On 5 September 2024, the ceremonial opening took place in Orenburg of the Hermitage–Eurasia cultural and educational centre – the fifth Hermitage satellite centre. The project will expand cultural ties between Russian regions and provide the residents of Orenburg and its surrounding area with access to artefacts of world culture and artworks from the unique Hermitage collection.
The ceremony was begun by Denis Pasler, Governor of Orenburg Region: “I want to thank Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, who has a very warm regard for our city. We know that he has a direct connection with Orenburg Region – I am referring to his family history. It is, of course, a precious matter to gain the opportunity to hold a succession of exhibitions from the stocks of the Hermitage for decades to come. I am in no doubt that the public in Orenburg Region will be able to appreciate what is being presented here.”
Representing Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, Viacheslav Feodorov, the Head of the Department of the History of Russian Culture, addressed the guests and read out greetings from the museum director: “I congratulate you on the opening of the satellite centre and wish you success in all your undertakings. I am certain that Orenburg is worthy of becoming one of the country’s cultural centres. The museum’s main displays and reserves come together from time to time so as to tell within the halls of the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg and in the Hermitage’s satellite galleries about Russian history, of which the Hermitage itself is an important manifestation, about the dialogue into which the museum plunges the most diverse cultures, and, finally, about the masterpieces that suddenly burst upon the world thanks to the efforts of restorers and curators,” Mikhail Piotrovsky stated.
The right to cut the ribbon and thus officially open the Hermitage–Eurasia Centre was accorded to Viacheslav Feodorov and Yury Komlev, Director of the Orenburg Regional Museum of Fine Arts.
The Hermitage’s new centre is located in the building of the Orenburg Regional Museum of Fine Arts (8, Pravda Street), constructed in the early 19th century to the design of architect Mikhail Pavlovich Malakhov. The extensive work to adapt the architectural monument for use as a museum took place over a period of two years.
The centre’s unique premises include two display halls, the world’s only Jasper Room, created by Orenburg craftsmen from picturesque Orsk jasper. There is a public library of the arts in the museum. It also contains a commemorative display of “The Piotrovsky Dynasty in Orenburg” that tells about the city’s profound connections with the celebrated family. Particular attention is devoted in the Hermitage–Eurasia Centre to the creative legacy of local artists. At the moment, it is hosting an exhibition “Classics of Naïve Art from the collection of the Orenburg Museum of Fine Arts”.
The people of Orenburg were congratulated on the opening of the State Hermitage’s satellite centre from on board the International Space Station by Hero of the Russian Federation Oleg Kononenko, the commander of the team of cosmonauts: “Each new museum preserves historical and cultural heritage, enriches everyday existence, fills it with meaning, gives depth to our life. Now distance is not an obstacle to making contact with genuine masterpieces and unique cultural objects from the State Hermitage on Orenburg soil!”
Each year the Hermitage–Eurasia Centre will be hosting Hermitage Days, the central event of which is an exhibition of masterpieces from the State Hermitage collection. The first is devoted to portraiture of the 1830s–50s, a time often referred to as the “Age of Briullov”, and is a homage of sorts to Karl Pavlovich Briullov in the year of the 225th anniversary of the great artist’s birth. The display comprises 58 paintings by native and foreign-born artists who worked in Russia at that time. Twenty-three works are being exhibited for the first time, many with fresh attributions and dating.
This year the programme of Hermitage Days events in Orenburg includes a scholarly-educational conference on “The Legend of Urals Jasper”, a master class in calligraphy and the premiere of the project “The Story of One Book”.
Public lectures by members of the museum staff is one more invariable component of Hermitage Days. Visitors to the centre were able to hear lectures given by the curator of the exhibition “Karl Briullov and his Age” – Yury Gudymenko, Candidate of Art Studies, leading researcher in the Department of the History of Russian Culture, and by Aliona Petrovskaya, Head of the Special Programmes Sector in the Department for Scientific and Educational Work. State Hermitage publications were introduced by Yekaterina Nasyrova, Head of the Sector for the Sale of Printed Matter and Souvenirs in the Editorial and Publishing Department.
An outdoor exhibition “The Hermitage Satellites” began on the square by the Orenburg Museum of Fine Arts, acquainting visitors with the representations of the country’s foremost museum in the regions of Russia. To mark the opening of the Hermitage-Eurasia Centre, all the inhabitants and guests of the city were treated to a concert by the Orenburg Wind and Jazz Music Orchestra conducted by Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Victor Khripun.
