Night owls everywhere are in luck this weekend as more than 200 museums, galleries and art centers stay open until the early hours as part of Moscow’s tenth annual Museum Night. From 6 p.m. on Saturday things will be ramping up rather than winding down as cultural institutions including the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Cosmonautics stay up past their bedtime.
Many museums and galleries will be putting on special excursions, exhibitions and performances to mark the event. And this year proceedings will have a cinematic edge — in a nod to the 2016 Year of Cinema in Russia. Traditionally Museum Night has been a way of attracting younger audiences to the city’s cultural establishments and this year should be no different. With quirky master classes, independent film screenings and a whole host of interactive exhibitions on the program, staying up late has never been so fun — and educational. While there are hundreds of events across the city on Saturday night, here are some of the top picks.
For a full program of events see museumnight.mos.ru. Remember that some masterclasses need to be registered for in advance.
Izmailovo Kremlin
The exceedingly kitsch miniature Kremlin in Izmailovo has joined forces with the Youth Center of the Union of Russian Cinematographers and the Moscow Museum of Animation to create a film-city. Visitors will be able to visit film sets, see producers and makeup artists in action and watch screenings of Soviet cartoons and independent films from young producers. A number of high profile film stars will also reportedly be available for question and answer sessions, with the aim of getting Muscovites interested in the filmmaking industry. If you fancy something a little different, the Museum of Bread, the Museum of the History of Russian Vodka and the Living Museum of Folk Art will also be open late — they are all located at the Izmailovo Kremlin.
Izmailovo Kremlin. 73 Izmailovo Shosse. Metro Partizanskaya. kremlin-izmailovo.com
The State Pushkin Museum
Alongside its later opening hours, the Pushkin museum will host a “Favorite Screen Melodies” concert performed by the State Wind Orchestra. On the program is some of the best known music from film soundtracks of the past century, including compositions by composers such as Petrov, Khachaturian and Tchaikovsky. Meanwhile children can watch an animated film “Dyen Chudesni” (Wonderful Day) created by acclaimed director Andrei Khrzhanovsky and based on the works of the museum’s eponymous Alexander Pushkin. The film screening starts at 5 p.m.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. 12 Ulitsa Volkhonka. Metro Kropotkinskaya. arts-museum.ru
Museum of Cosmonautics
Nighttime at the Museum of Cosmonautics means an opportunity to gaze into the night sky and appreciate the wonders of distant galaxies. Visitors can use special telescopes to view the moon, solar system and celestial constellations. Alongside guided tours about the history of Russian and Soviet Space exploration, a series of talks will take place in the conference hall about the future of space exploration. The highlight of the evening will be a question and answer session with Alexander Laveykin, a cosmonaut during the Soviet era who spent 174 days in space.
Museum of Cosmonautics. VDNKh. 111 Prospekt Mira. Metro VDNKh. kosmo-museum.ru
Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art
As you'd expect from Winzavod, the contemporary art center's Museum Night will be pushing the boundaries of music, theater and art. Events to look out for include the premier of the musical performance “Nekiiya” from Dmitry Kurlandsky and Dmitris Yalamas, adult fairy tales performed and read from the MEDIASKAZKI project and an appearance from Naadya. The solo project of Nadezhda Gritskevich, Naadya is one of the most prominent artists on the independent music scene in Russia.
Winzavod Center for Contermporary Art. 1 4th Syromyatnicheskaya Ulitsa. Metro Kurskaya. winzavod.ru
Night Stations
Museum Night is not only restricted to museums and galleries. Public parks and squares are also getting in on the action. Hermitage Garden, Muzeon Arts Park and Teatralnaya Ploshchad have joined forces to provide “night stations” from 12:00 p.m. through 12:00 a.m. Each location is dedicated to a different film genre — feature film, documentary and animation. In addition to special film screenings there will be filmmaking masterclasses for adults and children. The kids program is between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at all venues.
New Tretyakov Gallery
Vassily Kandinsky is at the heart of Museum Night festivities at Moscow's New Tretyakov gallery. The current Kandinsky exhibition at the gallery will be free to visitors, and features two of the abstract artist's most iconic works — Composition VI and Composition VII. Children can take part in special creative workshops while Muscovites of all ages are encourage to take part in a marathon “Path to Abstraction” excursion through the museum.
New Tretyakov Gallery. 10 Krymsky Val. Metro Oktyabrskaya. tretyakovgallery.ru
Danilovsky Market
If you're a foodie with a love of contemporary art installations, head down to Danilovsky market where a cultural program featuring sculptures, street art and of course, great food from your favorite cafes will be afoot. The highlight of the program is a light show to be projected on the ceiling dome of the market, and an elephant sculpture from the art project “Elephant Parade.” All food outlets and stalls will run until midnight as part of the event.
Danilovsky Market. 74 Mytnaya Ulitsa. Metro Tulskaya. danrinok.ru
Moscow Museum of Modern Art
Museum Night is taking place at all of MMOMA's four sites, with the major exhibitions opened free of charge to visitors. And if you get hungry after all that modern art the museum on Gogolevsky Bulvar will have a wood-fired pizza oven in the courtyard. Another highlight of the evening is an open air interactive performance workshop “Vozdykh” (Air), where dancers and musicians will improvise the wildest fantasies and thoughts of the audience on stage. Artists featured in the current “Borscht and Champagne” exhibition will also be available to discuss their artistic influences and personal stories with visitors. Check the website for venues and times of events.
Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Various branches. mmoma.ru/en/
Contact the author at artsreporter@imedia.ru
