The overall objective of the project is to collect, exhibit, and popularize most ingenious and skillful works by contemporary artists. The main part of the project is the museum of contemporary art «Erarta», located in Saint Petersburg. Besides the museum, the project also includes commercial galleries, a workshop, publishing and educational programs, as well as various cultural events and activities. You can choose guided city tour with a visit to the gallery or create own private tour.
Erarta was established with the idea of an ultimately open project not only to serve various categories of artists and visitors, but also encouraging cooperation with everyone who wishes to realize their ideas, both professionally and as an amateur. This means that Erarta project is under continuous development. The museum aims to provide every visitor with an opportunity to discover the best works of contemporary art. At present, the Erarta collection counts about 2,000 works by more than 140 artists who represent various regions of Russia. But for painting that is the majority of the collection, it includes graphics, sculpture, installations, and other types of modern fine arts.
When choosing works for the museum collection, staff assesses them in accordance with the criterion of talent, but not the artist’s popularity or belonging to a certain required stream in art. Erarta does not refer to prestigious authorities and does not offer ready-made viewpoints to its visitors, thus giving them an opportunity to make their own choice towards something that is most interesting and close to them. The museum collection is exhibited in the museum wing of the building, as well as on the fourth and fifth floors of the gallery wing. For even now, the Erarta collection is much larger than the exhibited exposition and is going to be replenished in the future; parts of the museum exposition will be renewed.
The big hall on the 5th floor houses temporary exhibitions of both the artists, represented in the Erarta collection, and guests from Russia and abroad. Self-portraits of artists in the museum collection are exhibited on five floors of the staircase in the gallery wing. Video interviews with Erarta artists are to be found on touch-screens in the gallery cafe on the third floor. In the museum, visitors are welcome to book guided tours, individual or group ones. They may also rent an audio-guide at the registration desk on first floor. There are special theme and gaming excursions for schoolchildren. In the hall on the third floor, there much various information about Erarta and its activity. What is more, the electronic images collection is displayed there, which outnumbers the museum collection considerably. Visitors may order copies of images in art shop or on the website.