Society and Culture: Exhibition “Gifts at All Times” opened in the Kirov Museum in St. Petersburg

The exhibition Gifts at All Times has opened in the Kirov Museum (St. Petersburg).

The exhibition in the Kirov Museum tells about the tradition of gift-giving among the residents of Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad from the turn of the 19th – early 20th century until the 1950s. Through the exhibited authentic items, as well as the museum’s installations, video, audio and multimedia content, and interactive games, visitors to the exhibition have an opportunity to see how these traditions changed through time and due to political changes in the country.

Until 1917, citizens of Petersburg-Petrograd traditionally gave each other gifts for Orthodox holidays, tsarist days and personal dates. In the first decades of the Soviet power, the gift-exchanging practice faded into the background. Instead, during that time, labour reports became popular – these were gifts to the state and authorities attesting to the successes in “the construction of socialism”.

The exhibition Gifts at All Times includes over 270 authentic museum items and more than 200 photographs, postcards and documents from the collections of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, such as various gifts for personal and family dates, religious holidays, anniversaries and name days, a vast collection of gifts to the “foremost” and “Stakhanovites”, gifts exchanged between colleagues, spouses and even ex-convicts and political prisoners, gifts of the citizens to the “leaders”, including memorial items – gifts to S. M. Kirov and J. V. Stalin, rare photographs, cards, and historical documents.

In addition, unique photo materials have been provided for the exhibition by the St. Petersburg Central State Archive of Film, Photo and Audio Documents.

At the exhibition, guests have an opportunity to sign a greeting card and to collect a gift in the spirit of the times.

The exhibition will run until September 26, 2023.