The exhibition will run for six months and afterwards the collection of Russian art of the 2nd half of the 20th century will be presented to the public as part of other expositions.
The collection of Russian art of the 2nd half of the 20th century is displayed at the exhibition "Collection! A Unique Gift to the Museum" that has been opened in the  Georges Pompidou Centre. The event unprecedented on a global scale has become possible with the help of Russian patrons of art and Vladimir Potanin Charity Foundation. Among those who came to witness the historical event there was the President of the Georges Pompidou Centre Serge Lavigne, representatives of the French Ministry of Culture, the ambassador of France to the Russian Federation Jean-Maurice Riper, and the director of the Hermitage Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky, as well as the artists Eric Bulatov, Oscar Rabin and Vladimir Yankilevsky.
"Such a collection in the Georges Pompidou Centre, the world's largest Museum of Modern Art, is the best promotion of Russia and the creative opportunities present in this country. Today such representations of the Russian art in the world tell much more about this country than anything else. It is a convincing, powerful, and creative answer to our critics", - the special representative on international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi reported to TASS at the opening day.
In turn, Mikhail Piotrovsky claimed this project to be "one of the best remedies for russophobia". "It is a remarkable charity project because the patrons' joined powers have been used for a very important matter - a drastic increase in capitalization of the Russian art. It is gaining the weight it never had before", - the head of the Hermitage Museum  believes.
Collectors, Unite!
To prepare such a "creative response", the project curators Olga Sviblova and Nicolas Lutchtchi-Goutnicov had to ask dozens of the most outstanding Russian collectors, artists and members of their families the same question within an incredibly short time: whether they are ready to donate works of art for such a project. As a result of good will of 40 donators and with assistance of the Vladimir Potanin Charity Foundation the collection of the French museum has been replenished with 370 storage units of the Russian art. It has become one of the gifts to the  Georges Pompidou Centre, which announced 2016 the Year of Donators on the threshold of its 40th anniversary.
In return, the head of the Georges Pompidou Centre Bernard Blisten told about plans for the Russian collection: after six months of the exhibition running it will not go to store rooms but will be displayed to the visitors as part of other expositions.
"It is a very important addition to the collection of the second half of the 20th century. In the future the halls dedicated to conceptual art will be replenished with this collection. Now an unprecedented exhibition is opening now, with 95 percent of new works here", - the director of the  Georges Pompidou Centre said. The other 5 percent got into the collection of the French museum earlier.