Grants in still waters

The first stage of the “Changing Museum in a Changing World” competition has ended

This year the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation is holding its museum competition for the second time. The stakes are rising: the total grant fund is $265 thousand; 504 applications from 65 regions of Russia at the initial stage; the number of nominations increased to seven. Museum people who exist on the far margins of public life feel real interest in themselves: the projects selected in the first round will be brought up to a level acceptable for implementation by the best forces. For this purpose, a museum seminar was organized in Golitsyno, which started last weekend. Here, the 49 authors of the most convincing applications who have qualified for the semi-finals will get to know each other, learn a lot of new and interesting things about how a museum can exist and survive in modern conditions, and also acquire useful skills in receiving and using money. The latter is especially important: the head of the seminar, vice-rector of the Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences Sergei Zuev complained that, despite numerous complaints about the lack of funds, it is difficult for museums to even just come up with a real resource-intensive project. All the more pleasing is the unexpected fact for the organizers - the museum people turned out to be not so passive; there were many who wanted to understand and accept the new rules of the game. In terms of the number of applications, Moscow and St. Petersburg are in the lead, but the real championship does not belong to them - nine out of nine museums in the Kurgan region submitted applications, and 23 out of 21 museums in Udmurtia. Applications from Moscow were almost ten times less than the number of museums in the city , - there is a reluctance to move, even for money. The organizers are proud that there has been a significant increase in activity from the regions where the winners of last year’s competition live, where they have seen its effectiveness from their own example. The interest of museums in individual nominations is indicative: the majority associate their development with partnerships, tourism technologies and new educational programs.

The fewest applications were in the “museum research” category. In most projects, the emphasis is on local exoticism, in Chekhov they are proud of Chekhov, in Dmitrov they hope for the return of Kropotkin, in Zvenigorod they want to develop Russian Switzerland, in Klin they plan to organize an exhibition “Tchaikovsky - the dandy of Russian music”, in the village of Igra of the Republic of Udmurtia - a landmark item “Museum of Prison Life.” Obviously, the main component of these projects is tourism. There are projects with a more serious approach: in the dying city of Igarka, the museum is seriously trying to become a city-forming enterprise.

The reality of the plans was confirmed by the winners of last year - at the seminar they reported on the successes and prospects of their projects. The museum tram in Vladivostok has many problems: it travels around the city to everyone’s delight, but there is not enough money to support the project - mainly because of military personnel, for whom the excursion is free. It is clear that their superiors find this type of patriotic education convenient and beneficial. It is not clear why poor museums should pay for it and what will happen next? The transfer of museum money to the treasury created many problems - payments take a long time, not everyone agrees to wait. In Yekaterinburg, the situation is more fun - the use of enthusiastic volunteers in various programs of the local Center for Contemporary Art (for example, painting long fences on the theme of the history of the city) develops according to Western rules: that is, it exists depending on grants, but not in connection with them. The project exists calmly and confidently - money is being sought and found for it. It is gratifying to know that at least one museum in our country has accurately adapted to the changed conditions.

Faina BALAKHOVSKAYA