“The state should invest in museums – it is an investment in the future”

The Volga District’s largest relic-storing facility, the Tatarstan National Museum, has turned 114. The museum’s director Gulchachak Nazipova has told Tatar-inform of the past year and of the plans for the future.

Q: Ms Nazipova, what were the most memorable events in the life of the museum last year?
A: We did a lot. That we were able to increase the average salary the employees are paid I think is an important achievement. It is commonly known that salaries in the public sector are low, and we are trying to make every effort to prevent the salaries decreasing during the crisis. It is very hard to do, since our long-time partners who order museum services, are going through financial difficulties, too. We have to work a lot to attract visitors, and all the earnings are spent on salaries for the personnel. Funds are spent on the museum’s development only in exceptional cases.

We have adopted a business plan for the museum’s development. We first hoped private investors would help us, but we are getting increasingly convinced it is the state that should invest money in the area, as it is an investment in the future of our people. A museum generates resources, as everything we have is actively used for work.

Q: People have lately been often said to forget their way to museums. Are you doing anything to attract new audiences?
A: Certainly. The one of the large projects we launched a short while ago is called Military ID. We invite students from military establishments and servicemen from military units. Defenders of the homeland should be raised as patriots, and here is a place where they realise love for the Motherland is not just words. We are looking at our 115th anniversary. We really hope the event is to stir interest in the National Museum, as people are not using one tenth part of the benefits a big city offers! One should read books but children are nowadays not fond of reading, while here they can touch history, authenticity, something real.

We are hosting weddings. I want you to understand: they are not dinner parties, the groom and the bride are offered to learn about the national wedding traditions, and to take part in contests and quizzes. It is a specially designed programme that allows one to immerse in history. So far, everyone has been happy. Children’s birthday parties, held in the museum, are popular: children play, search for treasure and thus obtain valuable and interesting knowledge.

Q: You are still waiting for a renovation. What are you doing in this respect?
A: We need stability. Of course, the staff are tired, we are unable to provide the people with convenient working conditions, since they are working in a building that is about to collapse. Our association includes 15 museums, only one of which is quartered in a renovated building. The Sharif Kamal, Gorky, Boratynsky museums are sited in dangerous buildings. One third has been repaired of the National Museum, Kayum Nasyri museum and the Muse Jalil museum. Gabdulla Tukai’s 125th anniversary is coming but the building where the museum is located demands an overhaul, too. We keep inviting visitors, while our building has through cracks! The Nazip Zhiganov museum requires attention, too. It is a museum in a flat, but we need the neighbouring residential building to receive visitors, one that the National Museum has still not been able to buy out. I cannot even speak of the state the music museums are in, as well as the Lev Tolstoi one…

We put only 4 percent of the exhibits we have on display. Even if we put into operation all the premises we have, we will still be able to show at most 10 percent. There are over 800 thousand items in our storage rooms. The Tatarstan’s National Museum is the largest storage facility in the Volga District.

These problems the museum workers are facing are very distressing, as they hamper our creative work. The exhibits have after the fire been stored in unfit rooms. We are told that our museum and the National Library are the first in line, so we are waiting. We know how to work and we want to live for the future - we have many creative ideas.

Q: Like what?
A: First of all, we would like to reconstruct the planetarium that worked at the St Peter and Paul’s Cathedral. The museum is forming a display related to astronomy. It is to become a base for the future planetarium that we want to build in the courtyard. Besides, we can place there a huge mobile display dedicated to the Tatarstan’s present day. Another long-time dream is a museum of science and technology in this republic.

A museum educational centre is important as well, one that would include a museum of childhood. There is a base for it, and we would like to develop it. Let children get into the habit of going to museums from the birth, let it be part of the lives. We have also devised a programme for expecting mums.

Our grandest plan is to open the storage rooms for visitors. Let people go there and see them as they are. There will be special equipment there.

Q: How does the museum use the internet? It is a very powerful resource that could attract many people.
A: We have a very nice website, we like it. The only disappointing thing is that it is a booklet-type website, and we would like a current events guide. It would allow us to tell of what happens in the museum daily. We could sell tickets via the internet too. As soon as we have a financial opportunity, the website will begin operating.

Q: Kazan is going to have the Night at a Museum celebration again. What plans do you have for 16 May?
A: Our museum has participated in the project for several years now. This year’s distinction is that we will get in touch with many global museums via the internet. We traditionally expect younger people to come visit us. We are going to have a disco party and many various amusements. Younger people are always pleased to come here, as we prepare tours for them. I would rather not disclose all the secrets now, but it is going to be fun. Our doors are always open for guests.

Interview by Nina Narykova