Erarta – Celebrating Contemporary Art

Located in Saint Petersburg, and promoted as the largest non-governmental museum of contemporary art in Russia, Erarta provides a venue for artists to display their works, while at the same time encouraging visitors to discover the immense innovative talent of contemporary artists. The time period considered to be contemporary is art that was created after the end of World War II (1945) to the present day. The earliest works displayed at the museum date back to the 1950s. The term contemporary art covers a wide spectrum of mediums and subject matter, and Erarta has divided these into three main categories, namely: Freedom, Ingenuity and Skill.

Under the category of Freedom, artists seek freedom from being dictated to by political, economic and professional influences, thereby allowing unrestricted flow of his or her own feelings and ideas. The Director of Erarta, Michail Ovchinnikov, notes that "Art should enrich the observer by an influx of new impressions and experience", and this is what the museum and galleries set out to do. While focusing on Russian artists, Erarta is exploring the options of collaborating with foreign artists as well.

In addition to displaying single works of artists, Erarta holds exhibitions highlighting a specific artist. Exhibitions hosted by Erarta include works by renowned abstractionist Michael Kulakov from the collection of Valery Natalenko; and works by Vladimir Migachyov in which he explores different aspects of life in his beloved country of Russia.

Erarta offers budding artists the opportunity to display their work to the public and encourages artists to submit their art for consideration, either in person, or via the museum’s website. The museum also arranges lectures and workshops, all with the goal of generating interest in various forms of art and educating the public with regard to the value of art.

Artists regularly featured at Erarta include Sergey Bakin, Aleksandr Dashevsky, Sergey Denisov, Aleksandr Fedorov, Marina Fedorova, Elena Figurina, Vladimir Dukhovlinov, Alla Dzhigirey, Valentin Gerasimenko, Yaroslav Gerzhedovich, Latif Kazbekov, Aleksander Korolev, Valery Lukka, Andrey Mamaev, Vladimir Migachev, Ruben Monakhov and Vyacheslav Mikhailov. Erarta is located at 2 Vasilyevsky Island, Saint Petersburg, Russia.