Details of the closing of the exhibition of the Moscow Biennale in the Tretyakov Gallery

The administration of the museum and the organizers of the exhibition exchanged claims in letters

In Moscow, the management of the Tretyakov Gallery canceled the exhibition of the 9th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. This became known on the evening of November 3, and the exposition was sealed almost immediately. The administration of the Tretyakov Gallery stated that “a number of exhibits do not correspond to the status of the site chosen for the Biennale.” At the same time, in a letter from the State Tretyakov Gallery to the organizers of the Biennale (available to the editors), other, purely formal reasons for closing are mentioned.

In a letter from the administration of the Tretyakov Gallery addressed to the head of the Biennale, Yulia Muzykantskaya, it is stated that the art fund “Biennale of Contemporary Art” (the organizer of the event) did not fulfill the terms of the agreement concluded between it and the State Tretyakov Gallery on August 30.

According to the leadership of the Tretyakov Gallery, the installation of the exhibition was not completed by the planned date of November 2. In addition, the organizers of the Biennale did not submit to the State Tretyakov Gallery a plan for the exposition’s power supply, although they were supposed to do so by September 12th. There is also no protocol for checking the state of fire-retardant impregnation, evacuation plans and a number of other documents required by law for events in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Finally, on November 2, the organizers of the Biennale decided to change the contractor, says S. Mishin, deputy general director of the Tretyakov Gallery, in a letter. “Taking into account the introduction of a high alert regime in the Central Federal District and taking into account the fact that the employees of the new contractor can only be allowed to the site after they have received specialized safety briefings and undergo certain kinds of verification activities in the federal executive authorities in the field of security , the management of the Tretyakov Gallery decides to suspend all preparations for the exhibition and the admission of contractors to its territory from November 04, 2022, ”summarizes the representative of the museum.

In a response letter addressed to the general director of the Tretyakov Gallery, Zelfira Tregulova (also available to the editors), the head of the biennale, Yulia Muzykantskaya, commented on the museum’s claims. “The editing of the 9th Moscow Biennale took place in difficult conditions from the very beginning,” said the curator. – As I wrote to you in a letter dated September 15, 2022, we refused to rent an instrument panel, wires, “exit” signs and emergency lights for 3 million rubles from the Triumph Gallery in the exhibition halls of the West Wing of the New Tretyakov Gallery. Therefore, on September 19, 2022, specialists from the Triumph Gallery completely dismantled the lighting, instrument panel, all wires, exit signs and emergency lights in the halls where the 9th Moscow Biennale was to be held. Thus, in fact, since September 19, 2022, part of the electrical network of the building at 10 Krymsky Val has been dismantled.”

According to Muzykantskaya, the leadership of the State Tretyakov Gallery was regularly informed about these problems. In particular, on October 20, she sent Tregulova a detailed letter describing the current emergency situation.

“Our construction and painting of the halls is carried out with backup lighting, in some parts of the halls with spotlights,” said the head of the Biennale. – . Technical services of the State Tretyakov Gallery, in particular, chief engineer V.P. Dendiberya and chief electrician S.M. Kuznetsov not only does not provide any assistance to my team, but, in fact, they do not fulfill their direct duties to restore the normal power supply to the museum premises.

At the same time, Yulia Muzykantskaya warned that “the 9th Moscow Biennale, which is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, is in danger of being disrupted because the State Tretyakov Gallery has deprived us of the opportunity to install lighting and connect equipment.”

Nevertheless, in the twentieth of October, the actual installation of electric lighting according to the project agreed with the State Tretyakov Gallery began, by November 3, the lighting was operating normally, Yulia Muzykantskaya emphasized. Insurance (the absence of which is reported by the administration of the Tretyakov Gallery) was also issued on time. As for fire prevention measures and documentation, this part of the organization of the exhibition is in the area of ​​responsibility of the Tretyakov Gallery, said the head of the biennale.

Yulia Muzykantskaya also commented on the change of the contractor – according to her, after the failure to meet the deadlines for installation, fixed by claims, the employees of the original contractor FIRMA SMS LLC, which had been cooperating with the Tretyakov Gallery for many years, were convicted on November 1 of this year in an attempt to “dismantle part of the constructed structures in the space where the projects of artists from Donetsk and Lugansk were to be mounted. This was the reason for the emergency change of the contractor, says the head of the Biennale. At the same time, lists of employees of the new contractor were sent to the FSO on November 3.

Summarizing their response to the museum administration, the organizers of the Biennale are asking to consider resuming preparations for the exhibition, given the support of the event by the Ministry of Culture and the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, as well as “wide public outcry over the closing of the exhibition.”