Contemporary Art Museum in Perm? (by Kreg)

Yes.  There is an excellent Contemporary Art Museum in Perm.  Which, as it turns out, is not very common in Russia.  For a country this size I had read that Perm had the only one in the entire country.  I doubt that is true but a quick Google search only revealed four. (By contrast, we had more than 20 near our home in Albany, NY)

"After St. Petersburg and Moscow, Perm is Russia's leading city for opera, ballet and drama theater. Not only does the city have a wide range of stages and theaters, its educational bodies like the Russian Academy of Theater Art and Institute for Culture and Art as well as its many international relations in theater performances and education still give Perm the name of theater city." 

You see, Perm was a closed city until the 1980's, which meant the people of Perm had to have special permission to be here.  If you were born here, you would probably die here without ever having traveled anywhere else, even outside the city. (There are still 42 closed cities in Russia - two near Perm) Perm is rich in natural resources so naturally the steel industry and manufacturing occurred in Perm and most of the items that were manufactured here were for, to use a U.S. term, National Security.  Yes, tanks and guns and airplanes and anything to to with "national security" were constructed here out of sight from Cold War foes.  This really was ideal because of it's remoteness.  If anyone were to take Moscow from the West (like Napoleon kinda did) or Vladivostok form the East (near China and Japan), it would be very difficult to make it all the way to Perm.  It is geographically protected. For more than one reason we call Perm the Detroit of Russia.  Most Americans get the link.  Unlike Detroit although, 80% of the inhabitants still work in manufacturing.  There are over a million people in Perm and very, very few house wives, if you know what I mean.  Everyone works.

Likewise, Perm was a good place to keep all talented artists protected from the rest of the world.  I don't know if they used Perm's isolation to keep them from leaving, but that is quite possible.  That is why the arts were established here and now they continue to grow at PERMM.  I don't know if the extra "M" is for Museum or Modern???

Below displays our recent trip to PERMM, which is housed in an old railway station. The name of the special exhibit is "ICONS", which was quite fitting for our Sunday stroll.

Thought my mother would enjoy the loose sketches on the back wall.

"The Names of God" Our personal favorite, which displays words on a sheet of glass.  The words are "God, light, judge, peace (or world??? don't know which cause it's the same word???), leader, father...

Makes you want to touch it.

"The Last Supper" take on Leonardo da Vinci's portrait as seen from behind.  Quite a clever 3D view.

 Even Barack Obama made an appearance in the this piece titled "Yes We Can". This was not part of the Icons exhibit.

 Because of PermM there is also an Art's Initiative that has spread throughout the city.  Most of it is displayed on the sides of buildings in the form of legalized graffiti, similar to Cory Birkenbuel's vision in Dillon, MT.  These are a small sampling of others that are spread throughout the city.

Yes, that is a beetle crawling off a large ball constructed of tire treads. 

"Permian Gate" near the Train Station

Your guess is as good as mine?

This was the first place they housed the PERMM, I think.  Cost of admission? One can of spray paint.