The State Museum of the South Ural History (former Chelyabinsk State Museum of Local History) is a real treasure house of historical and cultural heritage of the Region. More than thirty thousand exhibits, including items of National value, are stored in its holdings.
The museum resembling citadel towers and walls was built in 2006 on the banks of the Miass River, where Chelyabinsk fortress had been founded in the 18th century, and became a city’s architectural attraction.
Today Museum is a favorite recreation place for people from Chelyabinsk and the visitors of the city. The building houses three permanent expositions featuring the nature and history of the South Ural area as well as Children’s Museum, a library, Museum on the Roof, Rock Garden and the museum exhibition center. Large and small temporary display halls feature various exhibitions. Chelyabinsk Meteorite that crashed on the territory of Chelyabinsk Region in 2013 is one of the most famous museum exhibits today.
Admittedly, the foundation of the State Museum of South Ural History dates back to 1 July 1923 as the first visitors were welcomed on that day. However, the collection started to form in 1918 already through the efforts of the local lore expert Ivan G. Gorokhov who became the first director of the local history museum and devoted 40 years of his life to it.
The museum did not have permanent premises in its first years and was first housed in the former merchant’s mansion, then moved to the building of the former St. Trinity church and сhanged addresses within several decades.
Finally, it settled on the new specially constructed premises in April 2006. The building is believed to be one of the most beautiful ones in Chelyabinsk and a city’s architectural mark. Indeed, vast floor, state-of-the-art equipment meeeting the requirements of Russia’s leading museums are something to be proud of.
Rock Garden
“Museum on the Roof”
“Photofest” international festival of photographic art
International exhibition “Soviet Ural” in France
“Debarkader” festival of modern arts
Summer concert open air stage and others
The projects are initiated and supervised by the Museum Director V.I. Bogdanovsky. The museum regularly organizes various exhibitions both for children and adults and launches grand-scale projects (“Photofest” international festival of photographic art, “Debarkader” festival of modern arts etc.). Researches include annual local lore “Gorokhov conference”, workshops for teachers and museum workers of the South Ural area, publications of collections of articles, anthologies and books on history and local lore.
The new building provided an opportunity both for permanent expositions and large scale exhibitions. There were 105 exhibitions during the first three years and the number increased to 70 per annum by 2017. One of the most significant exhibition projects launched by the Museum Director V.I. Bogdanovsky is “Photofest” festival that was stated in 2010 and became international. Most of the exhibitions display the Museum artifacts, but every year federal museums bring their exhibitions here too. People in Chelyabinsk appreciated “The Treasures of Moscow Kremlin” (“Moscow Kremlin” preserve-museum), “Pavel and Sergey Tretyakov” (the Tretyakov Gallery), “The Treasures of the Russian State”, “The Gifts to the Leader”, “The Exploration of Siberia” (the State Historical Museum). The State Museum of the South Ural History closely cooperates with the State Historical Museum, State Museum of the History of Religion, Russian Ethnographical Museum, National Museum of the Republic of Bashkortostan, State history, architecture and art preserve-museum “Kazan Kremlin” etc. The museum often offers its visitors the collections from other countries, e.g. the exhibitions of traditional Japanese culture, “Valencia festivals” and “The motifs of Asturias” from Spain as well as exchange exhibitions with the Year of Culture (Russia-France).
International project of the South Ural photographic artists in Spain caused political and cultural response and interest in cultural communities of both countries. Numerous media publications about the photo exhibition of Igor Lagunov and Victor Novokreshchenov “Beautiful and powerful Ural” were noted by Spanish art critics, publishers and art dealers.
International project of South Ural photographic artists in Spain evoked political and cultural response as well as interest in artistic communities of both countries. Numerous media publications about the works of the exhibition “Beautiful mighty Ural” by Igor Lagunov and Victor Novokreshchenov were noticed by the Spanish art critics, publishers and gallery dealers.
While the Russian exposition was being successfully displayed in Madrid enjoying enormous popularity of the Clorofila Digital visitors the authors managed to plunge into the hot and incredibly hospitable country driving a rented car to the north-eastern Spain.
They rented a car and crossed the country covering nearly 2000 km to the Pyrenees foothills. They saw small towns and natural sights, stayed at small hotels with fascinating views though often without Wi-Fi. Their ultimate destination was «Natural Posets-Maladeta» National Park in Aragon Pyrenees near the French border.
Of course the photographers were always using their cameras to picture every instant that caught their eye. Back in Chelyabinsk they shared their impressions and the most memorable things.
