Published on: 2026-09-17
Source: Moscow Government – Правительство Москвы –
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Moscow and St. Petersburg are consistently developing cooperation in the museum field. Works of art and historical artifacts from St. Petersburg collections are exhibited in the capital, while exhibits from Moscow museums are displayed in the city on the Neva. The institutions also implement joint cultural and scientific projects, conduct research, and exchange professional experience.
From Saint Petersburg to Moscow
One of the main areas of cooperation is joint exhibition projects. Works from the collections of various St. Petersburg institutions are presented in Moscow museums and other exhibition spaces.
One of the most extensive projects was the exhibition “The Image of Moscow in Russian Art from the Collection of the State Russian Museum”, which opened in September 2025 in Pavilion No. 1 “Central” at VDNH. More than 100 exhibits were brought from Saint Petersburg, some of which left the museum collection for the first time. During the operation exhibition visited by more than 330 thousand people.
Collaboration with the State Russian Museum continued this year. Until October 18, an exhibition is being held at the V.A. Tropinin Museum and Moscow artists of his time. “The Little Man of Great Artists”, dedicated to Russian genre painting of the first half of the 19th century. The central theme was the study of the image of the “little man” in Russian artistic culture. The exhibition included more than 40 paintings, including 30 works from the collection of the State Russian Museum.
Many paintings in the exhibition are rarely shown to the general public. It features works by 24 Russian artists, including Alexey Venetsianov, Pavel Fedotov, Ilya Repin, Grigory Soroka, Alexey Tyranov, Kapiton Zelentsov, Ivan Khrutsky, and Evgraf Krendovsky. The exhibition allows tracing the development of genre painting from observations of everyday life in the 1830s-1840s to the emergence of social themes and the flourishing of the realist movement in the 1850s-1860s.
From Alexey Venetsianov to Ilya Glazunov: viewing Russian paintings in city museums with ‘Mosbilet’
Another large-scale project involving the State Russian Museum is an exhibition “The Art of the Stage. Academic Painting”. It opened on September 10 in Pavilion No. 1 “Central” at VDNH and is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation. The project is devoted to the connection between Russian academic painting and theatre. The exhibition brought together about 200 exhibits from 32 museums in 12 cities of Russia. The State Russian Museum provided more than 70 works. Among them are works by Karl Bryullov, Ilya Repin, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Firs Zhuravlev, Konstantin Flavitsky, and Konstantin Somov. The exhibition will run until January 17, 2027.
Works from the collection of the State Russian Museum can also be seen at the private art museum “ZILART” in the exhibition “The Russian Museum at ‘ZILART’. Masterpieces of art from the second half of the 20th century. A gift from Peter and Irene Ludwig”. It brings together more than 100 works and introduces the key directions of domestic and foreign art of the second half of the 20th century — from American pop art and hyperrealism to Moscow conceptualism and German neo-expressionism. Among the featured artists are Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Ilya Kabakov, Erik Bulatov, and other well-known artists. Special attention is given to the phenomenon of collecting and the role of private collections in preserving and presenting works of art from different countries and movements.
Capital museums also cooperate with other institutions in Saint Petersburg. From December 2025 to the end of May 2026, there was an exhibition at the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve “The Romanovs. From Peterhof to Moscow”. The State Museum-Reserve “Peterhof” has transferred 330 items for temporary storage, and in total, the exhibition in the Sytniy Dvor brought together about 800 exhibits. The project was dedicated to the private life and hobbies of the members of the Romanov family. Seven thematic sections told how the personal interests of the monarchs influenced the culture and everyday life of Russia, and how family traditions—from hunting to sailing—were passed down from generation to generation.
From April to July, an exhibition was held in the exhibition halls of the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin on Arbat “Masterpieces of the All-Russian Museum of Alexander Pushkin”. The exhibition featured miniatures, graphics, paintings, sculptures, and other items from the collection of the All-Russian Museum of A.S. Pushkin, related to the life and work of the poet and his era. Central to the display were works by Ilya Repin, Karl Bryullov, Ivan Aivazovsky, Nikolay Ge, Konstantin Korovin, and Martiros Saryan. Additionally, there were illustrations for the works “Ruslan and Ludmila,” “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai,” “The Bronze Horseman,” and “The Stone Guest,” as well as paintings dedicated to Alexander Pushkin’s lyceum years and his circle of friends.
Currently, cooperation with St. Petersburg institutions is presented in several exhibition projects simultaneously. Until November, an exhibition is taking place in the “Belvedere” space of the N.A. Durasov Palace in the Lyublino estate. “The connection between the past and the future”. It features copies of documents and images from several St. Petersburg museums. The project was the result of scientific research work by employees of the Kuzminki-Lyublino Museum-Reserve: specialists studied the architectural, stylistic, and cultural-historical features of the manor house-palace in the collections of Russian museums, archives, and libraries.
