Siberian Museum Forum

20-21 February, 2009 the Siberian Museum Forum took place in Krasnoyarsk. The Forum was organised by the Ministry of Culture of Krasnoyarsk Kray, Krasnoyarsk Kray Regional History Museum and the Russian Union of Museums. Members of the Administrations of 48 leading Russian museums and 38 Krasnoyarsk Kray museums and the staff of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Krasnoyarsk Kray and Novosibirskaya oblast took part in the Forum.
One of the central events of the Forum was the joint session of the Presidiums of the Russian Union of Museums and Russian Committee of the International Museum Council under the chairmanship of the Chairman of the Russian Union of Museums and the State Hermitage Museum Director Mikhail Piotrovsky and the Chairman of Russian Committee of the International Museum Council and Vice-Director of Tretyakov Gallery E.L. Selezneva.  
As a result of the Forum two documents were adopted - Memorandum of the Siberian Museum Forum and Address of the Russian Union of Museums and Russian Committee of the International Museum Council Presidium Members and participants of the Siberian Museum Forum to the State Council of the Russian Federation. The Chairman of the Russian Union of Museums Mikhail Piotrovsky said that these documents “reflect the concern of the museum professional community about the state of culture in our country. A lot is done today in the sphere of culture but these efforts are not enough. The fact of the Forum being organised is an evidence of the positive changes of the social atmosphere regarding culture. The Forum gave us an opportunity to share our problems and experience. It is very useful since all of the Russian museums solve the same problems in different conditions. The top priority of the State is to provide safety and protection of culture since culture is what distinguishes a human from a beast and one nation from another. The duty of the guardians of the cultural heritage is to remind about it, including reminding on historical examples. This was one of the objectives of the Siberian Museum Forum”.

Memorandum of the Siberian Museum Forum

Address of the Russian Union of Museums and Russian Committee of the International Museum Council Presidium Members and participants of the Siberian Museum Forum to the State Council of the Russian Federation