The State Hermitage Museum: Information

View from the Hermitage. A Cultural Capture
Article in the Sankt-Petersburgskie Vedomosti
30 October 2008 (N 205)

The meeting of the Dialogue of Civilizations international forum has taken place recently. There I talked about the museums as the mechanism of culture dialogue that is can reduce the tension. This is an important mission of the museums that become of more and more importance in the public area. So the museums are one of the best ways of telling about the history and cultural connections.

The Hermitage has recently opened the exhibition in Mantova dedicated to the Gonzaga cameo. This masterpiece is one of the main exhibits of the Hermitage, the greatest cameo in the world by size and by the artistic value. It was in various places and in various hands before it ended up in the hands of the soldier of the Napoleon’s army. Napoleon took it away and presented to Josephine who presented the cameo to Alexander I.

It is clear from the sculpture that it comes from the Gonzaga family who ruled in Mantova. We organized the exhibition where we presented the cameo and other valuables that stayed in the collections of the Gonzaga family as well as the paintings of Russian warriors in Paris, big bust of Alexander I… In short, a history of the cameo told with the help of the Hermitage materials.

The Manotvians made the exhibition about how wonderful the Gonzaga family was. It came out to be a story about the Russian collections and the Russian history. It is a way of teaching history by means of art. That is why we should take the exhibitions, our cultural product, abroad.

Nowadays all around the world the territorial expansi on of the museums takes place. Last week the Museums of the World in the 21st Century. Reconstruction, restoration, re-exhibition international conference took place in the Hermitage. The discourse was about the museums that use their premises for new purposes. They expand in order to establish children, tourist and musical programs present more collections... All this demands space.

The conference was attended by the specialists from all around the world, they told interesting things. For example, MoMA, the Museum of Modern Arts in New York was rebuilt several times. Now they are finishing the reconstruction that has given the museum the new premises and expanded the old ones that is necessary for the representation of the modern art. This demanded the unusual technical and economic solution. They managed to expand the museum in one of the streets of Manhattan. The skyscrapers are being built down there and the museum is going to occupy the first five floors while the upper floors would be apartments. It appears that it is possible to combine the museum with the residential neighbourhood but on one condition, namely, the museum should take priority.

During the first day of the conference we listened to the report dedicated to Berlin. There is a museum island with several buildings: the Pergamon Museum, the Old Museum, the New Museum and the Old National Gallery… During the war they were almost destroyed and then partly restored. The belongings of the museums were transported to the USSR but fifty years ago they were returned to Germany. The Germans started to reconstruct their museum island and realized how much Russia had giving them back. When the politicians tell us ‘to give back’ and we reply that ‘we have given back so much already’ it is taken badly. Now everyone comprehends that if Russia had not given back the Pergamon Altar, the Egyptian museum and so much more to Germany the reconstruction of the museum island would not have been necessary. It is no coincidence that the grand act of gratitude to Russia for returning the valuables is being prepared in Berlin. It is a persuasive argument against the trophy talks. The buildings shall be restored, the exhibits presented and it should be enough talks about it. If the Germans had not been engaged in the museum construction it would not have been so obvious.

Opposite the museum island there used to be a castle. At the times of the German Democratic Republic it was destroyed and the Palace of the Republic was built on its site but it was demolished later on. Now they are going to restore the facades of the Berlin castle and inside they are going to build a new universal museum. By the organization of the internal space itvwill originate in the Palace of the Republic. Most used to say that it was a pity to destroy the Palace since there were cafes, shops, restaurants, public spaces where people spent time with interest. The Germans do not renounce their past but rather try to take something from it and recreate it in a new form.

The problems of reconstruction and restoration of the museum are closely linked with the life of the city where the museum is situated. It is important how the museum relates to the city space. For example, the Centre Pompidou was built on the site of the Womb of Paris and it still preserves some populousness of the market life: concerts, shops... In front of the centre there appeared a square with its own life. Street artists and musicians perform there... The new scheme of interrelations between the museum and the urban environment is being created in Japan. The museums appear in places with a lot of people. They are built close to supermarkets. A person would visit a museum, see something beautiful and take something away in his heart.

