The Presidential Library’s exhibition united besieged expositions of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region

The defence and siege of Leningrad in various aspects is represented in the Presidential Library. On the eve of the commemorative anniversary, which today is remembered not only in our country, but throughout the world, the Senate Square 3 hosted the grand opening of the exhibition “Reified Memory: Defence and Siege of Leningrad in Museum Expositions”. Marking the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege”.

Director General of the Presidential Library Ilya Bykovnikov, in his welcoming speech emphasized the uniqueness of the exhibition, which consists in the fact that documents, photographs, items from exhibits and collections of various museums, libraries and other institutions of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region are presented in one place: “The exhibition is intended to show that in history there is always a place for an object, a carrier of certain information, without which it is impossible to objectively look at any time period or event. That is why the exposition includes materials from different establishments, they all show how different a person’s views, a particular thing or a set of objects can be”.

“The exhibition features over 20 items from the collection of the Museum Agency of Leningrad Region”, - said Yulia Malinina, deputy director of the largest museum association in the region. “The siege theme for the region is as topical as for Leningrad; it sounds in 28 museums”.

Yulia Malinina also reminded that the Presidential Library and the Museum Agency of Leningrad Region are continuing to work together to create virtual tours of the blockade exhibitions in the region. Thus, the Presidential Library’s portal provides access to a virtual tour of the museum “Kobona: The Road of Life”, in the near future - the museum “Nevsky Pyatachok” in the village of Nevskaya Dubrovka. In addition, a virtual tour of the exhibition halls of the temporarily closed State Museum of Defence and Siege of Leningrad is presented on the institution's portal.

According to Milena Tretyakova, deputy Director General for museum and exhibition work at the Center for Exhibition and Museum Projects, the exhibition at the Presidential Library has become part of a kind of archipelago of memory that in the future will unite all expositions devoted to the siege, each of which is unique and tells its own story.

Plans for the organization of large-scale projects marking the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege were set  in 2018. In November, a round table was held at the Presidential Library, where the campaign to collect documents related to the siege was announced. About 200 people have already responded to the call to share testimonies about that time, about 900 storage units have been transferred for digitization.

With the participation of the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg, the Unified City Information Center, which coordinates the work of the media, public organizations and cultural institutions covering events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege has been established. As part of the TV project “Siege Diary” a specialist of the Presidential Library talks weekly about life in the besieged city on the St. Petersburg Channel. The Presidential Library’s portal provides the electronic collection “Defence and Siege of Leningrad”, which includes official documents, periodicals, memoirs of Leningrad citizens, food cards, photographs and newsreels.

The exhibition “Reified Memory: Defence and Siege of Leningrad in Museum Expositions. Marking the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege" will run until May 13, 2019. To visit the exhibition please pre-register by phone (812) 334-25-14 or send an email to: excursion@prlib.ru