On December 7, 2018, after significant renovations, the long-awaited opening of the Contemporary Art Gallery of the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan took place. On this day, the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, visited the gallery. The event was also attended by the Mayor of Kazan, Ilsur Metshin, the Minister of Culture of Tatarstan, Irada Ayupova, the Assistant to the President of Tatarstan, Olesya Baltusova, the Minister of Construction, Architecture, and Housing and Communal Services of Tatarstan, Irek Faizullin, the Chairman of the State Committee of Tatarstan for Tourism, Sergey Ivanov, and others.

The President of Tatarstan thanked everyone for their work and noted that the updated gallery has many wonderful opportunities. "I am sure that we will be proud of this gallery," said Rustam Minnikhanov. He presented a Letter of Gratitude from the President of the Republic of Tatarstan to the museum staff for their significant contribution to the development of museum affairs and the preservation of the cultural and artistic heritage of the region.

The building of the Contemporary Art Gallery was constructed in 1979 in the style of neo-brutalism as the Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists of TASSR. For this project, architect G. A. Bakulin was awarded the title of laureate of the State Prize of Tatarstan named after Gabdulla Tukay in 1981. The sculptor at the entrance is R. P. Kharitonov. The exhibition hall opened in 1980 with a large-scale Regional Exhibition "Big Volga." In 2009, the building was transferred to the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, and it was modernized in 2017 and 2018.

During the reconstruction, the "White Cube" concept was implemented, and the lighting design was carried out by specialists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, taking into account modern requirements for exhibition spaces.

Today, the Contemporary Art Gallery is the largest exhibition venue in Kazan, specializing in contemporary art. Visitors have access to three floors with six exhibition spaces, a lecture hall, a children's art area, multimedia, and more than one and a half thousand square meters.

The gallery combines exhibition projects, discussions, lectures, reading groups, and serves as an experimental platform for the synthesis of visual art, video, music, and performance. Regular lectures, art mediations, discussions, and film screenings take place in the lecture hall, while the children's art area hosts classes for museum studios and children's groups based on the gallery's exhibitions.

Since the reopening of the gallery after reconstruction, more than 15 exhibition projects have been implemented, over 200 events have been held, and the number of visitors has exceeded 35,000 people, including tourists from 20 regions of Russia, as well as China, the USA, Mexico, Korea, France, the UK, and Germany.