Russian culture has long been a part of world culture and cannot be canceled by anyone's decision, all attempts to rewrite biographies, remove paintings by Russian artists from museums, remove the names of Russian composers from concert programs are an act of global cultural vandalism, the director believes State Historical Museum Alexey Levykin. In an exclusive interview, he told the museums of which countries the SHM is building cooperation, at what age it is worth telling children about the SVO and about new projects of the museum. Interviewed by Alexandra Shvanova.
– Aleksey Konstantinovich, a multimedia art project «Behind the Ribbon», dedicated to a special military operation, has recently opened in the museum. Are there any other exhibitions, events on this topic planned?
— Since the spring of 2022, an inter-museum working group has been working, which is collecting documentary monuments, items related to the special military operation. Employees of the State Historical Museum also work in the Donbass as part of this group. This work is traditional for the Historical Museum: during the First World War, the museum had a department from the end of the war, which was also engaged in the collection of items related to events at the front. Military materials were completed by the museum during the Great Patriotic War. Thanks to this, unique memorial collections have been formed. I think that we will present some of the materials collected in Donbass for the first time at the Novorossiya exhibition.
We aim to highlight the key aspects of the history of the territories that became part of the Russian Empire in 1764 under the name Novorossiya. We will present the topics of the development and development of these lands, their protection during the Crimean War, the Great Patriotic War. And of course, contemporary events will also be reflected in the exposition. It will be organized as part of our exposition and exhibition activities and will open in September. Many Russian museums are invited to participate in it: the Hermitage, Tsarskoye Selo, the Moscow Kremlin Museums, the Suvorov Museum, Pavlovsk.
May 22, 11:23
– What other exhibitions are planned for 2023-2024? Which project do you consider the most important and why?
– In autumn, we will open an exhibition from Peterhof dedicated to the family of Emperor Nicholas I. This project will open a series of exhibitions from the imperial residences. We have now begun work with colleagues from the State Hermitage on the 2024 exhibition Jewels! The Splendor of the Russian Court. A few years ago this chic exhibition was shown with success in Amsterdam, and I hope that it will be equally successful in Moscow. And on May 31, a bright, interesting project «The Way of the Diamond» will open, dedicated to the history of diamond mining in Russia. This project was made jointly with Alrosa, Russia's largest diamond mining company. Especially for this exhibition, 60 of the rarest and most amazing diamonds mined in the history of the company are collected. And, of course, magnificent examples of works by Russian jewelers will also be presented at the exhibition.
– Do you plan to open branches of the State Historical Museum in other cities and new regions, for example? Will you open any panoramas with reconstruction of historical events?
— This is a very common question that is asked of the Historical Museum after the successfully established branch in Tula. The organization of a branch is not so much a question of the desire of the Historical Museum. First of all, this is the will of the regional authorities, their desire and readiness to develop cultural projects, organize modern museum and exhibition spaces under the brand name of the largest Russian museum.
I have such a desire, of course, there is. Moreover, the results of the work of the branch in Tula clearly show the growing interest of the inhabitants of the regions of Russia in the study of national history and cultural heritage. But even without branches, we are pursuing an active and, in a good sense, «aggressive» policy in the regions. There are museums where we regularly organize successful exhibitions. For example, the Grodekovsky Museum in Khabarovsk, where an exhibition of works by Albrecht Dürer from the collection of the Historical Museum has recently opened. In Ulyanovsk, in early June, we will open an exhibition where masterpieces of European jewelry art will be presented. In Volgograd, in the museum «Battle of Stalingrad», an exhibition «Gifts to the Supreme Commander» has recently opened, which presents items from the State Historical Museum.
– What exhibitions are planned in new regions?
“Given the specifics of the situation in new regions, we send flatbed exhibitions or exhibitions of copies there. So, now in the Luhansk Museum of Local Lore there is an exhibition of copies of works of ancient Russian painting, stored in the Historical Museum. Now we do not have the opportunity to show genuine masterpieces, so we brought high-quality copies to Lugansk, as close as possible to the original icons. Because they liked this exhibition and asked to extend it.
We, like every federal Russian museum, have a sponsored one in the new territories. We provide support to the local history museum of the village of Luganskaya. The place is significant — the village of Luganskaya, it entered the history of the Don Cossacks, and the museum keeps the memory of many glorious pages of history. We will assist in updating the exposition of this museum and are now doing a lot of preparatory work. We will try to do it by the fall of this year.
— Do you plan to establish international cooperation? In what format? And with which countries?
– We have never initiated a break in inter-museum relations. Moreover, in 2022 we were supposed to have two international projects with museums in Italy and Germany. But due to the rude intervention of politicians and the unprecedented action to abolish Russian culture, our European contacts have been temporarily suspended. Our international activities have simply changed direction. We have returned to contacts with our Chinese colleagues, suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Already in early June, we are expecting a visit by a delegation from the Shanghai Museum, we plan to sign a memorandum of cooperation and determine a plan for exchange exhibitions for the coming years. We are also successfully building a dialogue with museums that are members of the BRICS Association of National Museums.
