Review Preview 2025—2026

GES-2

Review Preview 2025—2026

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Annual Press and Partners Conference: 2025 Review and 2026 Roadmap.

Photo: Daniel Annenkov

 Review 2025

 Preview 2026

 Exhibitions

 Performative Programmes and Cinema

 Infrastructure

 Other Programme Areas

 Opportunities for Artists

Review Preview 2025–2026

Press kit

Review 2025

Visitors
2022—656,470
2023—824,064
2024—1,001,019
2025—909,498

In 2025, GES-2 House of Culture welcomed 909,498 visitors—approximately 100,000 fewer than in 2024 (1,001,019 visitors). The record attendance in 2024 was primarily due to the success of the “Square and Space. From Malevich to GES-2” project. It is too early to draw conclusions about the connection between visitor numbers for 2025 and the introduction of paid admission to exhibitions: this innovation happened quite recently, in November, and we will be able to assess the results later, in spring and summer, because most visitors come to the House of Culture during the warmer months.

Exhibition projects in 2025 elicited notable responses from the professional community. For 2026, we have prepared several projects which we expect to appeal to a broader audience as well.

— Artem Bondarevskiy, General Director of GES-2 House of Culture and V–A–C Foundation

Features

 11 exhibition projects
 2 theatre premieres
 3 dance premieres
 35 concerts, including 10 premieres
 188 films screened
 152 new artworks
 18 new books
 2 international conferences
 1,741 mediated tours
 1,908 public programme events

Partners
 60 museums and private collections provided works for exhibitions
 350 Russian institutions and charitable organisations, as well as 149 specialists from 43 countries, took part in the projects
 47 ambassadors and 347 diplomats paid visits to GES-2
 3 commercial partners continued their cooperation with the House of Culture

Preview 2026

Exhibitions

 The World in a Single Nest: Following the Way of Tagore
Winter–Spring 2026
Curators: Artem Timonov, Elena Yaichnikova

An exhibition dedicated to the ideas and creative work of Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)—a multitalented Indian thinker, writer, composer, artist, and public figure.

The project demonstrates that Tagore’s ideas about the structure of society and education, the interaction between nature and humanity, and between culture and agriculture remain exceptionally relevant today. The concept of the exhibition is faithful to the principles of Visva-Bharati University, which Tagore founded in 1921 in Santiniketan (West Bengal). At Santiniketan, major figures in Indian modernism and key visionaries of the country’s future development worked at Tagore’s invitation and alongside him. The University aspired to a model of harmonious development and unity with nature and national tradition, offering an alternative to the regime of most educational institutions that existed in India under British colonial rule.

The exhibition at GES-2 juxtaposes Tagore’s art with archival materials and projects by contemporary artists from Russia, India, and other countries whose practice either align with or critically engage Tagore’s artistic vision.

Authors (list subject to change): Rabindranath Tagore, Abhishek Chakraborty, Ruma Choudhury, Samit Das, GABAA, Sanchayan Ghosh, Sangita Maity, Liza Neklessa, Ivan Novikov, The Otolith Group, Ulyana Podkorytova, Raqs Media Collective, Prasanta Sahu

Exhibition partner
Gazprombank

The World in a Single Nest: Following the Way of Tagore

Press kit

 Crisis of Genre. Still Life, Portrait, Landscape (working title)
2 Jul 2026—10 Jan 2027
Curators: Dmitry Belkin, Andrei Vasilenko, Andrey Parshikov, Karen Sarkisov

This major exhibition brings together three key genres of European visual art—still life, portrait, and landscape—and, akin to a genealogical study, shows how they became the ancestors of modern forms of visual communication.

The exhibition aims to update the concept of genre in the current discourse of judgement about works of art, and to demonstrate which genres are most relevant for reflecting on important themes: commodity exchange and fetishisation in the age of consumption, the ecological crisis, the analysis of the past and historical narratives, and the role of the artist in the system of image production in the age of total digitalisation of everyday experience.

