Marina Loshak talks about dialogue with audience, much-anticipated exhibitions, and search for meaning

Over the last two weeks the Pushkin Museum managed to celebrate its 105^th birthday and also to open a much-anticipated exhibition titled Venice of the Renaissance, which presents the masterpieces of Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto. In addition to all this everything is happening against the background of a total reconstruction — transformation into a Museum town. Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Marina Loshak, told mos.ru during an interview about large- scale exhibitions, the need to look for new meanings as well as about the future of the museum itself.

Question: Marina Devovna, the exhibition titled Venice of the Renaissance. Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese. From the Collections of Italy and Russia has opened recently. What other major events are in store at the Pushkin Museum?

Marina Loshak: Venice of the Renaissance is an impressive event, which is being held in our main exhibition hall. From Russian and Italian collections, we brought works of three great Venetian masters — Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto. Later on, 21 June, an exhibition of contemporary artists called Recycle will commence. Their works are currently on display in the Russian pavilion at the 57^th Venice Biennale. For us, the artists are preparing an equally interesting project: visitors will travel in parallel in real and virtual museums.

In September, there will be an exhibition of one of the most prominent contemporary artists, Cai Guoqiang, it is our response to the 100^th anniversary of the Russian revolution

Also in June, an exhibition about the Kingdom of Bosporus and Phanagoria will open. Visitors will see unique archaeological finds, exhibits from our collections, from Kerch reserve, and also the Hermitage. The exhibition hall will be similar to that of a museum worker’s office.

In September, there will be an exhibition of one of the most prominent contemporary artists, Cai Guoqiang. This is his first personal exhibition in Russia, and our response to the 100^th anniversary of the Russian revolution. Cai Guoqiang works with gunpowder, he was one of the Beijing Olympics artists. For the Pushkin Museum, he is preparing a special project on how important human life is during a time of great turmoil. The museum will be transformed: there will be a huge installation, which will completely change our classical facade and present it in an absolutely different way.

24 October, for the first time in Russia, in collaboration with the Museum d'Orsay a long-awaited exhibition will take place. It will display works by the outstanding 20^thcentury artist, Chaim Soutine. Here in Russia we’ve been waiting a long time for this.

At the same time, at the impressionist gallery you will see works by Schiele and Klimt from the Austrian Museum Albertina.

Reflections on the meanings and dialogue with an audience

Question: Soon the Pushkin Museum is to change a lot: it will turn into a Museum town. Are we to expect conceptual changes together with the spatial ones?

Marina Loshak: Of course. During the reconstruction the museum is changing its approaches and thinks not only about new architecture, but also reflects on the meanings that it projects on its visitors. These reflections are relevant for any modern museum because our audience, its needs, and impressions are changing. We understand that the most important thing now is a dialogue between the audience and the art, and we are looking for tools for it.

A permanent exhibition should also be updated. A modern visitor will not spend his/her whole life going to the same halls and looking at the same things, no matter how beautiful they are. That is why, we are constantly thinking about how to make our visitors feel excited. So the permanent exhibition is supplemented with objects of modern art. A fresh look of a modern artist, his/her creativity let the audience feel part of some new understanding.

Visiting other museums, I sometimes skip exhibitions and simply go to a museum shop or café. I love these places, there is a special atmosphere there

In the museum we are also planning to give more opportunities for family visits. On the one hand, there are separate programmes for children and for adults so that parents have an opportunity to walk freely around the museum and to attend the event they are interested in. On the other hand, there is the opposite: events for everyone. For example, family brunches at which not only children and parents but also grandparents can meet altogether.

Development of public areas is another important thing. In the Museum town, they will be organised in a form of museum cafés, shops, lecture halls, cinema centres with a huge number of various functions. For instance, visiting other museums, I sometimes skip exhibitions and simply go to a museum shop or café. I love these places, there is a special atmosphere there.

