Translated material
Between the temple and McDonald's
The first stage of the competition for a new symbol of Perm
On International Museum Day, May 18, our newspaper has already talked about the ambitious plans of the government of the Perm Territory to transform a gloomy and faceless city into a thriving and happy one by creating a new museum center. The center is envisioned as a catalyst for new processes in the economic, social, and cultural development of the city. He must transform the infrastructure, give Perm a fabulously beautiful appearance, attract tourists and finally finally solve the eternal Russian problem with fools and roads.The fathers of the idea wisely decided to start with the museum building itself. Today the museum is housed in a former church building. He needs to move from there. Needs a new home. In collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Architecture, headed by Irina Korobyina, the Ministry of Culture of the Perm Territory announced a competition for the best architectural project. 320 architects from 50 countries submitted works to the competition. By December 6, a jury consisting of famous cultural figures (Mikhail Piotrovsky, Yuri Gnedovsky, Peter Noever, Arata Isozaki, etc.) will select the best project. Last Tuesday, the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography summed up the results of the first round of the competition. The competition consisted of portfolios sent by architects, not specific projects. An expert council consisting of four people (Minister of Culture of the Perm Territory Oleg Oshchepkov, Director of the Perm Art Gallery Nadezhda Belyaeva, Director of the Central Art Gallery Irina Korobina and the famous Swiss architect Peter Zumthor) selected 25 who qualified for the second round and presented them at a press conference. The list of winners looks quite impressive. It includes both megastars (Hans Hollein, Zaha Hadid, Koop Himmelblau) and “strong professionals” (Eric Moss, Odile Dec). There were six Russian participants skipped into the second round: Alexander Brodsky, Perm bureau “A+”, Boris Bernasconi, Totan Kuzembaev, Vladimir Plotkin, studio “A-B”. It is quite difficult to predict which group - stars, strong professionals or native architects with a conceptual “background” - the jury will prefer when searching for a winner.
The recent press conference revealed a sad imbalance in the intentions of different participants in the competition program. During the conversation between the members of the expert council on the stage of the FAKiK conference room, it became clear that the experts understand the idea of a new museum differently. The Minister of Culture of the Perm Territory Oleg Oshchepkov boasted that just the other day the new leadership of Perm managed to drag the director of the Guggenheim Foundation, Thomas Krentz, into the city. Krentz met with cultural administrators of Perm and gave consultations. Mr. Oshchepkov did not hide his sympathies for the Krentsev version of museum management. Bilbao is taken as a model: a museum, according to apologists of the Guggenheim empire, that raised the economy, tourism and the status of a poor Basque city. Frank Gehry's ambitious architecture, high-profile museum programs, proper organization of leisure time for visitors - this is how image and financial capital is built. As soon as Oshchepkov finished talking about Krenz with a triumphant look, Peter Zumthor, who was listening attentively, suddenly wanted to clarify his position. “If the customer of the project for the museum building in Perm - the Ministry of Culture and Youth Policy of the Perm Territory - begins cooperation with the Guggenheim Foundation in general and with Krenz in particular, you will not see my name on the expert council and jury of the competition.”
The position of the respected architect is not at all sensational. The fact is that the Guggenheim empire, led by Mr. Krenz, enjoys a bad reputation among European intellectuals (especially museum workers and architects). They say that the fund’s policy with its spatial expansion (see Vremya Novostei, July 24) is a variant of consuming culture in McDonald’s plastic packaging. They say that the Guggenheim Museum traded its funds (by the way, there is nothing criminal in this according to the laws of many countries - if no damage is caused to the collection, for the sake of the financial well-being of the museum, things that are not of the first tier can be put up at auction). They say that the economic miracle in Bilbao is the fruit of skillful propaganda, but in reality it is a total loss for the maintenance of Frank Gehry’s expensive toy. They say that in general most of the foundation’s projects (including the Guggenheim-Hermitage) turned out to be untenable. And most importantly, Krenz considers any competitions for the best museum building to be a waste of money and time, and prefers to work with his team of favorite, proven architects (the same Gehry or Koolhaas, or Zaha Hadid).
Peter Zumthor is a proponent of an alternative approach to Geri's approach to the idea of a new museum. Like most members of the jury, he accepted the concept of the Perm museum developed by the Austrian art critic Dieter Bogner. This is a very refined European concept with the defense of “non-linear exhibition moves”, “cross-cultural thematic exhibitions”, a version of the Museum Center. That is, they promise multi-level dialogue, interdisciplinary genres and a gentle update of the exposition. And no amusement park or museum McDonald's for you. Regarding architecture, Zumthor was explicit about his preferences. I want, he says, for a young unknown architect to win with an innovative project that does not repeat the themes of star generals.
The occasional tension of opposition views makes us worry about the prosperous future of the competition and the project. It all depends on how much each side can compromise. After all, both have the truth. Indeed, the old cultural center of Perm - a museum with a venerable history and a unique collection of wooden sculptures on evangelical themes - is ideally closer to an intellectual European, thoughtful and “intertextual” development model. But in reality, tough, attractive “Guggenheim” management is very tempting: for good PR, huge ambitions, money and kilometer-long queues. After all, Perm is much further from Moscow than Bilbao is from Madrid, and in order to promote the city as a new cultural capital, bright, advertising and attractive moves for the broadest masses are needed.
Time will tell how someone will behave in this situation. The intrigue promises to be interesting. In any case, even if the competition is not continued, the winner will receive a consolation prize from the customer: double first prize, two times $100 thousand.