“The Hermitage 20/21’” project

The project's goal is to collect, exhibit and study contemporary art, as well as to build the museum’s contemporary art collection. Among the works in the Hermitage collection are sculptures by Louise Bourgeois and Antony Gormley, the archive of drawings by Dmitri Prigov, installations and graphic works by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.

The project “Hermitage 20/21” was launched in 2007. Since that about 40 exhibitions have been organized and several research and educational projects aimed at illuminating major contemporary art trends have been carried out as a part of the project. The project’s exhibitions fall into five main categories: solo exhibitions of renown classics of contemporary art, group exhibitions of young artists from different countries, architecture exhibitions, photography exhibitions, and the project “Sculpture in the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace”.

Educational programmes play an important role in Hermitage’s work in contemporary art field being focused on revealing the inner workings of the present-day art world. They include meetings with artists and curators, round tables and workshops, art contests.