Night of Museums and Professional Development

I didn’t expect to meet so many people in such a small room as the Roerich Family Museum-Institute. According to my estimates, there were more than a hundred people in the museum at the same time. People were everywhere: in the halls, on the stairs, in the courtyard, on benches, on chairs... The ages of visitors ranged from five to old people. Lots of young people. In pairs and groups. (This is about the general judgments of narrow-minded people about bad and idle youth...)

As a person who was once associated with the construction industry, including the restoration and reconstruction of buildings, I noticed that the condition of the premises was not ideal, but quite acceptable. Not ideal compared to the administrative premises of state corporations, for which some historical buildings are used. But there is a big difference in the atmosphere. In the corridors of the buildings of state corporations there is an atmosphere of anxiety and concern, but in the premises of the museum there was an atmosphere of lightness, ease and freedom of thought, which made one somewhat intoxicated...

The museum's enthusiastic and enthusiastic staff were well prepared for the night. In one of the halls, “N. Roerich” himself stood at an easel and from time to time shared his memories with visitors. In the attic, where an exhibition dedicated to the Feodorovsky town in Tsarskoe Selo is taking place, “Yesenin” himself read a poem. (We learned that during the First World War S. Yesenin, as a nurse, helped the wounded in the infirmary organized in the Feodorovsky town). Petrushka gave a performance in the museum courtyard. A classical music concert took place in the music room. Representatives of the St. Petersburg Conservatory performed Russian romances and Neapolitan songs for the night owls. They performed it well, sincerely and heartfeltly.

The famous sailing ship “Sedov” was moored right behind the museum. On a warm, almost white St. Petersburg night, the picture could have become romantic and majestic if it had not been disfigured by banners with the names of the sailboat’s sponsors. Russian excess and inappropriateness can lead to a sting in the eyes.

This concerns the aesthetic aspect of museum night. But there is also an applied aspect.

The purpose of art is not limited to satisfying the purely spiritual needs of man. Despite its high position, art also performs some utilitarian functions. It heals and teaches.

In interaction with art, a person’s emotional liberation occurs, the release of “mental negativity”. Such a judgment may not fit into the stable beliefs of habitual thinking. But that's true. However, this topic in itself is large and deserves a separate discussion.

In addition, art can teach what is not taught in universities and other educational institutions. New ideas, new solutions, unknown approaches and tools, that is, everything that is associated with moving forward towards the unknown, can be gleaned and borrowed from the field of art. For example, linear perspective, discovered by the art of the Renaissance, became the basis of modern design, architecture, and construction.

As for me and my colleagues, in our professional activities we consciously rely on art as a teaching method. In coaching, especially when working with management, we directly use visual, theatrical and other forms of art as teaching tools. Images and examples from the field of art are necessarily present when teaching project management and other management technologies.

Regular meetings with art will be useful for people involved in any type of design and construction, organizational and management activities, and other work related to the search and adoption of atypical, non-standard solutions and, of course, entrepreneurs.

It was a great night in St. Petersburg. I hope that in Moscow and other cities too.