Four Museums

As a species, we are hunter-gatherers. Since at least the beginning of recorded time we have sought and collected talismans and artifacts from previous generations and parallel cultures, in order to connect with other members of the human race across space and time, in order to curate stories about ourselves.

Connections and stories, after all, are what define us, and museums are the places where we gather our visual aids. So when three authors came to Russian Life about the same time last year, wanting to share the story of different museums – two in Russia and two in Ukraine, we decided we would see what happened if we pulled them all together in a single issue. And, not knowing what to expect, we had no way of anticipating where their stories would take us.

To be clear: these are not the big, state-run museums tourists normally visit in the two Russian capitals. In fact, all of them are decidedly small, and singularly-focused. But that does not make them any less significant or important.