On 22 October, 2003, the State Hermitage Museum and the company Basic Element signed in Novosibirsk the general agreement on the Hermitage in Siberia Program, as the exhibition Art of Portrait was opening its doors in the Novosibirsk Art Gallery.

The Hermitage in Siberia Program was designed by the State Hermitage Museum and the company Basic Element to make the population of Siberia better aware of the achievements of world culture and arts, establish new links between the Hermitage and culture institutions of the Siberian Federal District and implement educational programs for children, young people and other audiences.

The Program is supported by the Russian President’s Envoy in the Siberian Federal District and regional governors.

Basic Element is both the coorganizer and general sponsor of the Program.

Due to its scale, Hermitage in Siberia is a unique encompassing program addressed to people of various classes and ages. It is focused around a succession of exhibitions loaned by the State Hermitage Museum.

Since distances between cities in Siberia are huge, a special scheme for organizing exhibitions has been designed: two parallel shows will be displayed, either visiting three cities. During 2004, exhibitions will come to Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Krasnoyarsk, Abakan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo.

Each show will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue and booklet. Various other events will also be organized, including lectures, music festivals, concerts, symposia and conferences, presented by the St. Petersburg museum jointly with its partners (the State Hermitage Orchestra, the Hermitage Bridge Studio, and others) and leading culture institutions of the Siberian Federal District.

The second wave of exhibitions will sweep over Siberia two years after the first.

The Hermitage in Siberia Program was presented to public on 22 October, 2003, in the capital of the Siberian Federal District, Novosibirsk. Presentation program included the ceremony of signing the general agreement on the Hermitage in Siberia Program and the press conference given by Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, and Oleg V. Deripaska, Chairman of the Board of Basic Element. The same day the exhibition Art of Portrait: West European Paintings and Sculptures of the 18th-19th Centuries from the Hermitage Collection was opened in the Novosibirsk Art Gallery.

Museums of the Siberian Federal District taking part in the Hermitage in Siberia Program
January - November 2004

Republic of Buryatia
Ulan-Ude
Ts.S. Sampilov Buryat Republic Museum of Arts

Republic of Khakassia
Abakan
Khakassian Republic Museum of Local History

Krasnoyarsk Kray
Krasnoyarsk
V.I. Surikov Krasnoyarsk Museum of Arts

Irkutsk Region
Irkutsk
V.P. Sukachev Irkutsk Region Museum of Arts

Kemerovo Region
Kemerovo
Kemerovo Region Museum of Fine Arts

Novosibirsk Region
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk Art Gallery

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