Central House of Artist (CHA), Russia

Central House of Artist is the largest exhibition center not only in Moscow, but in all of Russia. It was opened in 1979. Since then, CHA has become a popular cultural site for generations of Muscovites, not to mention one of the definitive symbols of Moscow for foreigners. The exhibition area consists of 27 halls with 60 galleries. Each year, CHA hosts approximately 300 exhibitions of artists from Russia, the CIS and the Baltic states, as well as those of world- renowned artists. The exhibits are attended by nearly a million people. With that in mind, since the Central House of Artist opened, a total of 30 million people have attended it — a figure comparable with the population of several metropolises. CHA’s storages contain 46,000 pieces of art, sculpture, graphics, and decorative and applied art. Many of them have been exhibited outside of Russia. The Central House of Artist is a unique exhibition complex with state-of-the-art equipment, allowing it to hold exhibits of any kind and for all types of contemporary and classical art: paintings, photographs, and decorative and applied art pieces. The beautiful Park of Arts is located next to the CHA. The works exhibited in the Sculpture Museum in the open air are complimentary to the park’s ensemble; there are also recreation areas and special children playgrounds available in the park. Furthermore, the close proximity of the Tretyakov Gallery on the Krymsky Val (CHA and the Tretyakov Gallery are located in one building) makes the place even more attractive. Nearly all venues in CHA are traditionally held along with seminars, symposiums, meetings and roundtable discussions on culture and art. A comfortable conference hall for 600 people is equipped with modern appliances, and a press centre that can seat 60 people even has equipment for synchronised translation. CHA often hosts traditional concerts of Russian and foreign singers, as well as jazz and film festivals. Moreover, CHA regularly holds the Book Fair of Intellectual Literature NON/FICTION. Meanwhile, another venue — the Russian Antique Salon — has become one of the most outstanding attractions for Russian antique collectors. The stores located in CHA offer a wide selection of art books, books, audio- and video products on art, hand-made dolls and jewelry, ceramics, glass and china items, textiles, and traditional crafts. Picture framing studios offer a variety of services for framing arts and graphics, as well as restoration services. Russian artists and foreigners find especially useful the services of customs clearance and insurance on art pieces and their delivery to any part of the world. You can spend an entire day at CHA, which is exactly why the complex has several recreation areas, as well as a café and a bar. The restaurant complex is open from 12 p.m. and until the last guest. The parking lot in front of the CHA can hold up to 500 cars.