On 23 May 2024, the State Duma’s Committee on Culture held parliamentary hearings on the subject of “Improvement of Legislative Regulation in the sphere of the preservation of objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation”.
Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage and President of the Union of Museums of Russia, took part in the process.
In his statement, Mikhail Borisovich noted that a conflict of interests exists between the industrial-building complex and the cultural heritage preservation industry and called on the two sides to reach a temporary compromise. The parameters of that compromise, he explained further, could be the following:
- Doing away with compulsory historical and cultural assessment, while preserving and increasing the role of archaeological reconnaissance as a means of identifying sites as part of a permanently functioning programme.
- Unambiguous assignment of the status of scientific research to archaeological reconnaissance. The retention of “open sheets” [permits to conduct archaeological research] with strict rules for their issue and the creation of a common register of persons to whom those sheets can be issued.
- Introducing new mechanisms for ensuring openness, monitoring and public education into the process of the identification and preservation of sites. Builders should regard the discovery of archaeological sites as a gift of fate, not a misfortune.
- Creation of a permanently functioning commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Culture to monitor the situation and resolve specific disputes.
Following the hearings, Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky sent a letter containing these proposals to the Committee on Culture on behalf of the State Hermitage and the Union of Museums of Russia.
“We are
obliged to preserve not only sites, but also one of the world's best pieces of legislation
in the field of archaeology,” he stated.
