The Director: Francesco Bonami appointed to lead Moscow's GES-2

Francesco Bonami has been appointed artistic director of the GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow, Russia.

In its announcement, the institution said Bonami would shape its programme alongside the curatorial team, helping select projects and guide their realisation.

Bonami said: “Our common goal is to search for the best projects for GES-2.” GES-2 plans to announce the themes for its next three-year programme by the end of 2026.

The appointment comes four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine ruptured the institution’s international programme. GES-2 opened in 2021 in a former power station opposite the Kremlin, converted to a design by architect Renzo Piano.

The foundation mounted an extensive press campaign for the launch, bringing Western journalists to Moscow to see the building and its opening programme. Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson was its headline artist, with Santa Barbara, a live re-creation of the American soap opera popular in post-Soviet Russia. He halted the work and called for the exhibition to close after the invasion began on 24 February 2022; GES-2 then suspended exhibitions and public events.

Bonami’s appointment may indicate that GES-2 wants to restore some of its international ties. He holds Italian and US citizenship and has led or co-curated major international exhibitions, including the 2003 Venice Biennale and the 2010 Whitney Biennial.

Bonami has spent much of his career combining curatorial work with institutional leadership. After moving from Florence to New York as the US editor of Flash Art, he became a senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and later led Turin’s Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo for more than two decades. He has also directed BY ART MATTERS in Hangzhou since 2013.

The institution’s statement describes the appointment as a continuation of its collaboration with Bonami, who has advised on its strategy since 2021. It also says that in December he will present Things, Idols, Bananas, a project co-curated with Dmitry Belkin.

Bonami succeeds Alisa Prudnikova, who has overseen GES-2’s programme since 2022 and will remain in the post until 6 December. According to the announcement, she will continue working with the institution as an independent project curator from 2027, focusing on academic research and international residencies.

GES-2 is the main Russian platform of the V-A-C Foundation, established in 2009 by billionaire Leonid Mikhelson and Teresa Iarocci Mavica. Mikhelson built his fortune in natural gas: he founded Novatek, Russia’s largest independent gas producer, and is a major shareholder in the petrochemical company Sibur.

He has been sanctioned by the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ukraine, but not by the United States or European Union. He transferred ownership of GES-2 to his daughter Victoria in 2023; Ukraine has also sanctioned her.