The Garage Museum in Moscow, Russia was reportedly raided by police last week – allegedly for housing pro-LGBTQ+ content.
Reports emerged on Friday that Russian officials were raiding the Garage Museum. A channel of Russian news outlet Ostorozhno Novosti on Telegram first broke the news. While no clear reason was given, it was soon speculated that the LGBTQ+ materials housed within the museum were the reason why it was targeted. If true, it would match the recent events where similar content was removed from the bookstore of the Garage Museum. These include works from Directio Liberia, a left-wing publisher, and Moloko Plus, an alternative media platform.
It was reported that during the tenure of the search, museum officials were not allowed to use mobile phones or contact anyone outside the facility. However, there were also contrary reports that seemed to quote museum employees denying any such raid in the first place. The museum did not publically release any statement regarding the matter. Crackdown on museums for not following the state policy is nothing new in Russia; in 2022, the director of Nevyansk Icon Museum in Yekaterinburg was arrested for condemning the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Garage Museum was founded in 2008 by Russian socialite Dasha Zhukov and oligarch Roman Abramovich. The billionaire art collectors were married at the time but have since divorced. In 2022, Abramovich was sanctioned by various European countries. The same year, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the museum denounced the war and announced a stop to all exhibitions till the war was over. However, it continued to remain open for visitors.
