MUSEUM. MONUMENT. HERITAGE 2 (16) / 2024
A Problem in Focus: Interpretation and Preservation of Historical and Architectural Heritage
Petrov P.V. Anatoly Vladimirovich Shemansky (1904 — 1942): Portrait of a Museum Worker Against the Background of the Era — 5 (Rus.)
Petrov, Pavel Vladimirovich — Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of
Museum Research, State Museum Reserve «Peterhof», Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, peterhof_petrov@mail.ru
The personality of Anatoly Vladimirovich Shemansky remains underestimated in the history of museum work to this day. Meanwhile, his contribution to the development of the Peterhof palace-museums in the pre-war period, from 1925 to 1941, seems to be very important and significant. Already at the very beginning of his professional activity, Shemansky participated in the preservation of historical and cultural monuments of the Tambov province. Then he received a historical education at the Petrograd State University, after which he immediately came to work in the Administration of the Peterhof Palace-Museums and Parks. It was here, in Peterhof, that A.V. Shemansky, together with his colleague S.S. Geychenko, developed and successfully applied in practice the method of additional exposition in the historical interiors of the palaces, first tested at the Lower Dacha of Nicholas II in Alexandria Park. Then, under the leadership of Shemansky, who took the position of deputy director for scientific work, new exhibitions were launched and interesting exhibitions opened in the Grand Peterhof
Palace and the Catherine Wing of Monplaisir. Shemansky prepared the texts of numerous guidebooks dedicated to the Peterhof palaces and parks. Based on numerous documents discovered in recent years in the funds of various archives, we will try to reconstruct the life of this outstanding museum figure.
Key words: Peterhof, palace, museum, exposition, exhibition, interiors, museum item.
Frolov V.V. Architectural Museum of the 21st Century: Purposes and Meanings. The Problem of St Petersburg — 20 (Rus.)
Frolov, Vladimir Vladimirovich — art historian, post graduate student of the St Petersburg State University of the Industrial Technology and Design (direction 5.10.03, types of the art (technical aesthetics and design), teacher at the St Petersburg Academy of Arts, director of ‘Balticum’ publishing house, St Petersburg, Russian Federation, vf@balticum.ru
The history of architecture museum is no longer than two centuries. Nevertheless, by
today one can find more than a 70 of such institutions (if we count just the members of the ICAM), which collect and represent the works of artistic architecture throughout the world. In St Petersburg, which is often called an open air architecture museum, such institution is absent. In this paper we give a brief analysis of the current condition of the architecture museums in the world, in order to then touch upon a problem of possible architecture museum in St Petersburg, and its unique purposes and required meanings. Key words: architecture museum, City-museum, supereclecticism.
Shevlyagin A.A. Formation of a Modern Exposition of Garden Sculpture
near the Grand Menshikov Palace in Oranienbaum — 28 (Rus.)
Shevlyagin, Arsenii Andreevich — PhD in Cultural Studies, Curator of Oranienbaum’s
sculpture Department, Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, oransculpture@peterhofmuseum.ru
The subject of the author’s research is the formation of a modern sculpture exhibition
around the Grand Menshikov Palace, the oldest architectural dominant of Oranienbaum Park. Since the time of the first owner of the estate, A.D. Menshikov, the Lower Garden in front of the palace was decorated with sculptures. Their nature and composition partially changed throughout the pre-revolutionary history of the ensemble, and in the 1920s, the sculpture exposition was disbanded. The decision to reopen it as an integral part of the appearance of the Lower Garden was made only half a century later, but the process stretched over several decades. In the course of the study, the attribution of a number of museum items was clarified the sequence of filling the Lower Garden with sculpture in the 21st century was reconstructed, and the factors that influenced the choice of installation locations and the orientation of individual works were considered. Along with the results of the reconstruction of the historical part, the practical experience of transforming and supplementing the park exhibition was also
studied, including through modern author’s works. It is concluded that the use of the open galleries of the western and eastern wings of the Grand Menshikov Palace as an exhibition space has partially solved the issue of storing and displaying large-sized statues, including authentic works of the 18th century, with sufficient conditions for safe display. Key words: marble, sculpture, copy, park exposition, Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, Oranienbaum, Grand Menshikov Palace, reconstruction.
Vasinskaya M.V. Writings of Foreign Travelers of the 18th – 19th Centuries
as a Factor in the Formation of Interest to the Sights of Peterhof — 38 (Rus.)
