29 Apr Moscow's Garage Museum Under Police Search for LGBTQ+ Literature

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Law enforcement officers made a surprise visit to Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, founded by oligarch Roman Abramovich, as per sources close to the museum staff who spoke to Novaya Europe as reported by Artnews.

The search operation targeted the museum’s archive building in Gorky Park and the Narkomfin building on Novinsky Boulevard, where Garage offers walking tours, according to reports from Telegram channel Ostorozhni Novosti. Sources mentioned the searches lasted for about two hours.

Though the reasons behind the searches were not immediately clear, there were suggestions that officers might have been looking for “LGBTQ+ literature” hidden in the museum’s archives, reported Ostorozhno Novosti. Moreover, witnesses described the scene as officers arrived in unmarked cars and questioned senior managers, with up to 20 officers reportedly entering the museum’s office building and holding staff on the third floor, as Mediazona reported. Despite the commotion, Garage employees maintained that the museum was operating normally, denying any knowledge of the searches.

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, founded by Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova in 2008, halted its exhibition program during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Abramovich, currently under sanctions, remains associated with the museum despite his challenges.

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