Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the biggest museums of its kind in Russia, named Daria Kotova as its new director, effective immediately, on Thursday.
Kotova is a longtime staffer at Garage, having started at the museum in 2010 when she graduated from Moscow State University’s Journalism Faculty. She started in the museum’s public relations department and served for many years as the head of development, marketing, and advertising. Since 2021, Kotova has served as director of the Garage Endowment Fund, which totals a little over $8 million, according to its website.
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In a press release, the museum said Kotova was involved in the first and second Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art in 2017 and 2020 respectively, among other projects.
“I would like to thank the Museum’s founders for their trust in me,” Kotova said in a press statement. “During this new stage in the history of Garage I am sure that my colleagues and I will continue to build Garage as a living, dynamic museum.”
Kotova replaces Anton Belov, who has led the museum since 2010.
Daria Kotova
Mikhail Grebenshchikov/Courtesy of Garage
Garage has had a tumultuous recent history. The museum was founded in 2008 by collectors Dasha Zhukova and Roman Abramovich, who were married at the time. It moved into its permanent location in Gorky Park in 2015. In 2021, the museum anounced that it would significantly expand, renovating the park’s Hexagon Pavilion so that it could host exhibitions there.
Just a year later, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the museum paused its exhibition program, calling the war a “human and political tragedy.” Last year, with the exhibition project still paused, the museum was reportedly searched by local police. A local news channel said that the search was in connection with LGBTQ+ literature housed at the institution.
The museum has continued to regularly host film screenings and other events. The announcement of Kotova’s appointment did not mention when exhibitions would start again.