On 18 December, the General Staff building was the venue for the theoretical and practical conference “The Modern Museum Space: Architecture, Exhibitions, the Public” that was organized by the State Hermitage and the Higher School of Economics, marking the start of a long-term collaboration.
The subjects of the presentations and discussions included in the conference programme considered problems relating to updating the museum space, curatorial and educational programmes, the design of exhibitions and displays and their interaction with today’s visitors.
The conference was opened by Georgy Vilinbakhov, Deputy General Director of the State Hermitage. In his welcome speech, he pointed to important and pressing issues in the development of the museum sphere, focussing on the problems of converting the present-day museum into a multifunctional cultural and research centre and stressing the importance of introducing new technologies required for the convenience of visitors, including those with special requirements. Georgy Vilinbakhov emphasized: “We have gathered here to talk about things that worry us and that interest us. The more different opinions there are, the easier it will be for us to choose courses for our development.”
The first discussion at the conference was devoted to the contemporary museum as a centre of the city’s cultural life. The moderator was Alexei Boiko, senior researcher at the State Russian Museum. The first speaker, Yevgeny Anisimov, a Doctor of Historical Sciences and professor at the Higher School of Economics, presented a report on the cultural legacy of St Petersburg and its museums. Professor Valery Gordin, head of the HSE’s Laboratory of Cultural Economics, together with the students Yelizaveta Dementyeva, Anna Kudelkina and Yekaterina Sergeyeva, analysed work with a youth audience in museums around the world, including the Hermitage’s Youth Centre. Sophia Kudriavtseva, the head of the Youth Centre, spoke about the Hermitage’s experience in creating topical educational programmes for senior school pupils and students, while Professor Elena Omelchenko, head of the HSE’s Centre for Youth Studies, argued the need for the creation of a new museum of youth cultures in Saint Petersburg.
During the second discussion, in which Sophia Kudriavtseva acted as moderator, the speakers discussed new concepts for exhibition projects in the modern-day museum. The designer Mitya Kharshak, academic director of the Design programme at HSE, spoke about the visual communications of contemporary cultural institutions, giving the example of projects that he himself had realized at the Peterhof State Museum Preserve and the Museum of Political History. New ideas in the planning of the Hermitage’s architectural exhibitions were the subject of a report by Xenia Malich of the Department of Contemporary Art. The conference concluded with a discussion of the characteristics of the curatorial concept, educational programme and design for the exhibition “Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Not Everyone will be Taken into the Future” with the participation of the exhibition’s curator, Natela Teruashvili, the Youth Centre methodologist Yekaterina Bychkova and the designer Andrei Sheliutto.