Question: Are the tools for a dialogue with the audience interactive and do they take various forms?

Marina Loshak: Not always. Interactive tools are very primitive, I assume that soon people will get bored with them and stop using them.

Somehow people always listen to their inner selves, that is why, we are structuring our dialogue through meanings that we put into an exhibition. Exhibitions must be organised by intelligent curators. They can show people an absolutely unexpected side of art, then a visitor doesn’t just come and see it, but also starts reflecting on it, so that you touch on something inside. The audience should be moved deep down, to awaken new feelings and emotions. For this purpose, curators use various tools: sound installations, design, build an exhibition in accordance with a certain scenario.

Currently, the museum has to be aggressive in capturing the audience, not being afraid of being interesting and appealing

 Previously, museums had to bring exhibits, hang them on the walls, and visitors were satisfied as they used to be very limited in their impressions. Currently, the museum has to be aggressive in capturing the audience, not being afraid of being interesting and appealing. That is why, we're constantly dreaming up new projects: we draw together with visitors, children from our educational programmes, organise tours by themselves, and also contemporary artists explain what their works are about.

Question: Speaking of contemporary artists. As far as I know, you are planning to move in a new direction —modern art.

Marina Loshak: The project is called the Pushkin Museum XXI. We are already working in this direction, introducing the works of contemporary artists into traditional exhibitions. But in future we would like to create a separate museum. Its building will not be located on the territory of the Museum town, but mentally it will be connected to the main building.

Art for plastic surgeons and expectant mothers

Question: The founder of the Pushkin Museum — Ivan Tsvetayev — conceived it not only as a museum but also as an educational centre. Are you continuing this initiative?

Marina Loshak: Of course. Each of our exhibitions is accompanied by a large number of educational programmes. Lectures are conducted both by our curators and by invited experts from various museums and institutions in Russia and the world. There are plenty of educational programmes for children aged four and older. In total, 3,500 thousand children participate in them, currently, we cannot offer more than that.

Some of our educational programmes are inclusive, for people with limited abilities — visually impaired, hearing impaired, and other disabilities.

There is also a project for plastic surgeons. They study art history in order to better understand the anatomy of beauty.

The School of the Louvre is a large-scale educational project to which we will attract very serious professionals, both international and local

There are programmes for large families, they come to us all together, 17 people at a time. Currently, we are prolonging a project for pregnant women. They listen to music, look at objects of art, thus, finding harmony and balance.

We are like a factory producing meanings. To tell the truth, we have so many ideas that it is simply impossible to implement all of them in the current space. That is why, it is very important to build the Museum town on time. For example, one of the ideas is the School of the Louvre. The School of the Louvre is a large-scale educational project to which we will attract very serious professionals, both international and local. Its students will study art history and upon course completion they will receive certificates.

Question: How do you enlarge the collection?

Marina Loshak: Some acquisitions are subsidised by the Ministry of Culture. Our benefactors, sponsors, and patrons help as well. For instance, last year, thanks to them we acquired two wonderful Sumerian monuments of exceptional quality. We also receive gifts. These of course have to be carefully selected and we only keep those items appropriate which are fit for the museum.

On top of this, we are a digging museum. For several decades, in Kerch, our Deputy Head of the Antiquity Department, Vladimir Petrovich Tolstikov, and his employees have been participating in excavations in collaboration with the Kerch archaeological reserve. At the exhibition, dedicated to the Kingdom of Bosporus, you can see some of their finds.

Museum town — on the surface and under the ground

Question: How does the Pushkin Museum manage to combine active life with the largest reconstruction project in its history?

Marina Loshak: We are doing everything step by step. Currently, several buildings are being renovated while some are being constructed anew. They are to be completed between 2020-2021. Then, we will move our collections there and close the main building for reconstruction.