Authors (list subject to change): Frans Snyders, Isaac Levitan, Cory Arcangel, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, SZ, Vladislav Efimov, Daria Trofimova, Roman Sakin, Dmitry Tsvetkov, Oleg Mitrokhin, Kader Attia, Siyoung Kim, Konstantin Roslyakov, Marcel Broodthaers, Anastasia Tsayder, Claude Monet, Yefim Royak, Tom Wesselmann, Salvador Dalí, Gerret Willemsz Heda, Ivan Mashkov, Jeff Koons, Martha Rosler, Jean Siméon Chardin, Sergey Lotsmanov, Richard Vasmi and others

 Eternity Formulae
26 Feb—19 Jul 2026
Curators: Yaroslav Aleshin, Artem Timonov

The project addresses the palette of semantic nuances of cold, linking it to the concepts of eternity and transience, acceleration and deceleration, conservation and entropy.

Cold is the result of the slowing down of thermodynamic processes, a favourable condition for observing physical phenomena, and a key to “quantum effects” impossible at normal temperatures. Cold is a metaphor for the universal background in art, in contrast to which figures and objects reveal themselves most expressively. Finally, cold is a characteristic of human relationships and states at the individual (detachment, loneliness), social, and universal (harmony, rationality) levels. The exhibition uncovers these themes in diverse manifestations of human thought and culture and proposes a conversation about the structure of matter, the language of historical and contemporary art, and the relationships between people.

Authors (list subject to change): Daria Arbuzova, Yuri Palmin, Olga Pegova, Ivan Zholtovsky, Severin Infante, Slava Fedorov, Alexandra Paperno, Andrei Cherkasov, Jan Wildens, Giovanni Antonio Cybei, Étienne Maurice Falconet, Anton Raphael Mengs, Rembrandt van Rijn, William Elms, Rockwell Kent, Boris Kustodiev, Nikolas Roerich, Konstantin Korovin and others

Eternity Formulae

Press kit

 Hanoi Ad Hoc. Landscapes of Optimism
23 Apr—6 Sep 2026
Curators: Trung Mai, Mark Hakopian, Artem Timonov, Elena Yaichnikova

The exhibition is based on a comparison of Hanoi and Moscow social housing projects from the second half of the twentieth century through the research lens of the Hanoi Ad Hoc project by Vietnamese architect Trung Mai.

Trung Mai uses an original approach to analysing modernist architecture: drawing on archival materials and personal testimonies, this research-exhibition touches on diverse fields—from the history of architecture to international relations, while simultaneously tracking the processes of mutual influence, adaptation, and transformation of urban projects. The project will combine documentary materials and artworks by contemporary artists from Vietnam and Russia, offering a new perspective on the socio-economic history of modernist heritage through an anthropological lens, focusing on nature, communities, and "adhocism"—an improvisational, popular approach to transforming reality.

Authors (list subject to change): Nguyen The Son, Pham Ngoc Lan, Nguyen Vu Hai, Ha Nguyen Long, Anastasia Tsayder, Alexey Bogolepov, Sania and Kamil Sazhensky

Hanoi Ad Hoc. Landscapes of Optimism

Press kit coming soon

 GES-2: Cities in Vladikavkaz
23 Apr—30 Aug 2026
Curators: Yaroslav Aleshin, Sergei Babkin, Alexandra Kiseleva, Alexandra Tumarkina

An exhibition exploring the phenomenon of courtyard structures as hubs of local culture, examining how the traditional khadzars of North Ossetia serve as vital community centres.

The exhibition brings together the outcomes of the GES-2: Cities programmes held in Vladikavkaz. It is a reflection on the unique and often unpredictable ways tradition and modernity intersect across North Ossetia. The republic is characterised by a dual identity: it is renowned for a vibrant, living heritage that remains deeply integrated into daily life, yet it also possesses a sophisticated modern cultural landscape of universities, museums, creative unions, and grassroots urban initiatives.

Authors (list subject to change): Karina Besolti, Izmail Burnatsev, Azanbek Dzhanaev, Soslanbek Edziev, Genrikh Ignatov, Yulia Kartoshkina, Kosta Khetagurov, Ioakim Sharoev, Marat Sidakov, Andrey Silvestrov, Fyodor Telkov, Madina Tezieva, Sultan Tsoriev

GES-2: Cities 
in Vladikavkaz

Press kit coming soon

 Mou Sen. The Divine Comedy
10 Sep 2026—21 Feb 2027
Curator: Anna Ildatova

A large-scale performative installation that explores motifs from classical literature—ranging from Dante’s “Divine Comedy” to Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot"—through the language of object theatre and metaphorical imagery.

