Access Moscow: The Art Life of a City Revealed 1990–2000

Moscow’s first independent galleries and the 1990s art scene.

In 1986, the Soviet government created a statute enabling citizens to form associations and clubs for the first time since the 1920s. This gave rise to the first official organizations created by unofficial artists, as well as the beginning of a vibrant gallery scene. Run by artists, curators and cultural entrepreneurs, these spaces unleashed the creative energy that now characterizes early post-Soviet Russia. Access Moscowexamines the key role the first independent galleries played in the emergence of Moscow’s art scene in the 1990s. Through historical texts from leading practitioners of the time, as well as new essays, the book provides a first-hand account of an art community in formation, accompanied by a chronology of key exhibitions and events that defined the era.

Contributors include: Valentin Diaconov, Kate Fowle, Boris Groys, Sergei Khripun, Andrei Kovalev, Sasha Obukhova, and Elena Selina.