|
Wednesday, 30.03.2011
Yegorjevsk Art Museum: Interactive in the past
Moscow. A private collection was sufficient to establish a history and art museum in Yegorjevsk. Today it displays how merchants lived in Tsarist Russia, how to make glass by yourself and what is hiding in old mirrors.
|
|
The traditional two story house where today the Yegorjevsk Museum of History and Art can be found, is according to local residents one of the most beautiful buildings in the old town center, at the border of the Moscow and Rjasan area.
|
On entering the building, the interior opens up , full of contrast to the very strict and demanding facade, to dispaly itself like a traditional shrine, decorated with many valuable items as it was once seen in every wealthy commerical family in pre-revolutionary Russia.
|
Ivory, carvings, porcelain, wood and metal crafts, gold embroidery, prints and naive paintings from the 18th and 19th century are shown in seven differently themed exhibitions at the enfilade on the first floor. Alongside the usual art and household objects one can find other bizzare items like decorated flea traps or samovars in barely recognisable shapes.
|
 |
|
| All sorts of Porcelain show pieces decorate the exhibition rooms in Yegorevsk. | |
A private collection of a former Industrialist
The Yegorievsk museum is not a random collection of crafts from the provinces as it is often the case in small museums, but all items are from the former private collection of the textile manufacturer and philanthropist Mikhail Bardygin.
|
Born in Yegorjevsk he run his business in Moscow at the turn of the century and surrounded himself with things that symbolised prosperity and good taste among people of his class .
|
Just before Bardygin had to escape to France after the October Revolution, he donated the entire collection to his hometown Jegorjevsk. It has only been possible to view the collection after the collapse of the Sovjet Union, when the museum was founded and had its own building.
|
 |
|
| The "haunted mirror" | |
Comfort and a haunted mirror
"We did not want to create a common museum of old objects, but show the vibrancy, comfort and authenticity of a typical merchant's house in the second half of the 19th century where all these items were part of everyday life", says the assistant and excursion leader Nonna Vasilyeva.
|
Last year, the museum, supported by the Potanin foundation, received also international recognition. At a Europe wide conference in Tampere/Finland it has won an award for one of the best new museums in Russia.
|
A very special authentic experience awaits visitors in the last room that can only be reached after walking through all the rooms of the enfilade. In this office, allegedly Bardygins own, one can see a desk, bookshelves and a large rotating mirror in the corner.
|
Whoever passes the mirror, will be confused as it does not reflect their own image, but that of people in pre-revolutionary clothes performing their usual tasks disregarding the presence.
|
Glass blowing and drinking tea from the samovar
Yegorjevsk is located 100 km southeast of Moscow and can be reached by express bus from Vykhino metro station or with a local train from the Kazan railway station. It is worth bringing the children along as long as as the two hour trip does not discourage you.
|
For young visitors the museum does not only offer all the objects to look at but also lets them try out glass-blowing, pottery and wood carving. Followed by being taught the tradition on how to prepare and drink samovar tea in the sitting room.
Original German text can be found here >>>
|
|
