FSB conducts searches at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

The media are reporting searches at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow. According to the telegram channel “Caution, News”, law enforcement officers came to the archive building of the museum in Gorky Park, as well as to the Narkomfin building on Novinsky Boulevard, where the museum conducts architectural tours. Information about the searches is also indirectly confirmed by RBC, citing a source close to law enforcement agencies. According to the publication, FSB officers are conducting “events” there, but what exactly is not specified.

The search began around noon, Caution News reported. The security forces allegedly had lists of museum department heads with them. Chiefs and curators were prohibited from using phones and leaving the building until the searches were completed. The rest of the employees were sent outside. The security forces also demanded that the museum's chief lawyer be called.

One of the Garage employees confirmed to Mediazona that the searches were carried out: “They took everyone away quite harshly, they did not allow us to take personal belongings, but at the same time they did not twist us, without blows, and so on. But everything was quite tough. And then people in civilian clothes came and didn’t introduce themselves.”

The publication's interlocutor clarified that the security forces were interested in specific names. “The museum itself wants everything to go as quietly as possible. But at least the reaction of some managers is understandable, so as not to tell anyone anything,” added the museum employee.

It is not clear what the searches are related to. According to Beware News, some museum employees suggest that the reason for the security forces’ interest may be “LGBT literature,” but this information has not yet been confirmed. Later, Beware News reported that in a building in Gorky Park, security forces were studying documents related to marketing and exhibition activities. At the same time, exhibitions in the museum have not been held for more than two years, since the beginning of the war, a museum employee recalled in a conversation with Mediazona.

Garage employees do not know which agency is conducting the search. According to journalists, security forces arrived at Gorky Park in cars without license plates and did not introduce themselves to museum employees. At the Narkomfin building on Novinsky Boulevard, the Kholod correspondent did not find representatives of law enforcement agencies near this museum building. Security and employees refused to comment on the searches.

The publication Podem reported that the museum denies conducting searches. “No, that's not true. We are working, everything is fine. “Everything is fine with us,” the institution said.

Garage was founded in 2008 by Daria Zhukova and Roman Abramovich. The billionaire came under EU sanctions in March 2022. He tried to challenge the restrictions, but the court rejected the claim and considered that Abramovich had close ties with Vladimir Putin.

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