[3] Perm Museum of Contemporary Art was devised by and is the legacy of its former founder, director and curator Marat Gelman.

The building was built in 1940, at 2 Ordzhonikidze Street, opposite Perm-I railway station and on the banks of the Kama River.

[10] The museum was devised by and is the legacy of its former founder, director and curator, Moscow gallery owner Marat Gelman.

[4] Gelman was spearheading a cultural revolution in the industrial city of Perm, which had a liberal political climate compared with the "throwback authoritarianism" of elsewhere in Russia.

[3][6][7][12] Gelman was replaced by Elena Oleynikova, who was also dismissed within weeks "for agreeing to host a forum with civil society organisation Pilorama on the grounds of the museum".