St.Petersburg museums turn to Asia and Africa

The leading St. Petersburg museums, the Hermitage and the Chamber of Rarities and Curiosities, are entering into cooperation with museums in Asia and Africa. The first contacts have been established with Mongolia and Kenya. At the present stage, the Russian museums are assisting their foreign colleagues with forming exhibitions dedicated to the history of their countries.



For the centenary of Mongolia’s independence next year, the Hermitage and the Museum of Rarities and Curiosities will make and send copies of unique historical and cultural items to Mongolia. The Museum of Rarities and Curiosities, the oldest museum created in the early 18th century by order of Russian Emperor Peter the Great, has over 700 of them, says Yefim Rezvan, the deputy director of the museum, in his interview for “The Voice of Russia”.



“Our Mongolian collection is interesting and rich, the expert continues. It reflects all aspects of life in a traditional Mongolian society. Those who have seen our collection must, undoubtedly, remember the Mongolian yurta. Other interesting exhibits are associated with Buddhist religious culture. Russian travellers have brought back lamaist icons, or so- called tankas, religious utensils from Mongolian monasteries and monks’ robes from their expeditions. Mystery Tsam masques deserve special attention, they come from the department of religious utensils. Mystery is part of the Buddhist cult and these masques were worn by monks. There are also interesting craftware items and a collection associated with the shaman cult and traditions of shamans treating people for ailments. Everything that can be seen live will be shown at a virtual exhibition.”



The Museum of Rarities and Curiosities is preparing this virtual exhibition now, taking into consideration Mongolian people’s special interest in it.



And the Kenyan project has already been completed. In December the Museum of Rarities and Curiosities held a photo exhibition in Kenya, after which it gave the photos to that country’s National Museum. Russia bought this unparalleled photographic collection from Swedish scientist Gerhardt Lindblom, who took part in an expedition to Africa in 1913, says deputy director of the Museum of Rarities and Curiosities Yefim Rezvan.



“That was a romantic stage in the development of field photography, - he continues. – New equipment, such as mobile cameras, which allowed taking photographs in the field, had just sprung up. It became possible to develop films in the field. People took a ton of glass plates on an expedition and brought back photographs. They are priceless, as it is very hard work. What is important is that they reflect the culture, lifestyle and ethnographical features of a large number of people inhabiting Kenyan territory. Our Kenyan colleagues were really happy to receive this exhibition as a gift. I can give you an example. One day I entered the lobby of the hotel, where the exhibition was held, with a large photo in my hands. There was a girl from the Kamba tribe in the photo. Suddenly, a hotel security woman looked at the photograph and cried out: “This is me! I seem to be looking into a mirror!” After that, all the hotel staff came by and took turns to look for themselves or their tribesmen in the photos.”



The Museum of Rarities and Curiosities has signed a cooperation agreement with the National Museum of Kenya. In a year, the Russian Academy of Sciences will start an expedition to East Africa, which will help to replenish the stocks of the Museum of Rarities and Curiosities, Yefim Rezvan hopes.



“Our exhibition named “The Origin of Man” has been closed for over 30 years. For this period, there have been revolutionary changes in the world, concerning ideas about the time and the place and the way how mankind came about. All the most sensational finds were in East Africa. This is the reason for our interest in that region. Apart from that, serious processes are taking place in Africa now. People are moving from the savanna to the cities, so many aspects of culture are disappearing. It is very important to preserve, depict and analyze everything today. The world is spending fortunes on armament programmes, while we are not studying ourselves at all.”



Besides Kenya, other African countries, such as Ethiopia and Tanzania, have also expressed a wish to sign a similar agreement on cultural cooperation with Russia.

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