The Divine Comedy was created for GES-2 House of Culture by the Chinese theatre director and artist Mou Sen (b. 1963), founder of the independent Frog Experimental Theatre and the Motion Scenography Group. The installation closely resembles an architectural model: a snow-covered landscape scattered with toy cars, overturned lampposts, bridge fragments, and tiny animals. It takes a moment for the viewer to realise that humanity is entirely absent from this landscape. Drawing on the traditions of object theatre, Mou Sen utilises scenography alone—discarding text and actors—to construct a work from a sequence of metaphors and images in which the audience becomes fully immersed.

Mou Sen. The Divine Comedy

Press kit

 Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam
Sep 2026—Feb 2027

An interactive project on the House of Culture’s Prospekt, where traditional Japanese textile art is transformed into fantastical play-landscapes.

Toshiko MacAdam is a Japanese textile artist whose work utilises traditional fibres and knitting techniques to create large-scale installations. MacAdam’s fairytale playgrounds are visually striking, inviting people of all ages to engage in play and explore various modes of interaction.

Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam

Press kit coming soon

 Exhibition by Egor Efremov and Maria Plaksina
Oct 2026—Jan 2027
Curator: Marina Bobyleva

A duo from Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Tagil present a total installation in which the artists reflect on the concept of progress, the pace of change, and the human capacity for adaptation.

Efremov and Plaksina work with sculptural and ceramic objects, bringing them together to create large-scale environments. Their work is produced using a distinctive technique, a method of hand-building that resembles the intricate construction of swallows’ nests. In their sculptures and installations, the artists fuse elements from various cultures and mythologies, using them as a foundation for a unique system of imagery and their own constructed narratives. Created as part of the GES-2 artist residency programme, this total installation forms a symbolic space that marks the transitions between different states and modes of perceiving reality.

Exhibition by Egor Efremov and Maria Plaksina

Press kit coming soon

Performative Programmes and Cinema

Photo: Nikita Chuntomov

 GES-2: Music
Curator: Dmitry Renansky

The history of the dialogue between music and theatre/performance in the works of academic composers.

34 concerts, including three on the Prospekt and two in the Parking:
– The Russian premiere of the melodrama Medea (1775) by Jiří Antonín Benda—an outstanding example of musical theatre from the Classical era (Feb 2026);
– Alexei Lubimov, a patriarch of the Russian music scene, in a re-performance of John Cage’s Lectures on Nothing (Feb 2026);
– Vladimir Martynov’s The Iliad: an evening celebrating the 80th birthday of the master of new Russian music (Mar 2026).

GES-2: Music

Press kit

 GES-2: Theatre
Curator: Anna Ildatova

This season the programme explores how languages relegated to the past—whether of a people or a literary movement—influence contemporary theatrical practices.

Two premieres commissioned especially for GES-2:
– Ekaterina Avgustenyak’s Vepsleižed akad puhundas eloks—collaboration with projects that explore issues of national languages and identity (Mar and Nov 2026);
– Continued engagement with the genre of performative installation in the project The Garden of Forking Actions, exploring the connection between literary conceptualism and theatre (Summer 2026).

GES-2: Theatre

Press kit

 GES-2: Dance
Curator: Anastasia Proshutinskaya

Dance as media art. How can the digital space, its structure and aesthetics, be represented in dance practices? How can the influence of the internet on the material, corporeal basis of dance be shown through movement?

The programme features two curated screening series, one collaborative project, and a re-run of last year’s premiere:
– Alexander Lyubashin and the media art group SHUM explore the way artificial intelligence imagines the body and bodily practices (Nov 2026);
– Dance festival in partnership with Open Look (International Contemporary Dance Festival) (Aug 2026);
– Continuation of the series Easy: Dance in the Making, featuring six choreographers working with new media (Spring—Autumn 2026);
– A re-run of the 2025 premiere Underground (Feb 2026).