Vasinskaya, Maria Vladislavovna — Curator of Oranienbaum’s Rare Book Department,
Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vasinskaya-M@yandex.ru
The study examined the range of foreign memoir literature of the 18th–19th centuries,
which mentioned and described the sights of Peterhof. It included works by such authors as J. Bernoulli, A.B. Granville, A. Dumas (the Elder), L. Carroll, A. de Custine, F. de Miranda and others. Their stay in Russia lasted from several weeks to several years and was due to various reasons, including professional interests and responsibilities. In the course of the work, it was revealed that in each individual case, voyagers perceive the observed phenomena differently, pay attention to issues and topics that concern them and reveal them with varying degrees of completeness, while there are common areas of interest. The conducted comparative analysis made it possible to identify several semantic groups in the context of which the traveler talks about Peterhof: direct description of architectural structures and parks; characteristics of the interior art decoration; Peterhof holidays; specifics of visiting palaces; transport accessibility of the place. The conclusion is made about the importance of travel notes in the issue of forming the interest of Europeans in Peterhof as an attractive tourist site. Key words: cultural tourism, travel, memoirs, Peterhof, landmark, park, palace, fountain.
Museum
Bezzubova O.V. Memory Museums in the Context of Contemporary Memorial Culture — 49 (Rus.)
Bezzubova Olga V. — Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Museum Management
and Historical Monuments Preservation, St Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, o.bezzubova@spbu.ru
The article concerns memory museums, a new type of museum that emerged at the end of the twentieth century. An important prerequisite for the emergence of this type of museum is the changes in the memorial policy and the social function of museums, which are no longer considered to be primarily scientific institutions, but act as spaces providing visitors with opportunities to gain emotional experience. The emergence of new social functions of the museum is causing changes at all levels of museum work, including making new approaches necessary in the field of working with visitors and exhibition activities. The specifics of memory museums are understood within the framework of a socio-cultural situation characterized by the establishment of a new attitude to the past, described by such concepts as “post-memory”, “vicarious memories”, “prosthetic memory”, “secondary witnessing”, as well as in the context
of the concept of historical trauma. The article also outline the characteristic features and techniques that allow us to distinguish memory museums as a separate group of museums, among which various methods of emotional impact on the visitor dominate. It is also noted that the activities of memory museums are not without serious contradictions, some of which are also discussed in the article. Since memory museums have become widespread today both in Russia and abroad, understanding their role in society seems to be a pressing task. Key words: museums of memory, memorial culture, memorial policy.
Kiba D.V. Forms of Work with Schoolchildren of the Museum
of the Great October Socialist Revolution in the late 1950s – early 1970s — 58 (Rus.)
Kiba, Daria Valerievna — Candidate of Science in History, Associate Professor, Tour Guide of the Museum Pedagogy Department of the State Museum of Political History of Russia, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, darya.kiba.80@mail.ru
The article examines the forms of work with schoolchildren of the Museum of the Great
October Socialist Revolution in the late 1950s — early 1970s. The Leningrad Museum had significant potential for educational and outreach activities, and for facilitating the development of schoolchildren’s personalities. The source base of the study was made up of unpublished documents and materials from the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg, the Central State Archive of Cinema, Photo, and Sound Documents of St. Petersburg, and the scientific archive of the State Museum of Political History of Russia. The forms are revealed: excursions, history lessons, ritual ceremonial events (admission to the Pioneers, presentation of passports, Komsomol cards), theme evenings and meetings, work within the museum club, correspondence with schoolchildren, and methodological assistance to schools. The article
highlights the difficulties of interaction with schoolchildren. It was determined that events for schoolchildren were organized taking into account the age of the students: events for grades 4–7 and grades 8–10. The article highlights three stages of the educational and upbringing activities of the Museum of the Revolution: the period of formation of work forms in the late 1950s, the time of increasing the pace and improving the types of interaction with children, and interaction with schoolchildren on the eve of the anniversary of V.I. Lenin. Key words: museum, school, excursion, theme evening, red pathfinders, «Young Museum Worker» club, educational and upbringing activities.
Salm A.A. From the History of the N.G. Rubinstein Museum of the Moscow Conservatory: Activities of its Director E.L. Gurevich in 1995–2015 in Documents and Materials from Her Personal Collection and Electronic Archive — 70 (Rus.)
Salm, Alina A — the Research Fellow, The N.G. Rubinstein Museum of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow, Russian Federation, salm.a@mail.ru
The article is devoted to the activities of the Director of the Rubinstein Museum of the Moscow Conservatoire, Evgenia L. Gurevich, who headed it from 1995 to 2015. When its revival began in 1992, the question arose of developing the Museum’s concept, defining its place in the Conservatory and the possibilities for its development in different aspects: collecting, research and educational. And here the role of the head — the organiser of museum work is seen as the key one. Personal and managerial qualities of E.L. Gurevich allowed her to build the work of this division practically from scratch. Among the achievements of the Museum for 20 years: largescale work on acquisition of 76 personal funds and more than 800 separate items; creation of
3 permanent operating expositions reflecting different periods of the MSC history; participation in the largest projects of the Conservatory, including exhibitions and publications, timed to its jubilee dates and many others. The Museum offers excursions, concert-performing and archival practice of students. E.L. Gurevich also acted as the first chronicler of the history of the revived Museum: in addition to a number of articles devoted to it and published in various editions, she created the Book-Album about the Rubinstein Museum. In addition to a number of articles devoted to the Museum and published in various editions, she created a book-album about the Rubinstein Museum, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of its foundation and the 20th anniversary of its
revival. Under her leadership, the Museum acquired the status of one of the leading departments of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire and to this day successfully fulfils its mission of preserving the historical, cultural, and scientific heritage of the Moscow State Conservatoire. Key words: P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, the Nikolay G. Rubinstein
Museum of the Moscow Conservatory, Evgenia L. Gurevich, collecting activity, exposition and exhibition activity, music-educational activity, research activity, photo exhibition, personal fund, electronic archive.
