In an Era of Resurgent Western Militarism the Hermitage Museum Looks East

In March, I traveled to St Petersburg for an exclusive sit-down interview with the legendary director of the Hermitage Museum; the first granted to a western journalist in several years.

Dr Mikhail Borisovitch Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage Museum

As many of you might know, I lived in Russia from June 1992 to December 2012. And from 1997 to 2010, I was a correspondent for major media such as the New York Times and Bloomberg, as well as a contributor to several culture and lifestyle magazines such as The Art Newspaper in London, and Art & Auction in the U.S.

That’s one reason why I closely covered Russia’s arts and culture scene, for example, writing five articles each month for The Art Newspaper. And so, even though I’m an officially trained expert in Russian affairs and U.S. foreign policy, I gained a reputation as the “Russian art guy” among my peers and the wider public.

I’ve known Mikhail Borisovitch Piotrovsky, the director of the State Hermitage Museum, since first meeting him in 1999. In the photo above, Dr Piotrovsky looks severe and defiant. Because he is. He understands the Nazi beast has arisen once more in the West, and has again set its sights on his home city of St Petersburg, which more than 80 years ago withstood a 900-day Nazi siege. (The U.S. Air Force is already practicing bombing raids on St Petersburg.)

When I knew I was going to be in St Petersburg in March, I made a formal request to the Hermitage Museum for an interview, and to my surprise the request was granted. I am grateful for the chance to sit down with Dr Piotrovsky and to learn how the Museum has developed over the 31 years of his directorship.

The few times that the western media have mentioned Dr Piotrovsky in recent years have been vicious and libelous, the usual ‘hitman-style journalism’ common among western propagandists. They often take his words our of context, distorting them. Thus, to avoid confusion or misinterpretation, I present the entire interview below.

The interview ends with truly inspiring, spine-tingling words of defiance toward the liberal-globalist war machine that seeks to subdue and vanquish Russia. So I recommend reading to the end.

A view of Palace Square, looking at the Winter Palace from the General Staff Building; both are a part of the Hermitage

JV: Are there any cultural relations with the West at the present moment? 

MBP: Officially, on the state-to-state level western governments have forbidden their own cultural institutions to have contact and relations with cultural institutions in Russia. That is their decision. In this regard, one has the impression that the West has become the Soviet Union. Currently, there  are no traveling exhibitions to western nations, but it’s important to remember that exhibitions are just one small part of cultural relations. In general, the day is coming when there won’t be any traveling international exhibitions at all.  

Our exhibitions no longer travel due to the threat of [court-ordered] arrests by private claimants, a threat that always existed, but previously governments gave guarantees against such action; now such guarantees are not given. Then there are other practical issues; for example, it’s simply impossible today for a Russian museum to get insurance for an exhibition or pay for its transportation to Europe or North America.  

The world is a big place; it’s not just about the West. Delegations visit from China and Iran — well,  they’ve always visited us — but now our relations are growing even closer. For example, there was  an event in China called “The Hermitage Days”. Overall, the West is less and less important, and there are many new horizons opening up internationally. For example, we have signed an agreement with Oman, and plan to send an exhibition there. Also, in Muscat the Hermitage has a corner in the Oman National Museum. This irritates many Europeans who don’t want to see any country cooperate with Russian institutions. Likewise, here in the Hermitage we opened a room for Oman. And we’ll do something similar with Armenia.  

In Europe, our projects are frozen, such as the Hermitage space in Amsterdam, which has taken on a new direction. That center was a separate institution that provided us with exhibition space. They even changed their name from Hermitage Amsterdam to H’ART Museum.  

Photo of Palace Square in 1945, outside the Hermitage today: “Leningrad Stood its Ground, and Was Victorious”

JV: How is technology and social media impacting the Hermitage?  

MBP: New technologies allow us to show to the global audience everything that’s in the museum. Our long-standing project “The Big Hermitage” has seen the museum physically expand significantly over the past 25 years; and that also includes the virtual project, “Celestial Hermitage”, where viewers can access the collection digitally through the Internet from any point on Earth. This is a direction that we’re actively developing. The opportunities are endless.  