GES-2: Dance

Press kit

Underground

Press kit

 GES-2: Cinema
Curators: Denis Ruzaev, Vyacheslav Shutov

Exploring the way cinema engages with the sensation of liminality—the boundaries separating the individual from the surrounding world, the past from the present, and cinema itself from other visual media.

5 curatorial programmes and a film festival showcasing 70 films, as well as daily screenings of films distributed in Russia:
– Festival of Collective Films—an exploration of the evolving nature of authorship in classical and contemporary cinema (Sep 2026).
– David Cronenberg Retrospective—an exploration of the transformations of the human body and nature (Apr 2026);
– What’s with the Face? programme—the human presence within the frame (Nov 2026).

GES-2: Cinema

Press kit

Infrastructure

 The New Playground
Apr—May 2026

A new interactive Playgorund—an immersive world inspired by animalistic imagery and childhood imagination—will appear on the first floor of the House of Culture, near the exit to the Forest.

Artist Irina Korina and the architectural bureau Chekharda are creating a playful valley featuring animal dwellings — from a mouse house and a beaver lodge to airy mushroom tunnels and a soft “flower” with pollen balls. The concept for the space, designed for children aged 3 to 14 and their parents, is inspired by Yan Larri’s book The Extraordinary Adventures of Karik and Valya and explores the diversity of life and architecture.

Gazprombank is the official partner of the Playground.

Playground

Press kit

 The Expanded Atelier
Jun 2026

The Atelier has been significantly expanded, now offering twice as much space, a new creative zone, and a thoughtfully designed environment for bringing ideas to life.

In 2025, the Atelier hosted over 170 events for more than 4,600 participants. By summer 2026, following a redesign by Olga Rokal, the workshop will be able to accommodate up to 60 people simultaneously (children aged 3 and above). In addition to the four existing creative zones, a fifth zone will be added—dedicated to combining different materials and hosting events.

Atelier

Press kit

 The Renewed Shop
Jan 2026

A place for souvenirs that hold memories of a visit to the House of Culture.

The shop and the LIMÉ pop-up store are moving to the Square—next to the bookshop under the Library. This is a step towards a more precise, curated assortment—an inspiring selection of books, jewellery, fragrances, and decorative items—and a new dialogue with the GES-2 space and programmes.

Shop

Press kit

The Renewed Shop. Photo: Anna Zavozyaeva

 The Renewed Quiet Room
Feb 2026

A sensory decompression space on the –1 Floor.

The Quiet Room is located to the right of the cloakroom and is designed for people with neurodivergences: those who experience anxiety or sensory overload from noise, crowds, bright lights, or strong smells. In the renewed room, visitors will be able to use sensory regulation elements: weighted blankets, noise-cancelling headphones, and fidget toys.

Quiet Room

Press kit coming soon

 Individual Artist Studios
Jan–Feb 2026

New workshops created and equipped specifically for working with painting, graphics, and sculpture—something that did not previously exist in The Vaults.

The studios are a new space of the Vaults Centre for Artistic Production, located in the former laundry of the House on the Embankment. Artists will have the opportunity to use one workshop free of charge for three months. Candidates will be selected several times a year through the Vaults open calls (for Moscow residents) and GES-2 artist residency programmes (for participants from other regions of Russia).

Individual Studios for Artists

Press kit

Photo: Daniel Annenkov

Photo: Anya Todich

 New Classes in the Small Vaults

The newly opened space for performative, bodily, and vocal practices: dance, singing, contemporary theatre, and yoga classes, as well as performances by contemporary authors.

In the new year, visitors will be able to take part in the following classes:

Voice and dance practices—author-led lessons from contemporary artists, musicians, and choreographers that develop vocal skills and introduce techniques and methods of contemporary dance;
Yoga—sessions adapted to different levels of experience: from gentle introductions for beginners to complex asanas for experienced practitioners;
Gong meditations—relaxation and stress-relief practices that combine ancient ritual ceremonies with body-sound therapy.

Small Vaults

Press kit

Photo: Vadim Stein

Other Programme Areas

Photo: Anya Todich

 GES-2: Touring Exhibitions

Launched in 2024, this initiative involves presenting projects developed for the House of Culture at other cultural institutions in Russia and around the world. In October 2026 exhibition Videobrasil. Needs No Translation. Forty Years of Video Art and Performance will be presented in Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo (MAC/USP). The project has been developed in collaboration with the Associação Cultural Videobrasil.

