsRussian: Filip Dzhons Griffits. Fotografii or Филип Джонс Гриффитс. Фотографии”, and “Another LondonRussian: Drugoy London or Другой Лондон”.

Catalogues are published specifically for each different exhibition project. The publishing department of the museum actively works on a variety of publications about art, including themed albums, exhibition catalogues, books about photographers and about artists.

THE ALEXANDER RODCHENKO SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND MULTIMEDIA

A separate educational project, the Alexander Rodchenko School of Photography and MultimediaRussian: Shkola fotografii i multimedia im. A. Rodchenko or Школа фотографии и мультимедиа им. А. Родченко, is affiliated with the museum. It offers training for contemporary artists in four areas: documentary photography, art photography, video art, and multimedia. The training program is designed to last three years. Short-term courses are run to teach the public to take and print photos and edit videos. There are courses designed for beginners as well as for children.

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