Until November 22, an art project is taking place at the Museum of Cosmonautics “Planet SiO2. Space in the works of domestic glass artists of the second half of the 20th century”. The exhibition for the first time brought together, based on artistic and historical significance, a complex of works from the largest collections in the country. The lead partner of the project is the Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after S.M. Kirov (Yelagin Island Palace-Museum). Works from the museum’s collections are presented through a large collection of 77 items; it was formed based on the Leningrad Artistic Glass Factory. Among the artifacts exhibited are decorative and applied arts objects made of glass, created by masters from Saint Petersburg in the second half of the 20th century and inspired by the country’s space achievements. The greatest interest among visitors was sparked by Yuri Muntyan’s works
Major exhibitions complement other projects involving St. Petersburg collections. For instance, the Museum of Moscow hosted works from the State Russian Museum for an exhibition “Between Paris and Moscow. Alexandra Bychkova and Sergey Koltsov”. In addition, in the exhibition ‘The August Lord of Moscow’, which the museum conducted jointly with the Elisavetinsky-Sergiev Enlightenment Society Foundation, items from the collections of the State Russian Museum and the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer Troops and Signal Corps were included, and in the project “Muscovite. Women of the Soviet capital of the 1920-1930s” — exhibits of the Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music Arts.
The Russian National Library provided the Museum of Memory with copies of posters for the sections “Leningrad,” “Liberated Europe,” and “Kidnapped into Slavery” — over 40 documents in total. In addition, the creative workshop “Nevsky Batalist” led by Dmitry Poshtarenko participated in creating the exhibition space. The team developed three-dimensional installations with authentic items for the sections “Burned Villages,” “Execution,” “Neva,” “The “Ost” Plan in Japanese,” and “Nuremberg.”
From Moscow to Saint Petersburg
Cooperation is developing in the opposite direction as well: Moscow museums present their collections and exhibition projects at venues in Saint Petersburg.
Thus, items from the Moscow Museum collection were presented at the exhibition “Russian style” at the museum and exhibition complex “Manege” in Saint Petersburg from May 8 to July 12. Subsequently, the institution’s exhibits are planned to be presented at the exhibition “History of Russian Theatre” in the Manege, as well as in the projects “Ivan Aivazovsky” and “Isaac Levitan” at the State Russian Museum.
The M.A. Bulgakov Museum was invited to participate in the “Bulgakov Fest” program in Saint Petersburg. At the exhibition “Rails. Lines. Feuilletons,” organized by the Russian Railways Museum and held from May 19 to August 1, copies of items from its collections related to the life and work of the writer were displayed.
The Moscow Museum of Modern Art is also participating in the exhibition projects in St. Petersburg. Five of its exhibits were presented at the exhibition “Nikolai Akimov and His Pupils” at the Museum of Art of St. Petersburg of the 20th–21st centuries. The next project involving the capital museum’s collection is an exhibition “History of Russian Theater. On the Anniversary of the Union of Theater Workers” — scheduled in the city on the Neva from September to February 2027.
Beyond the exhibitions
Alongside individual exhibition projects, institutions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg develop ongoing partnerships. For example, the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin collaborates with the All-Russian Museum of A.S. Pushkin, the literary museum of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the museum-reserves “Pavlovsk,” “Tsarskoye Selo,” “Gatchina,” and “Peterhof,” the State Museum-Monument “St. Isaac’s Cathedral,” and the museum and exhibition complex “Manege.” The institutions exchange exhibits and exhibition projects, as well as participate in the preparation of various publications.
The K.G. Paustovsky Museum cooperates with the K.G. Paustovsky Central Library in Saint Petersburg. A traveling exhibition is scheduled to open in October “Saint Petersburg is a wonderful city. The image of the Northern capital in the works of K.G. Paustovsky”. It will be based on materials from the writer’s personal archive, rare author’s and family photographs, as well as correspondence with famous Leningraders, including Anna Akhmatova and Daniil Granin.
The A.N. Scriabin Memorial Museum permanently collaborates with the Scriabin Society in Saint Petersburg and holds traveling exhibitions in the city’s music schools and libraries.
The partnership is developing in other cultural formats as well. One of them was the concert “City as Sound,” which the Museum of Moscow and St. Petersburg’s Radio House presented on September 5 and 6 as part of the capital city’s City Day celebrations. This is an original exploratory project by Radio House resident and composer Alexey Retinsky, dedicated to the sound environment of a modern metropolis. The composer’s work is interwoven with the sounds of street musicians — they become part of a unified musical canvas. The project was first implemented in St. Petersburg with the participation of eight performers. In September, it was presented in Moscow with nine artists selected by the project team from numerous applications.
“City as Sound”: street musicians will be able to participate in a new project
Sharing experience and knowledge
The cooperation between Moscow and St. Petersburg institutions also covers professional and scientific work. Specialists participate in the profile events of both cities and exchange experiences. For example, representatives of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg were invited as speakers at the annual scientific and practical conference of the Moscow Museum. “A museum in the city — the city in the museum”.
Another venue for professional exchange will be the conference “Early Childhood Development in the Museum: Values, Strategies, Perspectives”, which will take place on November 5 and 6 at the State Darwin Museum. It will be dedicated to the Year of Preschool Education in Russia and the 10th anniversary of the museum’s educational project “Preschool Academy.” The event will be held within the framework of the natural science museums section under the Union of Museums of Russia.
Moscow specialists, in turn, participate in professional events in Saint Petersburg. Thus, from February 5 to 7, 2025, Anatoly Leonov, deputy head of the department “Museum of the History of the Navy” of the museum and park complex “Severnoe Tushino,” took part in the 11th board meeting of naval museums of the Association of Naval Museums and Keepers of Maritime Traditions at the Central Naval Museum named after Emperor Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg. The institution is also a member of this association.
Professional exchange complements the cooperation of museum and scientific institutions. The K.A. Timiryazev State Biological Museum has signed an agreement with the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It provides for joint research, educational and outreach projects, internships for staff, as well as collaboration in publishing, collections, and exhibition activities.
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