All official contacts have been suspended. But we try to maintain human relations with colleagues. Almost all of them are under serious pressure from their governments with a ban on contacts with Russian museums. However, any sane person understands the absurdity of these artificial prohibitions, restrictions and cancellations. Russian culture has long been a part of world culture and cannot be «cancelled» by anyone's decision. In the end, in their maniacal desire to hurt Russia, they impoverish themselves. And all the absurd attempts to rewrite biographies, to remove paintings by Russian artists from museums, to black out the names of Russian composers from concert programs is simply an act of global cultural vandalism.
— From September 1, educational institutions will receive new school history textbooks for high school students, where a section on the special operation in Ukraine will be added. What topics do you think should be included in this new history textbook? This textbook is being developed for high school students, but is it worth talking about SVO and other modern events to younger children, for example, starting from the fifth grade?
– My father, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, went to the front as a volunteer at the age of 16. Already at this age, he and his peers were instilled with a sense of love for the Motherland, a sense of duty and responsibility of each to his country. From my childhood, I also remember that the topic of military events was never taboo either at school or in the family. And now children should know about the exploits of modern heroes, they should be proud of them. These are the exploits of real people who sacrifice their lives for the sake of their country and people. This is not a computer game, not a comic — this is real life, where there is a place for heroism and betrayal very close by, where the question of moral choice is decisive. And the sooner our children receive moral guidance, the better for them and for the country.
– What innovations are planned in the museum? Are any new, interesting programs expected? Is there a preferential program for participants in a special military operation and their families?
— If we talk about our support for the participants in the special military operation and their families, they regularly come to our museum for excursions and concerts. We also accept children from Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, as well as refugee families on excursions. In addition, our team regularly collects humanitarian supplies to the war zone with medicines, clothing, food, hygiene items. For a year and a half of this work, we even got our own «sponsored» military unit, to which we send parcels. We help to fill libraries with books, including those in military hospitals.
If we talk about new formats of work, these are, of course, online projects that our media center regularly works on. In April, we launched a new educational project «A Word to the Historian», in which experts talk about various events, phenomena of our history, and answer viewers' questions live.
– Is there any plan to expand the inclusive program?
– Of course, we pay special attention to this area. Tactile copies of a number of key items of our collection have already appeared in the first halls of the exposition. We conduct guided tours in sign language, including temporary exhibitions, and try to make the museum more accessible to all categories of visitors. But it is important to remember that the implementation of this program must take into account the fact that our museum complex is not modern buildings, but architectural monuments of world significance. In addition, the creation of tactile copies is a rather expensive project, which we are gradually implementing thanks to grants or sponsorship. For example, with the support of the Art, Science and Sport Foundation, a miniature tactile copy of St. Basil's Cathedral was installed near St. Basil's Cathedral.
– Can you tell us if the Historical Museum has enough government funding?
– I do not know of any museum that would have enough funding. This is a constant problem for all museums, whether it be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Hermitage or a small regional museum. Of course, we receive the bulk of the funds necessary for our activities from the Ministry of Culture. And it is important to note that, for example, during the pandemic, our state allocated huge funds to support the activities of cultural institutions. But our European colleagues did not receive such support from their governments and were forced to cut staff. We managed to save both the staff and carry out important restoration projects — the restoration of the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, the building of the former City Duma on Revolution Square, and open a branch in Tula.
But, of course, the state subsidy does not cover all the costs of maintaining and developing the country's largest museum complex. Therefore, we are actively introducing new services for visitors, we have launched the Museum Friends Club program. Brand stores of the Historical Museum are our special pride. Here you can buy not only original souvenirs and educational games, our main focus is on books on history and art, each of which is the result of a competent and very thoughtful publishing program of the museum.
And of course, the harmonious development of the museum, the implementation of ambitious projects is impossible without the support of sponsors and partners. Despite the difficulties that our business is currently experiencing, none of our partners has refused to support us. We really appreciate this attitude and cherish it.
– Please tell me if the Historical Museum needs renovation?
— All objects of the Historical Museum require serious restoration. Now work is underway to develop projects for the restoration of the main building of the museum on Red Square and the complex of buildings of the museum quarter on Nikolskaya Street. The main problem of our museum is the problem of space, the problem of creating optimal conditions for storing exhibits. The collection of the Historical Museum already exceeds five million exhibits — 95% of the collection's monuments are stored here, in the center of Moscow. Unfortunately, the problem of creating a depository for the Historical Museum has not been resolved. And without resolving this issue, it is impossible to talk about a major restoration of the building, or about creating a new permanent exhibition, or about creating a comfortable and modern reception area for visitors. I hope that the Board of Trustees being created at the state level to support the museum will solve this longstanding problem. I believe that we have irrevocably passed the period when the issues of preserving the historical and cultural heritage did not arouse deep interest on the part of the state and society. Today once again proves the value and relevance of the special mission of the Historical Museum.