Igor Lagunov enjoyed photographing the towns and villages passed on the way to the Pyrenees. “Every day we passed tiny towns in the mountains where the people were open and friendly”- said the Magnitogorsk photographic reporter. “I enjoyed taking pictures of their faces and the picturesque streets, noticed beautiful architectural elements in the old and modern buildings. By the way, people in large cities like Madrid were unwilling to be photographed and often refused it altogether.”
Victor Novokreshchenov’s goal were the mountains, but he did not miss the beauty of the old Spanish towns. The Pyrenees deeply impressed the experienced landscape photographer though there was little time to see the most majestic mountain chain in Europe.
“The only day we spent in the Pyrenees granted us all kinds of weather, from middle rain to sun” said Victor. “It’s a pity there was not enough time and equipment to go deeper into the mountains, but some of my heart will always be there. I hope to come there in future with more days and equipment.”
Chelyabinsk regional branch of the Russian Union of Art Photographers hopes the joint project of the Spanish and South Ural photographers will continue to involve new talented Russian and Spanish participants. Mutual interest to the work of colleagues abroad will help draw in more photographic artists and art critics, cultural organizers as well as museum and art gallery heads. We hope that new exhibition projects to interest both Russian and Spanish people are possible very soon, and many Russian and Spanish photographers will have a chance to get new experiences.
The successful project was possible only because it was supported by our colleagues in Spain - art critic Roberto Rivasa, photographic artist Carlos Rodriges and the administration of Clorofila Digital gallery in Madrid. We are grateful to all who made the exhibition possible. Thank you friends!
Here are some pictures by Victor Novokreshchenov and Igor Lagunov maed in Spain.
PROJECTS
Chelyabinsk Museum of Local History launches “Debarkader- 2016” festival of modern arts. This year the event will be dedicated to Chelyabinsk 280th anniversary and will be held in August on the museum premises.
The festival events will include:
1) Children drawing contest “Childhood Colored City”
2) Video contest “City Stories”
3) Contest of comic artists and groups “South Ural Humor”
4) Musical contest “Large City Rhythm”
Achievements of the winners will be shown at the exhibitions and other festival events.
Deadline for participation applications is 1 June 2016. Contact telephone (351) 266-68-70, email vistotdel@list.ru
Preparatory work for “Debarkader ” is in full spate!
Construction of a summer open air stage started in the first warm days.
Large and small stages with an equipped auditorium will be the main venue of the coming “Debarkader ” arts festival.
A festival gala concert dedicated to the Chelyabinsk birthday will take place on a huge platform to be erected west of the museum on September 13. Thousands of people will have a chance to see the retrospective review of the South Ural rock and history of jazz, hear talernted musical compositions and see spectacular dancing and drama sketches.
However, a small platform “Summer Theatre” will appear on the museum premises in early June already. It will combine music and dancing. Recitals, concerts, theatricals, meeting with celebrities, classes for children and adults and selections for the festival events will be held there all summer. The museum will create a venue for the South Ural people to spend their evenings in the open and enjoy varous modern arts.
“Photofest” international festival of photographic art
The seventh “Photofest” international festival of photographic art will be dedicated to Chelyabinsk 280th
anniversary. All its major events will take place in the Chelyabinsk Local History Museum on September 9-11. The festival program includes the traditional regional photograph contest, an exhibition of the best pictures dedicated to the anniversary of Chelyabinsk, two accounting exhibitions of the regional branch of the Russian Union of Art Photographers and Chelyabinsk photo club “Kamenny Poyas”, a vast guest exposition several personal exhibitions as well as “Mobile Photo” project to be participated by anybody who wants to.
- This year we invite some interesting authors from Russia and Kazakhstan, - says his plans the festival organizer Chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Union of Art Photographers Vladimir Bogdanovsky, - we want to have a large guest exposition. Chairman of the Russian Union of Art Photographers Yury Baturin promises to come and it means that photographers from the Ural and Siberia areas and other regions of Russia will also be here. It will be very interesting, new people and old friends will come and we will show a lot of fresh photo collections.
Meet-the-artist events are loved by the photographers and have been a must in the festival program of every South Ural “Photofest” for years already. Friendly communications of professional and amateur photographers from the South Ural area, different cities of Russia and abroad is a good old tradition of Chelyabinsk photo school.
Preaparation for the festival has already started. The Organizing Committee informs those who would like to participate”Photofest-2016” that works for “Happy Birthday Chelyabinsk” and “Mobile Photo” will be accepted till 1 July. The best works will be displayed at several venues in in Chelyabinsk Local History Museum and “Open City” gallery in Kirovka pedestrian zone. Thousands of Chelyabinsk citizens and guests will see them during the City Day festivities.
