Post-Soviet museums: between the entertainment industry and the country’s representation

A discussion about transformation of museums of the former USSR took place in "CECH" Art-space.

“We can understand the country, society, and even ourselves through museums; since what is exhibited in a museum demonstrates the values of this society. I think that museum is a certain self-portrait of the society. And through it we can see how the society presents itself at the official level, how it perceives itself or how it would like to be perceived by the others. Self-portrait can also show many features that the one who is in the portrait wouldn’t like to demonstrate us”, - this definition of a portrait gives Stefan Wakwitz, a representative of Goethe Institute in one of the issues of “pARTizan” magazines. He is known as an initiator of the project “Time machine. Museums in the 21^st century”, that comprises museum workers and activists from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.

Julia Vaganova, deputy chief of the exhibition work and international work of the National Art Museum in Kiev took part in the discussion about the transformation of museums of the former USSR. Ukraine is promptly changing, and the museum sphere is also changing with it. Taking into account that the building of the National Art Museum is situated at Grushevskogo str. in Kiev, the place, where the most dramatic developments of Maidan took place, NAM can be called a pioneer of swift changes in the Ukraine’s museum work in Ukraine. At least Maidan catalyzed the changes that had started before it: now NAM is using experimental approaches towards realization of numerous projects.

As Julia Vaganova notes, if we consider the current moment, “of course, museums have become more open for its audiences”.

- We can say that about the Nights of Museums, even though it is transforming into a mere entertainment. Museums are becoming multidisciplinary areas with a different level of un-/success, but they can somehow supplement themselves and help with presentations of collections with inviting cinema, musicians, and poets. On the other hand, I noted that the situation is changing, which is visible at the example of guides, who are gradually turning into mediators. At the same time, shoddy service that reminds of the Soviet Union got ruined formally, ideological function seems to disappear, substituted with the constant festival, a Western marketing apparatus; we have perceived it, we understand that there are some lucky moments in it, but we can’t stand competition with such entertainment industry. That is why such strategy ceases to work out.

According to Julia Vaganova, museum workers in Ukraine are facing a new problem today: “not to fall into some new propagandas again”.

- Such danger exists – it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about a national idea or an antinational one, about globalism, peace for the whole world, etc. The authorities, even the new ones, are very unwilling to understand the offers we are now trying to announce to the Ministry of Culture. Until now there exists an understanding that museums are catering for the Ministry of Culture, since it has ideology, new cultural policy that the museum should help realize. Whereas museums are now trying to take a different stance since they believe that they cater for the society and for community in the first place. Ministry of Culture should provide the museum with the high quality for this, not vice versa. Of course, the authorities are opposing to such formula, likewise many people – they find it hard to understand this idea.

Let us recall that Ukraine has recently adopted the law on decommunization, which, as it turned out, created a number of problematic issues for museums. Julia Vaganova defines the main of them as “preservation of professionalism and avoidance of propaganda”.

- The law on decommunization is discussed in the society, since there are some disputable questions in it. At the same time we created a “Specfond” (Russian “Special fund” – EuroBelarus) project where we present works that got included in special funds of museums in 1937-39 and were closed for broad public until middle 80s. The project is a reflection on such political demand of the society as decommunization. Decommunization should take place, but how should we act with the ban on soviet and Nazi symbolism with the clause about textbooks and works of art? The clause allows such symbols of the works are not propaganda of these regimes. But who decided whether they are such propaganda or not; should we destroy them or not? It is a complicated question.

According to Julia Vaganova, sliding to propaganda can be avoided with the appearance of “culture of smart, educated, ironical people”.

- If we will be able to educate such visitors, we will leave any propaganda behind. But we are not totally protected from it.

According to Julia Vaganova, for now there is no solution to the problem of de-Sovietization, but there is alternative search for ways of parting the topic to different vectors.