Visiting regulations

Visiting the House of Culture is only possible by prior registration for a single entrance ticket or a ticketed event. A single entrance ticket allows you to enter during a chosen hour. Registering for a ticketed event allows you to enter the building one hour before the event begins. If you would like to come earlier, please be sure to make an additional single entrance registration.

We cannot guarantee entrance to the building if you show up earlier or later than your reserved time slot. We ask you to be understanding, as this is a forced and temporary measure.

General rules

– Please do not touch any of the art works on display, this is essential to their preservation. There are, however, tactile models of the building, which can and should be touched.

– Children and teenagers under 14 may only enter the House of Culture accompanied by an adult with a passport. Teenagers between 14 and 17 years of age may enter the building on their own upon presentation of a passport to prove their age. We ask that adults explain the Visitor Regulations to their children and take responsibility for their behaviour.

– Smoking is prohibited on the premises of GES-2 House of Culture, excluding in specially designated smoking areas.

– We love pets, but at present, only guide dogs are allowed on the grounds of GES-2 House of Culture.

– Baby strollers are allowed throughout the House of Culture, except in the Playhouse. Please be aware that temporary restrictions may be in place in the exhibition areas due to the nature of certain exhibitions.

– Baby strollers can be left in a specially designated area to the right of the entrance, under the stairs leading from the Square to the Library. Please do not leave valuables in strollers.

– Children’s scooters, balance bikes, and skateboards can be brought into GES-2. We ask that you refrain from using them inside the building. They can be stored in the cloakroom or left in a locker. Unfortunately, GES-2 House of Culture cannot be held responsible for the safety of personal belongings.

– Bicycles, adult scooters, and electric scooters can be left in the street bike parking: one is located alongside the Vaults, the other behind the right risalit.

– Non-alcoholic drinks in plastic bottles or lidded cups with a volume of no more than 1 litre may be brought into GES-2. Please be aware of the fact that security officers at the entrance to the building may ask to examine your drink.

– Carrying out trade and entrepreneurial activities inside the building of GES-2 and on the adjacent territory is not permitted.

– Visitors who refuse to follow our standards of conduct will not be allowed into GES-2. We reserve the right to ask such visitors to leave the premises of GES-2.

– The House of Culture closes at 22:00. By this hour, all visitors must have left the GES-2 building. We will gladly welcome you again the following day.

Photos and videos

– You can only take photos with your phone at GES-2.

– We will be thrilled to see your photos from the GES-2 House of Culture on social media, but they must be for your personal use, and not be posted to commercial accounts.

– Please do not disturb other visitors when taking photographs at the House of Culture.

– Please do not use additional props, changes of clothes, shoes, accessories, or objects.

– Please do not use flash, tripods, or any devices for taking selfies or 3D films, as well as stabilizers, microphones, loopers, and any other professional equipment.

– We ask that no professional, commercial, or creative (costume, wedding, dance or other staged) filming of people or objects be conducted at GES-2 without the prior approval of the press office. If you would like to discuss the possibility of a photoshoot, please contact us at press@v-a-c.org. It will take a minimum of two working days for us to process your request and for you to receive a response.

– Please stop taking photos or videos immediately if you are requested to by a GES-2 employee. We ask you to be understanding of such requests, as they are always made with the benefit and convenience of other visitors in mind.

Food and drinks

– Food and drinks are not allowed in the exhibition areas.

– Water and soft drinks in plastic bottles with a volume of no more than 1 litre, as well as coffee and tea in cups with a lid may be brought into the Library, Classrooms, and Playhouse.

– Food is not allowed in the Playhouse.

Outerwear

– Please leave outerwear in the Cloakroom if you plan on visiting the exhibition areas, Playhouse, or Library.

– Classrooms are equipped with their own coat racks.

Large items

– We ask that you leave all items larger than 30×40×20 сm in the Cloakroom or in the lockers beside it.