 GES-2: Cities: New cycle

– Change in scale: from a focus on individual regions to working at the national level.
– Three basic conceptual perspectives in the study of Russia-wide cultural processes and local scenes: cultural and historical, environmental, and socioeconomic. Each corresponds to a separate phase of the programme, designed for 1–1.5 years; together they form a single research cycle of 3–4 years.
– Transition from one-off projects in cities to interregional programmes that cover wider geographies and include a greater range of parallel events and formats: cultural exchanges, conferences, festivals, and exhibitions.
– New approach to partnerships. GES-2 will work simultaneously with two different cities/regions, which will engage both with the programme team and with each other, exploring and comparing their local situations and presenting original conclusions about their similarities or differences.
– Small-scale exhibitions at GES-2 as a tactical result of each stage of the programme, as well as a large-scale exhibition at the end of the cycle, demonstrating the spectrum of cultural processes and artistic life in different parts of the country over the entire period.

Programme 2026–2029
– Phase 1. 2026–2027. History and Culture
Vladivostok and Kaliningrad: frontier cities at opposite ends of the country; portals for Russia’s cultural exchange with the West and East.
– Phase 2. 2027–2028. Nature and Ecology
Cities as custodians of natural monuments and unique ecosystems. Candidates: Ulan-Ude and Astrakhan.
– Phase 3. 2028–2029. Economics and Society
Cities of science, technology, or university centres. Candidates: Novosibirsk and Kazan.

 Public Art Programme

The adjacent spaces of GES-2 are joining the cultural dialogue with the city: the Pier at Bolotnaya Embankment, the Vaults Square, the Forest, and the Belvedere will become places for reflection on the role of public art today. The programme will feature contemporary Russian and international artists selected by an expert jury. Among the works will be both existing pieces and new objects created on commission for the Cultural Centre. The programme was inaugurated by the replacement of Urs Fischer’s sculpture Big Clay # 4 with Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Plantoir.

Areas around GES-2

Press kit

 Projects with Urban Communities

Even before the House of Culture Centre opened, the V–A–C Foundation worked with local communities. This included Event Laboratories in different parts of Moscow and programmes for groups like ice swimmers and birdwatchers. In 2026, the plan is to involve these communities more closely in GES-2 exhibitions and performances. One example is an art project by Hanoi artist Le Giang, part of the public programme of the Hanoi Ad Hoc exhibition, which focuses on the Vietnamese community in Moscow.

Urban Communities

Press kit

 Projects for Family Audiences, Children, and School Students

In 2025, 329 events were held for children and families, while the school programme was visited by 330 classes—8,250 people, nearly 1,500 more than the previous year. Plans for 2026 include:
– Projects for preschoolers: Traditional laboratories, workshops, clubs, masterclasses, and performances;
– Family weekdays: Projects for young children and parents during weekday mornings;
– Holiday laboratories: Thematic intensives for children aged 7–12 (Jun, Oct);
– Play practices in the Forest: Laboratory sessions by a new community of educators focused on game creation (May);
– Exhibition-showcase of arcade games with alternative controllers: An event prepared together with school students (Jun);
– Launch of interactive sessions exploring the connection between culture and natural and exact sciences;
– Development of programmes for schools outside Moscow, including engagement with small towns beyond the capital region (Borovsk, Maloyaroslavets, Rostov the Great).

Family Audiences, Children, and School Students

Press kit

Events for children and teenagers

Registration and details about the school programme

 Inclusive Practices

In 2025, the total audience for inclusive programmes exceeded 10,000 people—a third more than in 2024. This includes not only people with disabilities: some events are educational and aim to challenge stereotypes about disability. Plans for 2026 include:
– Vacations at GES-2: working with Deaf, hard-of-hearing, deafblind and hearing-sighted teenagers (Feb 2026);
– Forms of Touch project—professional art production laboratory based at the Vaults Centre for Artistic Production for people permanently residing in psychoneurological institutions;
– To/gether programme (annual, dedicated to Autism Awareness Month) and a research laboratory on neurodiversity (reading group, series of meetings with international researchers, special film programme for Mental Health Day, 10 Oct);
– RDC: RDC Laboratory (+ another one in another city), open call for texts of the almanac Researching the Deaf Community: 3.