Photos for “Photofest-2016” can be sent to fotosoyuz74@mail.ru by 1 July. Good shots to all photographers!
“Photofest” international festival of photographic art has been held in Chelyabinsk since 2010. It is the largest annual photo highlight in the South Ural area participated by more than a thousand professional and amateur photographers from Chelyabinsk Region as well as from other cities and regions of Russia. In various years it was participated by authors and even photo clubs from Moscow, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kurgan, Surgut, Bashkortostan as well as from abroad – the USA, Germany, Spain, Azerbaijan and Czech Republic. The project organizers are Chelyabinsk Museum of Local History and regional branch of the Russian Union of Art Photographers supported by the Ministry of Culture of Chelyabinsk Region.
EXHIBITIONS
“Wedding: before and now”
The largest exhibition of this summer “Wedding: before and now” is open at the museum. The exposition features the weddings from ancient times till nowdays. You will see how the brides looked in the old times, e.g. in Bronze or Early Iron Age and how their attire was changing during the centuries.
Special attentuion is paid to the 20th century beauties. The wedding dresses of the beginning of the century impress with their chic while those of the Soviet time brides are the world of the Flemish lace and crimplen.
“A wedding exhibition has become museum’s summer tradition” – tells the exhibition curator Elvira Antipina, -“Yet the exposition is especially grand this time. It includes archeology, ethnography and history of the wedding attire as well as modern time of course. We refurbished the hall design a attempted to create the atmosphere of festivity of each section time period specially for the exhibition. Personally I prefer exquisite French style late 19th century dresses, e.g. dress with bustles creating a quaint curved female silhouette”.
The contemporary bride dresses justly form the exhibition centerpiece. They glitter and sparkle combining different fabrics and styles. Design dresses of the Russian-British Institute of Management are specially positioned.
Fun science
20 May to 30 August
“Fun science” is a new educational trend in culture. Its essence is that children learn the laws of nature via particuipating in games, fun and experiments. They are called scientific because the participants learn something new about the surrounding world and fun because there is some surprise often unexplainable.
The exhibition will feature simple scientific experiments described in the popular books and Physics textbooks of the late 19th early 20th centuries. This was the time when home scientific entertainment flourished.
A section of the exhibition features school experiments in Physics with the equipment and devices specially designed for demonstration and laboratory works in Physics at Soviet schools.
Visitors can take part in the experiments that demonstrate various laws of nature. The experiments will help understand better what is equilibrium, heat and electricity, learn the work principles of pendulums and spinners as well as special features of fluids and gases.
To the anniversary of Piotr I. Sumin
7 June 30 July 2016
The exhibition is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the first Governor of Chelyabinsk Region elected by the people of the South Ural area Piotr Ivanovich Sumin.
The exhibition features the items linked with the memory of the people’s Governor, his private life and professional activities.
Many items are from the museum holdings and some are provided by the Sumin’s family, particularly his wife Olga. One of he items is sailing ship model presented to the people’s Governor and treasured by him for many years. The exhibition also features family phtographs, souvenirs and decorations.
TOP NEWS
Chelyabinsk Museum of Local History celebrated the International Museum Day on May 21
The International Museum Day is traditionally celebrated on May 18, but this year the Chelyabinsk Region decided to move the celebrations to Saturday, May 18, so that more people could visit the museum and see the special program devised for the occasion.
The International Museum Day appeared in the calendar in 1977 when the International Council of Museums, ICOM, approved the proposal of the Russian organization on introducing the holiday. The International Museum Day has been celebrated in more than 150 countries since 1978.
The museum had the day of gifts on May 18 dedicated to the International Museum Day.
Traditionally the staff of the Holdings Department accept the things donated by the South Ural people such as domestic implements, clothes, authentic photographs, documents, coins and banknotes.
Dedicated people donated ca. 260 items this year.
In the year of the summer Olympics the museum workers were looking forward to the items connected with sports as they will be part of the future exposition. “We were pleased with a collection of the Olympic bears made of different materials: china, rubber and fabric, collected by a Chelyabinsk female resident”, - told the Chief Museum Curator Elena Petrova.
The people also brought objects from the times of the October Revolution and World War I improtant for the permanent exposition.
Museum address: 45400, Chelyabinsk, ulitsa Truda 100
Open: 10.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m.
Ticket office open: 10.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.
No days off
First Monday of the month – cleaning day.
Telephones:
+7 (351) 263 - 08 - 32; 265 - 23 – 88
