As part of The Future Remains: Revisiting Revolution, Calvert 22 Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, are pleased to present two-day conference dedicated to museums and their collections in partnership with the Foundation, The European University at St Petersburg, UCL SSEES and Rich Mix. 

The Winter Palace, the Hermitage Museum’s current home, was at the center of events in St Petersburg, 1917. The subsequent seismic political shifts saw the Hermitage transformed from imperial to state property. Its collections were deeply affected by Soviet government policy and new models of museology that would be developed over the following seventy years.

How do museums that were once part of the Soviet bloc reflect on this history today? In particular, how do they deal with the gaps, violent ruptures and contradictions that characterized the 20th century? What specific problems – and also potential strengths – can be identified as a result of these histories? 

Speakers include:

• Catriona Kelly – Professor of Russian, University of Oxford
• Jan Kubik – Director of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL SSEES)
• Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov – Curator, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
• Dimitri Ozerkov – Head of Hermitage 20/21 Collection, The State Hermitage Museum
• Mikhail Piotrovsky – Director of the State Hermitage Museum.

Speakers will address the impact of the Revolution on museums, taking the Hermitage as its starting point, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary collections.

Friday 28 April, 5pm – Keynote speech and evening reception at Calvert 22 Space

Saturday 29 April, 9am – 5:30pm – Panel discussions at Rich Mix

*** Full conference program is here.

Earlier as part of The Future Remains: Revisiting Revolution season of events, Calvert 22 Foundation partnered with The Vladimir Potanin Foundation for a dynamic discussion on the Russian culture and art of the 20th century.