We have a strong presence in social media to reach out to the youth. We’re happy to work with  bloggers and influencers, but it’s important to realize that the Hermitage itself is an influencer. We influence society. We don’t pander to the public, and we don’t think that the ‘client is always  right’. We balance that with our goal to make the collection accessible, including of course to young people. If we see that the public doesn’t understand something then we are happy to help them understand it properly. Since we now have fewer tourists, and international exhibitions are fewer, we can show a lot more things and do more here at home.  

The Kandinsky room in the Hermitage

JV: What are your thoughts about Russian youth and inculcating values into them?  

MBP: Certainly, there’s a segment of Russian youth who have little interest in museums, and for them we have special programs. It’s called “Inclusive Hermitage” — to create better conditions for those who face challenges coming to the museum. They could be blind, deaf, paralyzed, and those who are poorly educated. Indeed, to visit a museum, one needs a certain level of education. There are those who just don’t understand what art is, whether it be classical or contemporary art. At the same time, we have well-established Youth Center that  helps develop a comprehensive perception of art; with thousands wanting to join. 

JV: Does the Hermitage still have personal relations with Western experts? 

MBP: Our experts and scholars still travel to both western and eastern countries to pursue their  research. On a personal level, I’d like to highlight one interesting project with British author Geraldine Norman, with whom I co-authored a book, “The Culture of Scandal”, which talks about  all the scandals in history associated with the Hermitage. The book has the form of dialogue, through which these scandals are presented and explained. It was originally to be published in  English, but then in February 2022 these plans were suddenly cancelled by the British publisher. That action reminded me of the USSR. So, in the end, we published the book in Russian.  

A painting in the Hermitage depicts how war-time reports were once made

JV: What are your main achievements as director over the past 31 years? 

MBP: The Hermitage has always been a leading museum, but in recent decades we’ve turned the Hermitage into a museum with truly global reach and influence. We’ve preserved the museum for posterity, and added to it. In the past few decades, our total exhibition space has increased by 300%; and our collection has been digitalized.  

Among the leading achievements are: the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre where  people can see items not usually exhibited. We’ve renovated the General Staff Building on Palace Square giving the Hermitage much more exhibition space, especially for modern masters. Also, we’re completing a 13th floor library (Staraya Derevnya). And we’re restoring the Old Bourse at the Spit of the Vasilevsky Island, where once was the Russian Navy Museum. It needs major repairs, and when finished it will house the Museum of Heraldry and Military Glory.  

Then we have satellite projects. You’ll remember that we once had satellites in London, Las Vegas and Amsterdam. Each closed for different reasons. Now we have Hermitage satellites across Russia – in Kazan, Omsk, Vladivostok, etc. We’re opening in the cities of Kaluga and Orenburg.  

Since the pandemic, we’ve had far less tourists; but they’re high quality tourists, people who really appreciate art and are not just ticking off a box that they visited the Hermitage. Today, we have the optimal number of visitors, about 10,000 a day in the main building, or 3 million annually. The General Staff is much less.  

One of Faberge’s masterpieces in the General Staff Building

JV: What are your overall thoughts about the state of the world today and Russia? 

MBP: When the USSR collapsed, the relations between the former socialist republics were severed. But now, after we haven’t had much contact over the past 30 years, now we are  reestablishing those relations. Meanwhile, we must accept that there’ll now be a break with the West for about 20 years, which is fine. We lived in isolation during the Soviet period and everything was fine. Western journalists are no longer interested in the Hermitage, but we have plenty of interest from Russian media.  

We should be happy that we had at least these past 40 years of relative peace and accord. Never  before was there such a long period of peace between our civilizations. Usually, there was always  some upheaval and war and geopolitical cataclysm. So, we should be happy that we had such a  long period of peaceful interaction. In the past several decades, Russia has accomplished so much in the cultural sphere, for example, the creation of many private art collections. So, let’s look on the positive side. Russia, and the Hermitage, have done a lot in this time.  

We’re now at a moment in history when everyone must make a decision. And Russia has made her decision. The West has long sought to tarnish and sully Russia. But Russia is our country. Russia is my country. There are times when events are not so important, and other times when momentous events are taking place. We’re now in such an era. Today, the majority of Russians are standing for the fact that this is our country, a sovereign nation.