Inclusive Practices

Press kit

 Mediation

In 2026, over 1,900 guided tours are planned for more than 15,000 visitors—a 15% increase from 2025. A wide range of tours and programmes will be available for exhibitions, families with children, older adults, and adapted formats for people with disabilities. There will also be 1+1 tours co-created with individuals with diverse life experiences.

Other plans for the new year include:
– Second Shift programme—tours and events aimed at students, helping them understand the specifics of working in a cultural institution;
– Forum Radical Stability: Mediation in the Context of Contemporary Cultural Practices—Participants from across Russia, along with speakers from France, Italy, Brazil, and the USA, will discuss whether mediation can exist sustainably while constantly experimenting, reshaping methodologies, and unlocking its full potential (10–12 Apr, 2026).

LIMÉ is the official partner of the mediation programme at GES-2.

Mediation

Press kit

Forum Radical Stability: Mediation in the Context of Contemporary Cultural Practices

Press kit

 Academic Programme and Work with Universities

This direction aims to strengthen GES-2 as a centre of knowledge through developing educational programmes, participating in educational programme design, working with students, and organising academic discussions. Plans for 2026 include:
– Second intake for the CultTech programme with MIPT, which explores intersections of culture and technology (Feb—Jun);
– Launch of the programme Designing Visitor Experience and Mediation in the Cultural Sector;
– International conference on avant-garde educational models: Experts from various countries will analyse the evolution of experimental education over the past century, starting with pedagogical experiments from the 1920s, and attempt to relate these findings to contemporary challenges (Nov).

Academic Programme and Work with Universities

Press kit

 GES-2: Sound

New programme direction dedicated to contemporary non-academic music.

2 concerts, 3 performances by musical communities and the interdisciplinary project GES-2 Soundsystem that combines theoretical lectures with live performances, community listening sessions, and radio broadcasts—an experience of engaging with music at the community level.

GES-2: Sound

Press kit

 GES-2: Fashion

Testing a new format: integrating a section on fashion into a major exhibition project of the year. The research project under the working title Oversize: Contours of Mismatch will be prepared for the 2027 exhibition project (collaboration with a university, public events, partnership).

Further development of research areas—publications for the professional community and programmes for a wide audience.

GES-2: Fashion

Press kit

 Publishing Programme

In 2026, 18 new books are to be published, including translated works and original publications on art theory and history, contemporary philosophy and post-humanities, fashion, music, film, and dance. This includes 4 special editions related to GES-2 exhibitions and projects, 3 new books in the children’s series designed by contemporary Russian artists, and 7 author research works and collections.

Publishing Programme

Press kit

Opportunities for Artists

Photo: Anya Todich

 The Vaults Centre for Artistic Production

In 2026, permanent programmes will continue:
– ColLab: Participants will create 10 projects (Jun–Nov);
– Students at The Vaults: 20 projects (Jun–Nov);
– Friends of the Vaults Club: 96 artists throughout the year;
– Photo Basis and Sound Basis workshops.

SIBUR is the official partner of the Vaults.

The Vaults Centre for Artistic Production

Press kit

Open calls for The Vaults

 Residencies

The ninth season of the artist residency programme will focus on working with more visual and sound artists. The programme will accept 6 participants: 2 performance artists, 2 visual artists, and 2 sound artists. Participants are selected through an open call, with new applications accepted each autumn.

Showcases of past residency projects will include:

– Participatory performance Family Dinner by Alexander Kozin, 2024 resident (Mar);
– Opera performance Castle.OS by Dasha Dryamina, 2025 resident (Apr).

Open calls for residencies

 Grants

In 2025, 303 applications were reviewed, with 30 authors working in visual culture receiving grant support: 14 researchers, 4 curators, and 12 artists. From Jan to Jun 2026, grant recipients will work on developing their concepts. By the end of the year they will prepare their projects, either partially or fully.

Open calls for the grant programme

For Media
Accreditation and press releases

Press kit

Contact: press@v-a-c.org