New issue

Issues of 2008

Pipes of the world in the narva gates

Museum-memorial ╚The Narva Triumphal Gates╩, (department of the State Museum of the City Sculpture) organized in the last decade of May an exposition devoted to the history of the tobacco pipes. Our reporters visited the site and discussed with the organizers of the event the exhibition, the Narva Gates and the museum activity in general.

More than 100 unique smoking pipes of the 18th√20th centuries from two major St.Petersburg private collections are exhibited here for the first time. The exposition also includes items from the collections of the State Museum-Conservancy Area ╚Gatchina╩, State Museum of the History of Religion, Kunstcamera, Central Museum of the Navy and the St.Petersburg Pipe Club. The exhibition space is organized in such a way that the decorative-applied art items are supplemented with a tasteful selection of reproductions of paintings and graphic works connected with the history of pipe smoking.

The museum associate Margarita Lajtinen commented on the main idea of the exposition: ╚The idea and aim of our exhibition is to present the history of emerging and development of the smoking pipes. When the pipes initially emerged in the West, only the wealthy people could afford them, and it was a kind of luxury those days.╩ At first, tobacco, brought by Columbus to Europe was grown there as a decorative plant. Later, people learned to smoke tobacco, and also started to chew and smell it.

In the 16th√17th centuries, both the clergy and civil administrations tried to resist the propagation of the smoking habit, issued corresponding restricting decrees, etc. However, in the 18th century, the habit became widespread in the major classes of the society starting from the royal houses and up to the common population. Considering the works of art, such as ╚Decembrists in the cell of the Chita prison╩ by N.P. Repin and ╚Baggage men╩ by V.M. Vasnetsov (1870).

After the 18th century, smokers with common interests in life started establishing different societies and clubs in many countries. The members of such clubs discussed the problems of trade, maritime law and politics. The pipe played a ceremonial role in these sessions.

Our new exposition caused interest among the historic science and artistic circles. The ceremony of its opening was attended by the members of the local military history club, collectors, painters and representatives of the club of pipe smokers (St. Petersburg Pipe Club). It was interesting to observe the Pipe Club members, having lighted their pipes and discussing the exhibition, standing in circle.

A mid╛18th century hookah (kalian) with a tripod and a pipe is one of the top exhibits. According to the engraved sign, it was produced in Central Asia and initially was kept in the Crimean Khan▓s harem in Bakhtchisarai (Crimea). Later, it was in the possession of Prince M.S. Vorontsov, General Governor of Novorossia and Bessarabia in the period 1823√1844. The other exhibits carved from bone, meerschaum and amber are also worth seeing.

Alexander Borisovich Buhaev, a curator of the exhibition and the director of the Center of the St.Petersburg Arts, spoke about the project and the museum activities in general.

≈ What St.Petersburg collectors provided their items for the temporary expositions?
≈ Let▓s adhere to one unofficial rule of our trade. When the museum people get items from a private collection at their disposal, they always ask about the possibility of disclosing the name of the owner. That▓s why we can not inform you about the names of the owners of the items of this exposition, except for the name Valentin Kiselev, who also is the sole Russian craftsman producing smoking pipes.

≈ What are the activities of your Center?
≈ Our Center is the sole company in the city, working in the organization of inter-museum exhibition projects. We develop conceptions, designs, settle law problems, and provide insurance, transport and PR back up. When the expositions are ended, we return the exhibits to the owners. More than half of the museums do not organize temporal expositions at all. Our company yearly conducts on average five-six expositions.

≈ What, to your opinion, is the main problem of the exposition activity of our contemporary museums?
≈ This is a complicated question. First of all, all the exhibitions are non-repaid products, excluding the pre-auction ones. Many museums cannot afford temporal expositions, even those possessing funds and collections of their own.
If we consider a municipal museum, its funding is enough only for maintaining its regular exposition, and is insufficient for organizing a temporal exposition. Man can never tell, if an organized exposition will be a success, or not. To my opinion, the position of the Culture Committee of the city administration in the question of the temporal exhibition projects (the principle of shared financing) is perfectly sound. It presumes municipal funding only at the early stage. We have only a small number of organizations investing into the cultural development. It is more often, when money is invested into the ╚international brand╩ museums, such as the Hermitage. There is no sense in investing into little known museums, because the spendings will not be repaid even using the inflow of funds from excessive commercial advertising.
Exhibiting items needs creating an exhibition project, which costs money. Today, our museums practically have no quality specialists in PR, or top-managers with fund-rising abilities. The reason is in the rather low wages of the museum workers. On the contrary, the charity and patronage practices are highly developed in the West. The Western society is aware of the importance of the museums as cultural and historical centers. Enough funds are provided in frames of state programs not only for keeping the collections, but also for their constant improving.

≈ What sources account for funding the museums in the West?