Museum, Exhibition, Tourism news in St. Petersburg:

New Contemporary Art Museum in St. Petersburg

May 20th, 2010 witnessed the opening of the new Erarta Museum and Gallery of Contemporary Art on Vasilevsky Island in St. Petersburg. With 5 floors of art space, it is the largest non-governmental contemporary art museum in Russia. The museum also contains a gallery with some of the artwork being for sale.

The museum contains artwork from the end of World War II until the present and the gallery includes an impressive collection of more than 2,000 works by 140 artists.

Mikhail Ovchinnikov, the museum’s curator, commented “The need for a museum and gallery of modern art has been evident to everyone for some time.”

To accomplish such a feat in Russia required traveling around the country offering an art contest to draw out undiscovered talent across the huge Russian landscape. The museum can provide a change for up-and-coming artists to display their works to the world and encourages artists to send photos of their artwork for review or to sell on the Erarta website.

For more information about the Erarta Museum and Gallery of Contemporary Art, click here.

KGB in the USSR:
People, Events, Actions- if you fancy yourself as James Bond, this exhibition will satisfy those espionage fantasies. You can see the slew of documentary evidence and photos of famous and infamous double agents, As well as secret cameras and the weapons of choice of your friendly neighborhood agent, there is also a selection of videos which shows KGB agents on missions.

Tokarev: Life in Weapons
Fedor Tokarev is best known for developing the TT-30 and TT -33, the latter of which was the predominant firearm used by Soviet troops on the Great Patriotic war (WWII). Tokarev’s designs are praised for their ruggedness and accuracy, which earned him awards such as the Hero of Socialist Labour Award in 1940. (Artillery museum)

Kalashnikov: Man, Weaponry, Legend
The exhibition is devoted to the 85th birthday of M.Kalashnikov features an outstanding armorer of the contemporaneity.On display, over 80 modifications of AK (Kalashnikov’s machine gun), including the test models and experimental samples that have been made since 1942. Numerous documents, photos, books, and personal belongings track Kalashnikov’s everyday life, hobbies and literary work (Artillery museum)

Aromas of Antiquity
An exhibition devoted to the culture of aromas and fragrances in Ancient Greece and Rome. The richest collections on Antiquity in the State Hermitage contain a galore of censers for fragrances and flasks that were created by masters of Ancient Greece, Etruria and Rome. Some of these artifacts are true small artistic masterpieces, many of them have never been shown to the public before.

Alexander The Great. The Road to the Orient
Devoted to the most famous military leader and political figure of Antiquity, the exhibition also features “Hellinism” as a phenomenon, an epic. The exhibition focuses on the route of Alexander of Macedonia in space (Oriental campaign) and in time- from the Antiquity till nowadays. The exhibition visits every place the war commander went, the process of Hellinization was launched: the adoption of Greek art, architecture, language, and life style. This influence has embraced a vast territory: from Greece via the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Egypt to Central Asia and India; its can be found in Mongolia and other countries beyond the Ecumene (i.e., the ancient Greek universe). The exhibition is structured following Alexander’s campaign route, and includes artworks by West-European and Russian maitres of the XVI-XIX centuries, showing the famous conqueror; unique monuments, featuring the artistic style of the countries annexed by the Alexander’s Empire; and items giving a notion on the cultural and political ambiance, where his individuality formed.

Museum of Costumes
This exhibition shows off items by the best west-European craftsmen of the the late XVIII-early XX centuries, including garments made for the Romanov’s House. The exhibition features various fashion trends and famous apparel brands from Paris, Vienna and London. Samples of fabrics, handmade embroidery, applique, and lace are displayed


If you’re arriving on a cruise ship, please have a look at our list of St Petersburg Shore Excursions.
Otherwise you can choose from our packaged St Petersburg Tours.

This entry was posted on April 27, 2010 at 11:59 am.

Posted in the All About St Petersburg category