National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan

The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan (NM RT) is the largest research, cultural and educational institution of national importance in Tatarstan.

 

It was founded as the Kazan City Scientific and Industrial Museum in 1894 and opened on April 5, 1895.

 

The museum is based on the private 40,000th collection of Andrei Fyodorovich Likhachev (1832-90), a well-known archaeologist, historian, collector, as well as exhibits of the scientific and industrial exhibition of 1890.

 

At the origins of the museum collections were prominent scientists of Kazan University: A.A. Stukenberg, N.P. Zagoskin, P.I. Krotov, N.F. Vysotsky, N.F. Katanov and others. Kazan collectors and patrons actively replenished the museum funds: I.F. Likhachev, F.A. Likhachev, V.I. Zausaylov, O.S. Alexandrov-Geynes, G. Galeev (Barudi), D.I. Obraztsov, etc.

 

Currently, the museum funds, numbering about 800 thousand units, exhaustively and systematically cover local lore topics, are of great value for studying and showing the nature of the republic, the history of the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals, Russia and the world.

 

Among the most valuable collections are the Bulgar collection of A.F. Likhachev, the collection of excavations of the Ananyinsky burial grounds, the Egyptian and ancient collections, collections of gold coins, ancient scrolls of the XVII century, manuscript books of the XV - XX centuries, memorial items of Tatar literature, decorative and applied art of the Kazan Tatars, the memorial collection of G.R. Derzhavin, the collection of monuments of historical taxidermy.

 

The profile of the museum is complex: natural science, archaeological, ethnographic, cultural, historical, literary, musical.

The museum occupies the building of the former Gostiny Dvor, which is a monument of architecture and history of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan. The appearance of the building was formed during the XIX century and finally formed by the end of the century.

From 1800 to 1815 the building was built according to the project of architect F.E. Emelyanov.

In 1895, the northwestern part of the building was reconstructed (architect I. Kolmakov).

 

In 1995 (to the 100th anniversary of the museum), the north-western part of the building was restored in the form of 1895 (architect S.A. Kozlova).

 

In connection with the reform, currently the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan has 14 branches in Kazan, Verkhneuslon and Kamsko-Ustya districts of the republic.

The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan is the largest scientific and methodological center for branches and more than 400 public museums of the republic, regardless of their departmental affiliation.

From 1981 to 2005 NM RT was the head of the museum association, which included more than 80 museums of the republic.

 

The museum has an Academic Council (established in 1939), scientific and methodological, exposition councils, the Association Council and other structures that allow coordinating various activities of the museum and association.

The research activity of the museum is carried out in the field of history, natural science, ethnography, literature, etc. Sections of the Scientific Council of the NM RT coordinate the scientific activities of the museum, under their auspices, traditional scientific and practical conferences, readings, a number of “local lore environments” are held.

 

The results of scientific and methodological work of the staff of NM RT and its branches are reflected in the pages of numerous publications and publications of the museum.

 

Currently, the museum is under reconstruction, the project of which provides for the creation of an exposition on an area exceeding 6,000 m2. Now the museum opens expositions: "Ancient history of Tatarstan", "Money circulation, trade and trade routes in the Middle Ages", "Golden pantry" (Tatar jewelry), "Kazan province in the XVIII century".

 

In 2001, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan approved the scientific concept, according to which an exposition of the National Museum of Tatarstan is created in the Gostiny Dvor building, consisting of three main sections: “History of Tatarstan from ancient times to the present day”, “Nature and man”, “Culture: interaction of cultures of the peoples of Tatarstan”.

It is also planned to create the largest cultural and pedagogical center in the country, which provides for the unification of the activities of museum clubs and circles.

 

According to the concept, the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan will become the largest museum center with a slender system of expositions, the latest storage facility, restoration and art workshops, a museum Internet center and a complex of modern museum infrastructure.

 

In 2001, the introduction of information technologies in all areas of the museum began. Over the years, the portal "Museums of Tatarstan" has been created, which contains information about more than 100 museums of the republic, the National Museum has become a regional news center on the Internet, computerization of the museum and its branches has been completed, funds are being digitized, a comprehensive automated museum information system KAMIS - 2000 has been introduced, and the electronic infrastructure of the museum is being gradually created.