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Report of the State Hermitage for 2004 The Report of the State Hermitage for 2004 has been published (Slavia publishing house). The report begins with an article by the museum’s director, Mikhail Piotrovsky, entitled "The Year of the Scythian Tattoos". One more eventful year, 2004 particularly highlighted the role of research activities in the life of the Hermitage. The presentation of ten theses for Candidate’s degrees indicates an improvement in quality and a revival of research initiatives and scholarly ambitions. This shows that Hermitage traditions exist not only in words. We are constantly demonstrating and proving that the museum is not a warehouse and not just a viewing gallery. Major research work is being carried out in the Hermitage’s repositories. New discoveries are being made, new theories proposed and new exhibits formed. The sensation of the year was the discovery on the long familiar early-Scythian mummies from Pazyryk of amazing tattoos previously not visible due to the darkening of the skin. The technique of viewing under reflected infra-red light successfully employed on human remains from the Oglakhty burial site was used for a new study of the three famous mummies from the Altai. Depictions of lions, snow lions, wild rams and fantastic beasts, intertwined in a dynamic picture, came into view in miraculous fashion. The work was in the celebrated "Animal Style", but with obvious echoes of Chinese traditions. The long familiar exhibits were transformed and scholars received extremely rich material for thought, discussion and research. Equally valuable material is provided in the course of their work by the Hermitage’s fifteen archaeological expeditions that are ever more frequently fulfilling the goal of publishing reports of each field season. Scholarly monographs and the issuing of catalogues of the collections are occupying an ever greater place in the extensive list of Hermitage publications. They were joined by the first works in small-format series of popular studies. Drawing on the latest scholarly advances, these little books combine excellent quality with relatively low price and are therefore very popular with visitors. In 2004 visitors saw more refurbished halls - the Twenty-Column Hall with Italic vases, the Van Dyck Hall, a new superbly-equipped display of Indian art. The re-opening of the Picket Hall after restoration gave us back an amazing view of the Armorial Hall. It has been freed of display cases and looks as magnificently grand as in days gone by. That year "gourmet" visitors were able to enjoy two amazing Rembrandt paintings - The Sacrifice of Isaac from Munich and The Blinding of Samson from Frankfurt, as well as Raphael’s Alba Madonna that once belonged to the Hermitage. An event of world significance was the exhibition of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, the only Russian artists of the second half twentieth century to achieve complete worldwide recognition. Another "global" event was the opening of the Hermitage exhibition centre in Amsterdam. It was enthusiastically welcomed by the Dutch public and world press as a splendid example of Russia’s active cultural policy. The Hermitage Rooms in London hosted an exhibition of Islamic art. The halls of the Hermitage-Guggenheim in Las Vegas were full as always. In St Petersburg the packed halls of the main buildings were supplemented by new displays in the General Staff building (including the unique "Museum of the Guards"), the expanding "Porcelain Museum" on the territory of the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory and two museums in the Konstantinovsky Palace - the "Museum of Heraldry" and the "Museum of Awards and Decorations". The concentrated thematic displays of such "museums" makes it possible to significantly increase the accessibility of our collections while at the same time enriching the cultural life of different parts of the city and addressing the needs of specialists. A "quantum leap" in terms of increased accessibility of the collections was the start of the public functioning of the Hermitage’s "Open Repository". It is regularly visited by groups of adults and children. The opportunities to present items are continually increasing. Recently a "Tapestry Theatre" began operating. Plants from the Hanging Garden have also been moved to the Repository while restoration work is carried out. We are very pleased to have been able to present significant exhibition events in different parts of Russia. In this sphere too there was a major improvement in 2004. Specially prepared exhibitions were held in Novgorod, Kazan, Lipetsk, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Kemerovo, Abakan,... A major programme for the south of Russia is in preparation. Students from many Russian higher educational establishments learn to draw in the Hermitage. They are joined by design students from Rhode Island in the USA. Children come from all over Russia to learn and "recharge their spiritual batteries" in the Hermitage. This year they included children from Beslan. Art as therapy is gradually becoming a special aspect of the Hermitage’s educational activities. Hall by hall, facade by facade, the museum is undergoing a refurbishment that does not alter, but rather preserves its traditional appearance and spirit. It is simply that the museum’s dialogue with visitors is becoming more distinct and richer in nuances. |
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Copyright
© 2006 State Hermitage Museum |
