Alexey Shaburov introduced the “Private museums of Russia. Talents of Russia” project to eparchial archive keepers and representatives of eparchial culture departments

Alexey Shaburov, Director of the Association of Private Museums of Russia and the Museum of World Calligraphy, took part in a meeting of eparchial archive keepers and representatives of eparchial culture departments.

The event took place on January 28, 2020, in the central historical park “Russia – My History” in Moscow as part of the 28th international educational Christmas readings “The Great Victory: Heirs and Heritage.”

The meeting, which focused on the restoration and renovation of cathedrals, was initiated by the Patriarch’s Council on Culture.

Chairman of the Council, Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov Tikhon, Alla Manilova, the State Secretary and the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, and Svetlana Anokhina, the event facilitator, manager of the Council’s cultural heritage department, the head of the Expert Council for Church Art, Architecture, and Restoration’s workgroup for establishing archives and museum affairs, opened the meeting with a welcoming speech, which focused on the importance of producing a comprehensive and detailed register of dilapidated and ruined cathedrals, as well as on legal and organizational aspects of church museums’ activities.

“Archive keepers or museum keepers, these trades share a common root and a common mission to preserve the heritage and the Russian national identity,” Manilova noted. According to her, over the last two years the Ministry of Culture has been spending significant efforts in legal regulation of private museums, sensible to the fact that no base to initiate private museums can be created otherwise. From legal standpoint, both eparchial museums and archives, including the federal institutions, can be treated as private ones. It means that church cultural valuables can be included into the non-public section of the Russian Federation’s museum collection, thus falling under state and legal protection.

Shaburov in his turn spoke about the “Private museums of Russia. Talents of Russia” project and emphasized that church and private museums, particularly those located in small and remote locations, are well positioned for close cooperation and can also be part of shared and jointly developed tour itineraries.

Alexey Shaburov introduced the “Private museums of Russia. Talents of Russia” project to eparchial archive keepers and representatives of eparchial culture departments