Museums and Exhibitions

St. Petersburg is home to more than 250 museums of art, natural science and technology, ethnography, history and literature. The majority of them are state museums of the city and federal levels, municipal and school museums. Only 5 institutions are nongovernmental.

Up to 800 exhibitions are held every year in St. Petersburg’s museums, galleries and exhibition halls.

The development strategy for museums is based on the concept of the museum as a cultural center with informational, educational, researching, and recreational functions. The policy emphasizes requirement for the improvement of exhibition quality and collections acquisition.

St. Petersburg’s museums are building a united computerized informational network. Modern information technologies are being applied to initiate and improve collaborations with museums in other Russian regions and abroad.

By developing of inter-museum connections, jointprojects, exhibitions, conferences, and festivals, an integrated museum space in St. Petersburg is being created.

Various contemporary arts centers have worked successfully in the city. The most famous of them is the “Pushkinskaya-10” Art Center, which in the 15 years of its existence has organized numerous cultural events in Russia and abroad. “Pushkinskaya-10” comprises art galleries, museums, concert venues, clubs, and studios for about forty artists and musicians.

The rise of public interest in the museums and the sustainable increase of visitors are supported by the development and opening of new venues, efficient conservation and restoration of collections, acquisition of new museum objects, installation of modern equipment, and by presentation museum collections to the public through various media and modern technologies.

*Statistics are given for  institutions supervised by the Committee of Culture