I love murals. Visiting a city and finding examples of street art, that’s a thing I always look forward to. It’s a something that tells a lot about the city, its inhabitants, their thoughts on politics, on culture, on life in general. And, usually, I am not disappointed: wall paintings abound everywhere. I did not think, however, that in Saint Petersburg I would find a street-art shrine. But I did – The Saint Petersburg Street Art Museum!
Street Art Museum
The Музей Стрит-Арта is a bit off the beaten track. You can find it in Western Saint Petersburg and, in fact, the quickest way to get there is by bus, walking the last kilometer or so. A kilometer of factories, as a factory is also the Museum. Founded in 2012, open to the public since 2014, the Museum exhibits works from street artists from all over the world, and even from some of the best known Russian ones. Pasha 183, the “Russian Bansky”, also left his mark here.
The St. Petersburg Street Art Museum’s stated aim, however, is much nobler than the mere storage of works: they want to provide young artists a space for the realization of personal and communal projects, also through innovating techniques. Furthermore, they seek to enhance the peripheral, industrial areas by means of artistic practices and contemporary art. As far as I know, they surely succeeded in this last goal.
The tour takes place on Saturdays and Sundays, costs 350 rubles and requires you to book online. It shows you a part of the permanent collection, most of it in the open air, a small part inside the still-operative factory. Sometimes they also have special exhibitions – the one about the Revolution had just ended when I visited – but check the website to make sure.
Oh, one last thing: the tour is in Russian only, so this is also a good chance to improve your listening skills!
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