Minsk. "Kotovasia" Art Gallery.

This is not just a museum, but a real temple of feline culture, which contains one of the world's largest collections of art objects related to cats in one way or another. This is a gallery with thousands of art exhibits. There are live seals here too, but there aren't many of them and they rather complement the atmosphere. The main focus is on the collection.

The gallery was opened on July 23, 2016. Its founder is Vasily Suprunyuk from Minsk, who started collecting his collection more than 20 years ago.

The first exhibit was a small statuette, donated by friends from Kiev. Over time, there were so many figures that they first occupied an apartment, then an office in Baranovichi, and eventually moved to Minsk, where they were allocated a whole room.

At the time of August 2025, Kotovasia's collections totaled more than 7,765 exhibits from 110 countries around the world. Here you can find items from all continents except Antarctica.

The collection impresses with its diversity:

· Materials: The exhibits are made of bronze, porcelain, wood, silver, marble, glass, leather, bone, and even chocolate and corn kernels.

·Geography: there are works by Japanese masters (for example, a symphony orchestra of 33 figures by Tokashi Masaki), Spanish porcelain Lladro, French Daum and Lalique, Italian marble vase, Fat Cat wine from New Zealand and coins from the islands of Niue.

· Variety: The collection includes figurines, paintings, postcards, tableware, jewelry, watches, lamps, toys, wines, and even alcoholic beverages with a cat theme.

Unlike another well-known "Cat Museum" in Minsk, which focuses on communicating with live animals and is located in the city center (23 Internatsionalnaya St.), Kotovasia positions itself as an art gallery. The main goal is to show how the image of a cat was embodied in world culture and decorative and applied arts.

Although Kotovasia is primarily an art space, real tailed cats live here, who were homeless in the past and found not only a home here, but also a job — to be living mascots and delight guests.

Interesting facts:

· The gallery is listed in the online project "Kufara Records" as the largest and most diverse gallery of art objects and household items depicting cats.

· The owner of the collection, Vasily Suprunyuk, offers a prize of 5,000 rubles to anyone who finds a public collection dedicated to cats in the world that is more significant than his.

Kotovasia is a place where you can trace the evolution of the image of a cat in world art, see rare collectibles and simply immerse yourself in the cozy atmosphere created by thousands of moustachioed faces.