Monument
Lyubeznikov O.A. Study of the House of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Junior on Italian Street — 84 (Rus.)
Lyubeznikov, Oleg Anatolievich — Candidate of Science in History, Associate Professor,
Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, o.lyubeznikov@spbu.ru
The article briefly outlines the history of the mansion at Italianskaya Street, 13 in St. Petersburg from 1892 to 1910, when it belonged to a member of the Romanov dynasty, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Junior. Based on unpublished sources from the Russian State Historical Archive and the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg, the author describes the fate of the building before its acquisition by the Grand Duke, the reconstruction of the mansion carried out according to the design of the architect A.S. Khrenov, and the interaction between the Office of the Court of the Grand Duke and city authorities. However, the connection between the building, now occupied by the Musical Comedy Theatre, and one of the most prominent representatives of the Romanov dynasty on the eve of its fall, remains little
known, and the period when Nikolai Nikolaevich the Junior lived there is only an episode in the centuries-old history of this St. Petersburg architectural monument.
Key words: Nikolai Nikolaevich the Younger, A.S. Khrenov, palace, Italian Street, Lazarevs, Musical Comedy Theatre.
Kuptsova E.D. From the History of the Creation of Museums in Memory of A.A. Blok in the 1970s (Based on the Materials of the V.N. Orlov’s Fund
in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art) — 90 (Rus.)
Kuptsova, Ekaterina Dmitrievna — a student of the bachelor program “Museology and
conservation of cultural and natural heritage sites”, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, st107608@student.spbu.ru.
The scientific supervisor — O.A. Lyubeznikov, Candidate of Science in History, Associate Professor of the Department of museum work and protection of monuments at the Saint Petersburg State University.
The publication introduces into science in full a number of documents from the collection of literary scholar Vladimir Nikolaevich Orlov, preserved in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art in Moscow, related to the history of the creation of literary memorial museums of A.A. Blok in the 1970s. Among the published documents are V.N. Orlov’s appeal to the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU on perpetuating the memory of A.A. Blok in connection with the 100th anniversary of his birth and letters from Moscow literary scholar Stanislav Stefanovich Lesnevsky to V.N. Orlov. The documents reveal in detail the features of the process of creating museums in honor of the poet, the nuances of the formation of museum collections.
Key words: A.A. Blok, V.N. Orlov, S.S. Lesnevsky, Shakhmatovo, Leningrad, L.D. Mendeleyeva, apartment museums, museum.
Tuminskaya O.A. Magic Lantern Projections: Technique and Art in the Fate of A.K. Yerzhemsky — the First Photographer of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III — 105 (Rus.)
Tuminskaya, Olga Anatolievna — Doctor of Art History, Head of the Aesthetic Education
Sector, Methodological Department, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, olgmorgun@yandex.ru.
The authenticity and high quality of the museum exposition is ensured by the polyfunctionality of scientific training, the subject installation is based on such an optical mode, which provides for documentary and authenticity, combined with artistic and design skills. The Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III initially set a high bar for the selection and exposition principles of its collection. Initially, the question of educational activities arose, and already at the opening in March 1898, postcards were prepared-photographs of the most famous works that entered the museum. It was necessary to «photograph immediately every painting included in the Russian Museum, in general, every object of the collection» and already in late 1896 — early 1897 the photographing was carried out «under the supervision of an invited specialist A.K. Yerzhemsky». Over time, a Photographic department was created. The Russian
Museum of Emperor Alexander III, the Hermitage, the Imperial Russian Technical Society, the Photographic Society, the Workshop of Textbooks and Games, and some other state and private public organizations simultaneously belong to A.K. Yerzhemsky. A.K. Yerzhemsky was the first specialist in photography in Russia, who developed a method of orthochromatic shooting of works of visual art. art and his skills were very much in the new art museum. Also, A.K. Yerzhemsky worked on the improvement of projection devices, which helped to carry out the process of reproducing photographs necessary in educational work. Taking photography, initially to create manuals for projection lanterns, later became his specialty and helped develop textbooks according to the pedagogical requirements for demonstrating projections of the «magic lantern». Technical works for the Pedagogical Museum of A.K. Yerzhemsky and
A.N. Kanaev have won prizes at many exhibitions in Russia and abroad.