The reconstruction and restoration of the historic buildings is impelled by the fact that the museums are not perceived just as the shrines of art. Very often they are compared with Disneyland for they have a lot of functions. Modern museums need space for new halls, shops, galleries, restaurants, libraries, parking… It’s the life of the museum and it is museum economics. Now we should consider what is better a restaurant or a cinema theatre. Both are necessary for the modern museum. This problem was also discussed at the conference.

The 20th century gave us the examples of the tremendous architectectural museum events. Just remember the Louvre Pyramid, the British Museum with the covered court, the new Tate Gallery that turned a huge factory building into the premises for presenting of the modern art. The 20th century gave a start for the new museums: Guggenheim, the Centre Pompidou, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Civilization museum in Paris. There appeared several private museums with splendid architecture, for example, in Basel.

The 21st century demands reconstruction, restoration and adaptation of the historic buildings to the needs of the museums. The architectural monument can remain untouched when it has the life of its own. But if something takes place inside then it changes according to the limits and rules. The museums suggest models of how to accommodate the building for its own functions and needs but not breaking the rules.

There are a lot of models. For example, active discussion took place concerning the Berlin island and about monument conservation. The Germans showed how they restore the New museum. A lot of metal constructions remained in the building so they are conserved carefully. At the same time the Germans without anyìdoubt built an outside corridor that connects one building to another. Byìour notions this is not quite right. This is one more innovation: a through passage or an ‘archeological promenade’ is built on the island. This is a route that a person takes along the Pergamon Altar, Greek and Assyrian monuments... The idea of the short through passage on the face of it seems wrong. But we should keep in mind that this is the basis of the sightseeing tour round the Hermitage. Everything should be discussed and realized following the good manners.

Besides the architectural problems we discussed the problems of interrelations between the museum and thevsurrounding world. We think that the interests of the museum should prevail. But this is not always the case. The reconstruction of the Reiksmuseum in Amsterdam has been going on for many years. During the reconstruction it was planned to change the functions of the famous passage under the museum. But that hindered the bicyclists. Together with the city they didn’t give thevpermission to move the cycle lane.

An interesting report was made about the museum in Philadelphia. It was built in Greek style in the beginning of the previous century but is already considered to be classic. This is an encyclopaedic museum but it also presents a lot of modern art. In order for it to represent its modern art collection it was allotted a new building and it is interesting to see what the new building has something in common with the old one through the expositions.

A new original museum is being organized in the Acropolis in Athens. The marbles of the Parthenon and the replicas of things from the British museum would be displayed there. The Greeks do not loose hope.

It should be mentioned that Russia was well-presented at the conference. Our museums have interesting ideas. The country survived the restructuring, privatization, capture of property... The initiative was shown not just by the vigorous people but also by the museums. They captured and continue to capture the territories.

The Russian Museum obtained several palaces. It is interesting to observe how they become one whole organism. The development plan of the Stroganov Palace was presented at the conference. Also the problem of Mikhailovsky Palace was discussed. There is a project to construct the elevators that will take thevvisitors to the top floors of the museum. The suggestion is opened for the discussion with the colleagues who are doing something similar. I think that the discussion will be useful when the time to make a final decision comes.

A particular problem is the expansion of the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. A huge building in the Krymsky Val was specially built for it and it used to house aìwonderful exposition. Now they are planning to realize the project of Norman Foster. A complex problem arises from that, namely, which part of the building should be demolished. The decision should be made by the Tretyakov Gallery.

The museums in the Kremlin have another problem. They have grand collections but they ‘live’ in the Kremlin. In order to display the collections it is necessary to expand but the question is where to. The museums ‘are leaving’ through the gates of the Kremlin. Premises are allotted for them; buildings in the centre of Moscow shall be built. It is a delicate choice of the place for collections representation, storage rooms and restoration workshops. The expositions will stay in the Kremlin. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is restored and it is possible to go upstairs and visit the exposition of the history of the Kremlin that is situated there. In the small exhibition hall jewelleries are presented.

Another story is connected with the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. The museum occupies a block and every building has its own function - the museum of private collections, the gallery of the 19th-20th centuries, the children’s centre...

There are a lot of problems. We change our way of thinking. There are traditions and there are ways of going beyond the traditions. All that is created by the museums can teach us some lessons.