– Guards will ask visitors to open bulky luggage — that is, luggage with dimensions exceeding 55×35 cm that does not fit into the introscope — in order to inspect it manually.

Special needs

– Interpretation materials and equipment for visitors with disabilities are available at the Information desk.

– There is a changing room with a comfortable area for breastfeeding on the –1 floor.

Playhouse and events at the House of Culture

– Once a film-screening, performance, or other event has begun, any photography or video-recording is forbidden. We ask that you turn off your mobile phones and do not turn them on until the end of the event.

– If you have come to the House of Culture to attend a concert, film screening, or other event, please leave your outerwear in the Cloakroom.

– If you have come to the House of Culture for a concert, film-screening, or other event with a stroller, please leave it at the designated parking area—you will find it to the left of the main entrance, under the stairs leading from the Square to the Library.

– Water and soft drinks in plastic bottles or lidded cups with a volume of no more than one litre may be brought into the Playhouse. Food is not permitted in the Playhouse.

– A free-seating policy is in operation at film screenings. If you are late to the beginning of a screening, please chose a seat you can access without disturbing other spectators.

– We ask that you arrive to concerts, performances, and other events at the House of Culture on time, we may not be able to allow you entry otherwise.

– Certain events at the House of Culture are limited to an 18+ audience. If you are attending such an event, we may ask to see a document confirming your age.

Vaults and Forest

– Only professionals have access to the Vaults workshops, but the walls have been made transparent to allow you to watch them at work.

– Getting acquainted with the Vaults workshops and working with professional equipment is possible by attending one of our master classes. We invite people over the age of 18 to participate, and may ask to see a document confirming your age.

– The Forest has a sophisticated and fragile irrigation system underneath the soil layer. To avoid damaging it, please stay on the path.

– Building fires, sunbathing in beachwear, and listening to loud music is not permitted in the Forest. Please also refrain from playing outdoor games that might disturb other visitors.

The following items cannot be brought into GES-2 House of Culture (they can be stored in the lockers by the main entrance):

– piercing or cutting implements (including scissors and knives) up to 9 cm long

– aerosol canss, excepting self-defense equipment

– items or products that may cause inconvenience or harm to other visitors, their property, as well as the property of the House of Culture

– laser lights and pointers

– tools

– drinks in containers with a volume of more than 1 litre, glass containers and bottles (baby food and medicines in glass containers can be taken with you)

– alcoholic drinks

GES-2 House of Culture is not responsible for the safety of items left in lockers. Employees have the right to refuse visitors both access to the building and use of the lockers without explanation (even if the items in question are included in the list permitted). Items left behind in lockers will be removed at the end of each day. Perishable products will be immediately disposed of. Any other items left behind are subject to disposal if their owner does claim them within 7 days.

The following items are forbidden in GES-2 House of Culture, and cannot be stored in the lockers by the main entrance:

– weapons of any kind, including self-defense equipment, ammunition or components of firearms, piercing or cutting, knives with a length of 9 cm or more, other weapons and stun guns

– radio electronic means of communication and high-frequency devices, walkie-talkies, televisions, and telecommunications equipment

– means of photo/video recording intended for covert surveillance

– moving and gliding aircraft and their models (gliders, drones, kites, etc.)

– bicycles, electric scooters, adult scooters (these can be left in the bicycle parking nearby the building)

– explosives, flammable and pyrotechnic substances, devices, or products

– flammable and combustible liquids and gases, compressed and liquefied gases

– flammable solids

– toxic, poisonous, or pungent substances

– oxidizing agents and organic peroxides

– toxic substances, radioactive materials, corrosive substances, as well as pathogenic biological agents

– narcotic, psychotropic, and toxic substances, including in the form of medicines

– dyes and bulking agents

– other substances, products and items, the use of which may cause smoke or ignition

– extremist, offensive, or discriminatory materials.

* In case of discrepancy, the meaning and spirit of the Russian version shall be used to interpret the regulations.