All the buildings are being built or renovated with the use of the latest European techniques. Undoubtedly, the new buildings will be comfortable and convenient for people with disabilities. To sum up, we are taking into consideration so many details that heads spin. For example, the size and shape of the premises will be such that visitors with varying degrees of claustrophobia could feel at ease. It is written in the project plan, where there must be a window, an open elevator, or whatever else. 

Question: Which buildings are already under reconstruction and what will they house?

Marina Loshak: We are restoring a remarkable architectural landmark— the Vyazemskye-Dolgorukovy estate. There will be a Gallery full of Old Masters there. This building has a long history, Pushkin’s close lyceum friend, Pyotr Vyazemsky was born here, Karamzin worked here for six years on the History of the Russian State, little Valya Serov with his mother lived here for two years. By the way, the artist remembered how our museum was built. In 2020, the works must be finished, and the Gallery will open for visitors in early 2021.

All of the museum’s buildings will be linked, so the Museum town will have both underground and ground life

Nearby, there are works aimed at reconstructing an absolutely unique Moscow building, the Stulovs’ house. These were well-known merchants, they built the most fashionable tenement house in Moscow — the most comfortable and technologically advanced. After the reconstruction, there will be an important part of the Museum town — a Text House. Its concept is very interesting: a large six-storey building with a total area of six thousand square meters, which consists of flats — exhibition halls. Text in one form or another will be its main exhibit on display. Visitors will be able to wander inside a favourite book or to see some letter travelling through alphabets of different countries and peoples, as well as see which transformations it underwent. In the Text House, there will also be an archive available to everyone, and our libraries too— of rare books, of art history, and may other things.

Question: And what is being built anew?

Marina Loshak: Construction of a very important part of the Museum town is currently underway. These are three buildings, located next to each other: a new storage space — a depository, an exhibition hall, and a restoration area. Their total area is about 20 thousand square metres. All of the three buildings are connected. Actually, all of the museum’s buildings will be linked, and the Museum town will have both underground and ground life.

Question: Ground is clear, but what will happen underground?

Marina Loshak: Underground life is not inferior to that on the ground. Below, there won’t only be corridors, but, as we call them, meridians— big exhibition and educational spaces. In other words, people can use them to go from the main building to the Gallery of Old Masters, to the Museum of Impressionists, or to the depositary, or may remain underground to see an exhibition or listen to a lecture.

Tate Modern is the one to look up to when it comes to a dialogue with the contemporary audience, the Prado Museum organises great exhibitions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art does phenomenal things, for example, a very bold rebranding

Underground halls will let us make storage spaces open. Formerly visitors just guessed what was in storage. Now they will actually be able to see what is there. Exhibits on display will be replaced on a regular basis, and over a period of time, people will be able to get acquainted with all of the museum’s archives.

Question: Is there a museum abroad, from which the Pushkin Museum could learn or borrow something?

Marina Loshak: I cannot name only one, but, of course, many museums appeal to us for different reasons. Each museum has its strengths. For example, Tate Modern (the main gallery of modern and contemporary art in London. — mos.ru) is the one to look up to when it comes to a dialogue with the contemporary audience. The Prado Museum organises great exhibitions, the Rijksmuseum (main art museum in Amsterdam. — mos.ru) is good at accommodating people with special needs. I love the Frick Collection (New York. — mos.ru) — it is amazing to see how a private institution can become global. It is astonishing to see the transformation of the New Museum in Berlin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art does phenomenal things, for example, a very bold rebranding.

Question: Which exhibitions does the Pushkin Museum take abroad?

Marina Loshak: In Germany, there is currently an exhibition of French art of the 17^th-18^th centuries. In July, in the wonderful French Museum of Unterlinden (a historical and art museum in Colmar. —mos.ru) an Alexander Rodchenko exhibition will start, dedicated to the revolution. We are also preparing a very important exhibition that will be taken to the Tokyo National Museum. It is dedicated to French landscapes covering a period from the late 17^th century up to the impressionist era, that is, till the end of the 19^th century.