Understanding and Implementing Inclusion in Russian Museums

The article focuses on the specificities of understanding inclusion in Russian museums by examining two exhibitions: Co-thinkers (Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, 2016) and The Art of Being (National Centre for Contemporary Art, 2019), as well as the projects followed these exhibitions. It discusses the key concepts of inclusion, looks at the origins of introducing the notion of inclusion into the field of museum discussions, explores the influence of different concepts of inclusion on the inclusive practices of Russian museums. Relying on international experience, the article conducts a comparative analysis of the approaches to understanding inclusion by the two cultural institutions analyzed. The analysis systematizes the existing practices and shows that, to date, Russian museums have not yet come to a shared understanding of inclusion. As a result, museum workers are faced with the necessity to choose the direction of inclusive programs and their positioning.