Key words: A.K. Yerzhemsky, A.N. Kanaev, Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III,
Photographic Department, Workshop of textbooks and games, Pedagogical Museum, magic lantern, photographic department of the Art Museum.
Heritage
Abroskina E.V. Inconvenient Heritage: Towards the Question of Representation of National Culture in Exhibitions of Ethnographic Museums of Tunisia — 118 (Rus.)
Abroskina, Evgeniia Vyacheslavovna — PhD in History, Junior Researcher, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, evgeniia.abroskina@gmail.com
The article examines the ways of representing national culture in ethnographic museums in Tunisia. The author analyzes the exhibition strategies of three museums — the Museum of Folk Art and Traditions of the Monastir Region, the private Museum of Folk Art and Traditions in Sousse, and the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Moknine, since these museums are among the largest ethnographic museums in the country, in addition, they are located in a tourist area and they are the most visited. The objective of the article is to demonstrate how museums convey ideas about national unity, excluding from the exhibition narrative the voices of minority ethnic and religious groups, such as, for example, the Berbers and Sephardim of Tunisia. Turning to the concept of heritage, the author highlights how “rejected”, inconvenient heritage is manifested through material objects and how it is encrypted in the absence of accompanying texts. An analysis of the exhibitions of the selected museums
provides an opportunity to criticize the widespread approach in Tunisia of demonstrating the national through the prism of cultural diversity. Turning to her own ethnographic field material, the author demonstrates how such an approach helps the state exclude the voices of minority groups from the museum space, reducing the value and cultural contribution of each of them.
Key words: ethnographic museums, Tunisia, cultural diversity, exhibition.
Klimovitskaya I.I. Change of Perspective. Exhibition “Casus of Meierhold
or “The Government Inspector” is always Desired” in Theater Museum — 132 (Rus.)
Klimovitskaya, Irina Igorevna — academic secretary, St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, acs@theatremuseum.ru
The article deals a curatorial experiment that aimed to present a holistic interpretation
of Vsevolod Meyerhold as a historical and cultural phenomenon. Moving beyond fragmented views focused solely on specific periods of his work, the approach integrates his personality, creativity, and political context. Using Gogol’s The Government Inspector as a conceptual framework, the exhibition constructs a narrative that reveals the multidimensionality and internal contradictions of Meyerhold’s legacy, emphasizing its continued relevance.
Key words: Meyerhold, personality, creativity, politics, St Petersburg, theatre, The Government Inspector.
Chen J. Beijing as a Museum City — 139 (Rus.)
Chen Jing — Ph.D student, St.-Petersburg State University, St.-Petersburg, Russian Federation, st108313@student.spbu.ru
As China’s first megacity to systematically implement the concept of a “museum city,”
Beijing has established a comprehensive museum network through the integration of cultural heritage and technological innovation. This article conducts a systematic analysis of the construction logic and implementation mechanisms of the project from three dimensions: spatial reconstruction, classification systems, and value enhancement. Research demonstrates that the spatial framework of “two axes, four districts, and multiple points” effectively transforms cultural landscapes, the innovative museum classification system enriches cultural expression, and the application of digital technologies expands the boundaries of cultural communication. These practices collectively offer a Chinese approach to cultural governance for global megacities.
Key words: Beijing, Museum City, Cultural Governance, Cultural Space.
Reviews
Birykova M.V. Towards the Idea of Time: Three Exhibitions in the Museums of St. Petersburg — 147 (Rus.)
Biryukova, Marina Valerievna — Doctor of Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Saint-
Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, m.birjukova@spbu.ru.
In 2024/2025, several exhibitions were held in the largest museums of St. Petersburg, analyzed in this article in the context of the idea of time as interpreted by F. Baader and H. Sedlmayr. The exhibition “The Meyerhold’s Case or “The Government Inspector” is always desirable” for the 150th anniversary of Vsevolod Meyerhold at the Museum of Theatrical and Musical Art, the project “The Great Charles. For the 225th anniversary of K. P. Bryullov” at the State Russian Museum and the exhibition “The Fiery Fortress”. On the 150th anniversary of the birth of N. K. The Roerich” in the Hermitage museum not only reflect the “spirit of the times” in all its variety of connotations, but also demonstrates both conceived and not provided for by the curators conceptual parallels in reading the visual and substantive components of the projects. The mimetic and diegetic qualities of exhibition projects in terms of dynamic design using elements of immersiveness and information content serve to reveal the idea of time in the context of its modern dialectic. Key words: curatorial project, museum, exhibition activity, idea of time, exhibition concept.
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