| The Ministry of Culture discussed plans for the development of the country's main museum On Friday, the Board of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation discussed a fascinating and threatening issue - the “Development Program of the State Hermitage”. The sheer number of plans for the number one Russian museum (nobody doubted this status before, but since President Putin began inviting his guests to the Hermitage, the idea of the special significance of the museum has reached even the most culturally deprived) is interesting in itself. In addition, as Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvydkoy rightly noted in his opening speech, these plans seriously affect the life of the entire Russian museum community. The Hermitage is a model for many, not so great and less successful museums, but very significant for their regions. Mikhail Piotrovsky is not just the director of the museum, he is a political figure, a friend of the president and a role model.
Since the board of the Ministry of Culture approved the “Great Hermitage” development project “as a whole”, a lot of water has passed under the bridge: the building of the “Old Village” guardian complex was completed (first stage), they began to restore the Eastern wing of the General Staff, and with the help of numerous friends and sponsors they are restoring halls and buildings, open branches. For the anniversary of St. Petersburg, they arranged an entrance to the museum from Palace Square - beautiful and convenient. A project for the reconstruction of the General Staff building, created by the architect Oleg Yavein (the winner of the competition for pre-design work, during which he beat out the current Hermitage consultant, world star Rem Koolhaas), was brought to the attention of the high-ranking meeting - and a controversy flared up around it.
The protection of monuments is a sore subject. Director of the Institute of Art History, the last hero of our era, Alexey Komech, increasingly resembles a glorious fighter against windmills. And now he opposed the destruction of the courtyards of the outstanding architect Rossi for the sake of creating a wonderful end-to-end enfilade by the architect Yavein, rightly pointing out the precedent significance of such a harsh invasion of an architectural monument that has an untouchable federal status: a bad example is contagious, and in today’s Russia, very dangerous. Moreover, it must be said that the cultural and worthy (nothing more) project is clearly not marked by the features of remarkable architecture, such as the Louvre pyramids cited as an example (nothing was destroyed for their sake). Architect Oleg Yavein was defended by his brother Nikita Yavein, chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments. He assured those gathered that the intrusions were minimal and could not be avoided. (It is impossible to do without a garage in Voentorg and the Upper Trading Rows, new communications in the Moscow Hotel - it is not clear how they cope with these problems in other countries.) In this regard, the Hermitage’s request “to be accepted under state protection as a monument of history and culture of federal significance, Palace Square as an independent protected object" does not seem like a bureaucratic game - the high, almost holy, status of this place is already known. But there is already a precedent: the decoration of Manezhnaya Square by the architect Tsereteli and giving it a Russian spirit in the style of a good Soviet courtyard playground with bears significantly changed the image of Moscow, spoiled the main view of the Kremlin and other historical buildings like the Manege, Moscow State University and the Moscow Hotel and served the detonator of many other interesting solutions - so it seems that soon there will be nothing left of Moscow. Why not decorate the Palace Square for the convenience of the public and to indulge bad taste?
The Hermitage’s request for further expansion of the area and the transfer of the buildings of the former headquarters of the Guards Corps and the former State Council Archives with the organization of a public library and the highly patriotic Museum of the Russian Guard seems reasonable. What will be shown at the General Staff is less clear. Many departments of the museum will move there; The richest collections, numbering in tens (paintings and sculpture) and hundreds of thousands (graphics and applied art) of storage units, a huge collection of numismatics will become more accessible to the public and will help us exercise our constitutional rights - although the best is now in plain sight. But what will they show in the wonderful huge enfilade, and why are they actually building the garden? It is strange if for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art that will be supplied by partners. Moreover, the Hermitage's plan for 2003 is not replete with exhibitions that are asking for inclusion in world rankings.
Mikhail Shvydkoy suggested that the Hermitage refine the concept for the next board so that other aspects of development become clear, including the role and tasks of numerous consultants (solid stars: Rem Koolhaas - on architecture, the Guggenheim Museum - on contemporary exhibitions and management, Interros holding "- Finance) and the Board of Trustees. Faina BALAKHOVSKAYA |
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