Norilsk Could Become Russia’s Official Arctic Capital With the World’s First Museum of Contemporary Art in the North

The Russian authorities, representatives of business and science have set a goal to turn Norilsk into a leader in the development of the Arctic, improve the state of the environment and attract new investments. Norilsk is located in the Krasnoyarsk Krai, whose governor Alexander Uss proposed to make the city the official capital of the Russian Arctic.

His proposal is part of an ambitious strategic plan that is expected to be completed in the next few months. The main goal of the plan is the development of Norilsk. Once the plan is approved, the governor and his team are expected to present the project to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We must create the most flexible development plan, propose a choice of directions for the city's development, which will form the ability of Norilsk to adapt to new challenges and at the same time allow the city to maintain its uniqueness," Aleksandr Uss said according to the Krasnoyarsk Krai’s official portal.

A strategic plan to achieve this goal will soon be sent to Putin.

The city development project is so interesting to Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel producer and an important supplier of copper and palladium, that the architectural project of the Arctic Museum of Modern Art (AMMA) was approved with the participation of the company's representatives.

This is the first museum of contemporary art in the Arctic in the world.

“Now we have a unique opportunity to turn Norilsk into the city of the future. It is impossible to imagine it without a serious and meaningful cultural context. It should be created by such bright modern public spaces as the Arctic Museum of Modern Art, ” comments the Senior Vice-President of Norilsk Nickel Larisa Zelkova.

The architectural project for AMMA was developed in collaboration by several leading architectural firms.

In the design, both well-known solutions were used, which have positively proven themselves in the world's best projects to create a comfortable urban environment, as well as completely innovative elements. Thus, original media solutions on the facade turn the building into a shining “source of heat and light”, which is especially impressive and significant for the period of the long Norilsk Arctic winter and polar night. An open space with free access will appear inside the building. It will become a kind of continuation of the city park being created nearby.

Another feature of the new Norilsk museum will be an open type of storage of funds, which is quite rare for the country - the depository of the collection will be open to the public.

The large-scale reorganization will affect the entire municipal museum network, which since 2016 has been merged into the Museum of Norilsk Museum and Exhibition Complex. The next step in this direction will be the reconstruction and re-exploring of the main museum in Norilsk.

Norilsk is a city built in the Russian Arctic almost on the 69th parallel. One of the coldest cities of the world and the northernmost city with a population of over 150 thousand people.