The Hermitage is Mine and Ours

On 10 January, 2003, took place the closing press conference of the joint project of the Hermitage School Center and the children newspaper Pionerskaya Pravda.

In 2002 the Russian newspaper for children Pionerskaya Pravda together with the Hermitage School Center organized the competition The Hermitage is Mine and Ours. On behalf of the Hermitage the project was conducted by the School Center headed by Irina A. Kureyeva. Though such competitions have already been organized in the past, questions prepared by Boris K. Kravchunas, Director of the Hermitage Art Studio, attracted genuine attention.

Children from Vologda, Moscow, Orel, Samara, Tula, Chelyabinsk and other regions of Russia took part in the competition. Individuals, classes and entire schools performed tasks. Though participants often used the same sources, no two works were identical. Using literature about the Museum which was available to them, when answering questions, children found links between their village or town and St. Petersburg and the Hermitage. The competition title The Hermitage is Mine and Ours was quite natural.

The competition was won by Tanya Chyolysheva, 5th form schoolgirl from the village Ryabovo, Lukh District, Ivanovo Region. 31 December, 2002, was her 11th birthday. Her letter was very emotional and sincere.

In her composition Tanya wrote about the Winter Palace, the Small, Old and New Hermitages and the Hermitage Theater. She told about the museum's famous collections and its first catalogue. She knows about the Hermitage Music Academy and one of the recent temporary exhibitions, Golden Deer of Eurasia. She took much of this information from her favorite newspaper Pionerskaya Pravda.

Together with her grandmother Svetlana D. Moshcheyeva, Tanya came to spend her winter vacation in St. Petersburg. The trip became possible due to joint efforts of the State Hermitage Museum and the Pionerskaya Pravda with the support of Coca Cola. The program designed specially for Tanya Chyolysheva included visits to the Hermitage and other museums of St. Petersburg.

Tanya Chyolysheva, Irina Kureyeva, Director of the School Center and State Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky during the press-conference

The Winner in Competition Tanya Chyolysheva