On 23 October 2006, the State Hermitage opened the new 2006-2007 season of the Hermitage Friends' Club.

The Hermitage was the first museum in Russia to organise a society of Friends. Following the example of the Hermitage, similar clubs began to appear in other museums around the country. Our organisation is international. People residing in various countries around the world are Hermitage Friends: Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Lichtenstein, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, France, Switzerland, the USA, Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, China, Lithuania, Thailand and the Ukraine. However, the Hermitage is proud that the first members of the Club were our own compatriots, many of whom stand with the museum to this day.

In November 2006, the international Hermitage Friends' Club celebrates its 10th Anniversary. Over the course of the past 10 years, the Friends have helped the museum to implement numerous projects and development programmes of the State Hermitage, taking a very direct part in the life of the museum. The 10th Anniversary of the Club is indisputable evidence of how successful the programme is and of the active interest visitors to the Hermitage have in it. During these years we have tried to ensure that Members were among the first to learn about all the important events in the life of the museum and were the first visitors to new exhibitions and new exhibition facilities.

In this special, anniversary season of 2006-2007, the Hermitage draws the attention of Friends to the remodeled programme of traditional Club gatherings during which members visit new temporary exhibitions, meet with leading specialists from the museum and get to know a great many interesting things about the history and the collections of the Hermitage.

At the meeting devoted to opening the new season, we will show the Friends one additional new exhibition area of the State Hermitage - the museum's space in the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna.

As is the tradition, the Hermitage Friends will be greeted by Mikhail Piotrovsky, who will tell us about the Palace of Congresses and the Hermitage exhibition there. D.V. Liubin, Director of the Konstantinovsky Palace Museum division, will also deliver a talk. Then the guests will be given the opportunity to examine on their own an exhibition entitled Diplomatic Gifts - The Language of Peace.

Introductory words of greeting from Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum

Dmitry Liubin, Director of the Konstantinovsky Palace Museum

At the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna

At the exhibition in the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna