Who works daily at the Yeltsin Center? The author of Vypusknik.pro talked with museum worker Alexandra Lopata and found out what is most important in this profession.

I have many educations. The first is construction, at a technical school. Then I simultaneously graduated from the Faculty of Cultural Studies and Art History at UrFU and received a diploma in the specialty " Creative industries and management in the field of culture" at RUDN University. Then - master's degree in audiovisual communications.

As a child, I dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. Then I wanted to become an actress. I even entered Theatre Institute, but they didn’t take me.

After that, I decided: if I was not destined to be an actress, then I would study art. I did a lot of volunteering in museums. As soon as I graduated from college, one of my teachers invited me to work in a museum.Fate itself brought me to the museum. Two years passed and I was hooked. It is very interesting.

I think this profession suits me. I like to gain new knowledge, I am interested in history. I like old things, everything that has been lived in. Anything that has a touch of antiquity has its own charm. The museum profession itself found me.

Any job has pros and cons. Every day I learn a lot of information and communicate with people. A museum is a space for communication and dialogue. I work in an interesting creative team and learn from my colleagues. I have space for creativity, here I can invent and implement. Probably, if I worked at a factory, I would die of boredom. A museum worker is a guide in art.

I can’t directly name the cons, I love my job too much.

Yes, you get tired at the end of the day, but where are you not tired? We have a very stressful job. We work every day from morning until evening. But no one forces anyone, everyone stays of their own free will.

We have a very large excursion load: there are often groups of 30 people, including many children. Sometimes negative people come. It takes a lot of energy and at the end of the day you are simply exhausted.

Every day of work brings satisfaction, you know that you have done something useful.

I would like to develop. A museum is a space that can be endlessly developed. Every day learn something new, invent, update, promote. That is, it is something inexhaustible.

I don’t know how my life will turn out, but for now I don’t plan to leave the museum. If fate sees fit to take me to another place, I will go there. One way or another, it must be related to culture, science and communication with people.

The museum is actually very interesting. We have few employees and we are short of people, there is a job for everyone. Everyone goes to economists, lawyers, engineers. Few people study to become art historians. And then many of them come there to sit somewhere for four years.When I got to the museum, I realized that there was a lot of work and not enough people.

Now museums are experiencing some kind of second life: if you compare them now and in 2000, these are completely different things.

I've seen a lot different people who came straight after university. I will say this: a person who is interested in life, wants self-realization and development, will be interested everywhere. Including in the museum.

The museum is so huge that it seems to me that a lifetime would not be enough to explore everything. I saw people who came, despite modest working conditions, despite the lack of understanding of senior employees for bias... They took and followed their line. We studied and did interesting projects.

Working in a museum requires dedication; Altruism is important. You have to be prepared for the fact that you may not be noticed, your ideas may be ignored, that you need to work hard. You need to defend, you need to learn to be loyal, flexible and ready for anything.

Be prepared that you will work hard; you must always raise your intellectual level. You need to constantly monitor what is happening in the field. Have a backbone and don’t believe those people who say that no one needs museums today.

Interviewed by Alexandra Kvashnin A

Today modern museums are trying to find new ways of presenting information and communicating with the audience: from warehouses with ancient artifacts, they want to turn into cultural centers, where people will meet, communicate, exchange ideas and gain new knowledge and impressions. To achieve this, exhibition curators come up with interactive formats, project managers collect temporary exhibitions from all over the world, tour guides create free audio guides, and only caretakers cannot always find a place for themselves in this new world of the museum. Often they can be replaced by surveillance cameras, but are such changes possible in a provincial museum? whose work structure has not changed for 20 years?

Of course, such museums have their own charm, although almost no new exhibits appear there; in each hall you are watched by a strict caretaker, and the only unusual thing in the museum there is a local cat, periodically touching valuable artifacts with its tail.

Our correspondent spent one day in the role of a museum caretaker and talked about all the intricacies of the work of a typical Yaroslavl museum.

It's exactly ten o'clock.

As I climb the modest stairs of the museum located in the very center of Yaroslavl, I fantasize with anticipation how my day might go as a caretaker of one of the main museums in the city. Stopping in the first hall of the museum, to my surprise, I find myself in the dark and stumble upon a cat walking past the museum exhibits - the most faithful lover of Yaroslavl history.

It is very difficult to find a crowd of people in the museum on a weekday, so local workers take their time: one of the senior caretakers, suddenly appearing from the darkness, slowly approaches me, greets me and in a quiet voice tells me what I have to do for the next seven hours.

She leads me through the halls of the museum, periodically repeating: “You can’t touch anything here, otherwise the alarm will go off. It’s better to turn off the lights here while there are no visitors. Don’t even think about leaving things here, otherwise they might steal it. Well, don’t forget to put your phone in your bag while visitors are in the hall, otherwise it’s dangerous.”

Not really understanding the danger of my phone, I follow the caretaker into the last hall of the museum, where I will have to watch visitors throughout the day, and, putting my things aside, they slowly begin to examine the exhibits in the hall.

The museum where I was sent to practice as a caretaker has been operating since 1985 and is especially popular among out-of-town tourists, who usually enthusiastically look at all the exhibits, intently study the accompanying labels and admire the history of our city. However, despite the constant flow of tourists, many of whom are usually residents of the capital, among local population the museum is not in great demand (not counting young schoolchildren and students, who are herded into the museum and forced to devour the objects around them with their eyes).

It seems that the development of the museum stopped at the end of the 20th century: behind the huge shelves there are exhibits, many of which are printed copies or models that require urgent restoration, the further from the halls dedicated to ancient history city, the more boring it becomes to watch the development of Yaroslavl over several centuries. A sure way to attract attention and dilute the emptiness of museum halls on weekdays is to completely change the presentation of information. For example, instead of boring exhibits with accompanying labels, a museum could try to include innovative assistants in its displays.

True, any, even minimal, change in the museum, such as repairs or installation of new shelving, cannot be carried out without money, which is difficult to obtain.

An hour passes.

The first visitors begin to appear in the halls of the museum and carefully examine the exhibits. Because at a time when there are people in the halls of the museum, I cannot take out either a book or mobile phone, there is nothing left to do but carefully examine the tourists, to my surprise, studying with great attention what is under the shelves. In pursuit of a new amount of knowledge, some of them cautiously approach me and begin to ask questions regarding the exhibits on display. However, I can hardly answer most of them, which causes surprise on the part of tourists - after all, the caretaker should know everything.

The silence of the museum halls and the silent movement of visitors slowly makes me doze off. I close my eyes for a few seconds, but soon I flinch from the stern voice of one of the caretakers: “To stay awake, you better watch the visitors.”

A little perplexed, I answer: “What could happen to the exhibits, since they are under the shelves?” “Well, what if visitors bring a bomb into the museum. We don’t have metal detectors, so we, the caretakers, must be as attentive as possible,” the woman answers, and meanwhile I understand that all my ideas that the museum’s exhibitions should be updated modern technologies, seem funny, because here local workers, modestly moving around the hall and whispering comments to visitors, are asked to prevent terrorist attacks.

Several more hours pass.

I fight hard against drowsiness and try to keep an eye on the visitors. Suddenly the silence of the museum is broken by noise.

On the stairs you can hear the footsteps of people heading to the central hall of the museum. One of the caretakers whispers to the other: “Today at the museum thematic lesson" After these words, tourists begin to pass by me, the column of which is headed by museum employees dressed in costumes from the times of “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy.

It's funny to watch the museum's guides and research staff hobble around in fluffy dresses and then clumsily begin to dance the mazurka.

The museum is trying to somehow attract the attention of tourists who have long since memorized all the permanent exhibitions, but their love of history has brought them to this place again. Such thematic events, of course, will not replace updated shelves with exhibits or audio guides, but they will definitely attract visitors who will want to see the theatrical abilities of the museum staff. And it is thanks to the museum workers, who do not hesitate to put on a fluffy dress during breaks between scientific activity, this place continues to live, albeit without fresh renovations, unique finds and big salaries employees.

My childhood is inextricably linked with the local history museum, where my mother has worked for many years. I remember well how in the new museum building an entire wall was “transformed” with the help of mosaics into an exclusive painting depicting our city. And how many impressions were there from the archeology hall, which was gradually filled with interesting rare exhibits. And although journalism has become my life’s work, I think that I have little to do with museum professions.

Personnel decides everything

Work in state (central, regional, regional, municipal) and private museums and galleries is very responsible. It requires people who have chosen the profession of museum worker to general culture, erudition, commitment, attentiveness... These specialists need to know the culture different countries and eras, be able to distinguish the original from the copy. As a rule, museum workers enter the profession after graduating from history departments at state universities and pedagogical institutes, as well as art history departments. humanitarian universities. But this is not a necessary condition. Some positions are successfully filled by people with specialized secondary education.

The concept of “museum worker” combines several professions:

• guardians,
• scientific staff,
• methodologists,
• tour guides,
• exhibitors,
• caretakers.

In addition, museums always have work for artists, restorers, taxidermists...

What do museum staff do?

The main purpose of the museum is to collect and store cultural heritage of the past. This important task performed by custodians working in stock departments. They are the ones who provide accounting, storage and scientific description of exhibits; preparing them for introduction into scientific circulation, completing museum collection. They are also involved in compiling an electronic database and providing advisory assistance. By the way, they don’t teach to be guardians at universities. This profession is traditionally recruited from others. museum departments after they take a closer look, they will observe how responsible and decent the person is.

In the field professional interests scientific employees - conducting various studies, organizing conferences and other events, publishing scientific collections, publishing articles in the media. Depending on which department they belong to, they organize thematic exhibitions and conduct excursions, keep records and control of museum attendance, and help local historians in studying the history of their native land.

Another in-demand museum profession is a tour guide. This is an interesting, creative and at the same time responsible job. In addition to the text of the excursion, you need to know a lot of different information, master the methodology for presenting it, and have the technique of public speaking. Experienced guides have good organizational skills, excellent memory and, don’t be surprised, artistry. After all, the excursion is written as scientific report, and for visitors it is “played” like a performance. This approach helps to retain the attention of tourists, especially schoolchildren.

But without someone they won’t let you into the museum, it’s the caretakers. They work in the same rooms, where they carefully and unobtrusively keep an eye on visitors. Caretakers ensure the safety of exhibits, monitor cleanliness and ensure that the rules of conduct in the museum are followed. Usually these positions are occupied by ladies retirement age, for whom a caretaker’s modest salary is a good opportunity to earn extra money.

A museum worker is, first of all, love and dedication to his profession. My mother has been head of the fund department for over twenty years. And all these years, work has been a way of life for her. I see how she worries about her business, with what trepidation she treats the storage of exhibits, how carefully she prepares for the opening of the exhibition...

Keep up with the times

It is worth noting that museum workers are successfully mastering modern information technologies, with the advent of which the following have become in demand in museums:

• programmers take part in the creation of catalogs, support working condition software, participate in restoring system functionality in the event of equipment failure;
• work in museums that have organized their websites and pages on social networks; and are simply necessary for virtual museums that have become popular on the Internet;
• public relations specialists prepare information materials museum websites, print and electronic media, social networks. Museums keep up with the times and organize exhibitions contemporary artists- authors of bright and unusual three-dimensional paintings, as well as interactive animated films.

Museum "secrets"

If you decide to work in a museum, you should know:

· this will be difficult for a person prone to allergies, since there is a possibility of contact with allergens (book dust);

· museums are open for visits six days a week; you will have to rest on weekdays, because there are the most visitors on Saturday and Sunday. These were the main museum professions.

By the way, experienced specialists advise all future museum workers who are just planning to enter a university to study history, study the history of religion, literature and foreign languages, and the natural sciences.

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Preservation of cultural and historical heritage is one of the main responsibilities of the state. AND best shape Museums are undoubtedly the key to their preservation, especially during periods of global political crises, economic instability and other large-scale changes in the state.

They had to perform this function throughout the entire period of the formation of Russia, as modern state– during revolutions, wars and changes in political regimes,museum workers were the only ones who understood the true value of historical heritage. IN different time they had to face many problems, not only financial, but also ideological. And what’s most unfortunate is that many of them have survived to this day.

Despite the fact that the time of greatest government upheaval has already passed, the museum community constantly has to deal with new challenges, such as lack of government funding, missing exhibits, the need to repair storage facilities, low salaries - we constantly hear about all this from the media.

What really is the state of the museum fund today? What problems do museum workers face, and what professions are relevant in this area today? On the threshold International Day museums, celebrated on May 18, Careerist.ru will give answers to these questions.

Museum studies in Russia

Museums have existed in Russia for more than 300 years - their appearance was preceded by a centuries-old period, during which the accumulation of historical relics, military items, sacred trophies, ancient books and manuscripts, and the preservation of churches and residences of noble persons took place. Gradually, in the process of collecting them, elements of purposeful collecting appeared.

The Petrovskaya Kunstkamera, created in 1714, is rightfully considered the first museum in Russia. , after which there was a significant leap in museums, and antiquities began to be systematically searched for. For a long time, the Kunstkamera remained the only museum in Russia, and this continued until the middle and even the second half of the 18th century, when scientific communities developed their vigorous activity. Subsequently, museums began to develop more rapidly - a mass of cultural, scientific and artistic institutions appeared, including the well-known Hermitage.

Further awareness and development of the educational capabilities of museums led to the fact that in the 19th century they no longer became separate collections, but groups of natural sciences and historical museums at universities and scientific communities - a qualitatively new revolution has occurred. During the same period, public museums were formed, andmost of the private collections collected were recognized national heritage . This determined the main trends within which museums developed until the end of the 19th century.

The subsequent period is characterized by a total, but nevertheless spontaneous opening of museums. Local, provincial museums were also gaining momentum - together with them, in the pre-revolutionary period, there were more than 200 institutions of this kind throughout Russia.

With the advent of Soviet power, the museum industry was transformed. There was another and qualitatively new round of collecting and preserving cultural heritage, however, during the revolution, many exhibits were lost and stolen. At the same time, the Soviet government was able to systematize museums as a phenomenon, popularizing their role in the development of society and using them as an educational tool.

It was under the Soviet regime that a paid entrance fee was first introduced, a wide network of local history museums was developed, a lot of restoration and restoration work was carried out, and the establishment of the museum business as the most important cultural and educational institution of society took place.

Today there are more than 2.7 thousand museums in Russiaof all departments - these are local, architectural, and factory museums, museums of universities and many others. The general fund of museums includes more than 83 million exhibits.More than 102 million people visit Russian museums annually, and more than 2/3 of them are our fellow citizens. This clearly shows that interest in the national cultural heritage is still high. At the same time, 80% of the buildings that house domestic museums are not suitable for storing exhibits, and this is not all of their problems.

Problems of the museum community

Today, more than 40% Russian museums located in ancient buildings, which even theoretically cannot be equipped for proper storage of exhibits . At the same time, they increasingly began to come into the focus of domestic media not at all as heroes of cultural columns, but as victims of incidents - we constantly hear about fires, the emergency condition of storage facilities, theft of valuables, etc.

Regarding the latter, a recent all-Russian audit showed thatDuring the post-Soviet period, the museum fund lost about 50 thousand exhibits. And according to many museum workers, the lack of proper attention from the state is to blame.

Despite the existence of the Union of Museums of Russia, only eminent galleries and museum-reserves that are able to attract visitors with their historical value receive a real solution to pressing problems.

About the problems of the largest Russian museums, such as the Hermitage, Tretyakov Gallery, the Armory Chamber or the Grand Model, there is no need to say at all - due to the exhibits in them, they have long since become profitable commercial enterprises and do not need any additional care at all. For local and local history museums, the fundamental problem is attracting visitors -the less popularity an institution has among the population, the less attention it receives from the state.

The conceptual problem has become no less important - today, more and more people are trying to actualize the secondary functions of museums, positioning them as an environment for cultural leisure and profitable tourism, bringing these functions to the fore.

However, museum workers focus the attention of the state on the fact that the primary task of museums is, first of all,function of preserving the cultural DNA of a nationand the possibility of its transmission to future generations. According to representatives of the museum community, museums cannot be classified as cultural, educational, and especially entertainment institutions. They were initially designed not for profitability, but for performing storage tasks, the retraining of which threatens museums with total disappearance.

One of the most large-scale problems It is also accepted to consider the issue of material support. In this part, they remain especially relevantissues of construction of modern storage facilities and exhibition premises, investments in science,absence state support conducting research and collecting activities, and, of course, financing wages. Last question workers of provincial museums are especially concerned - they average salary does not exceed 12-13 thousand rubles, which is too little even by average Russian standards.

Museum staff

And despite such a lot of problems, for last decade, the number of museum workers almost doubled - to 65 thousand people . More than 70% of them are women in pre-retirement years, average age which is 59 years old. In this regard, the issue of generational change and training of young employees for the museum industry is becoming more relevant than ever.

Thus, over the past couple of decades, more than 30 museology departments have been opened in Russia at institutes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, the Volga region and even Far East. At the same time, the understanding of the profession of a museum worker is fundamentally changing. WITHToday, a museum specialist is a professional who has a new worldview based on reliable information about the cultural and historical past of his homeland and understands the global need for comprehensive change and integration of diverse cultures.

In this regard, the number of vacancies has increased and the variety of in-demand museum professions has become impressive, including:

• Guardians– specialists working in collection departments, recording and describing exhibits, ensuring their scientific circulation and making up museum collections.

• Researchers– specialists conducting historical research organizing conferences and other scientific events those involved in organizing thematic exhibitions prepare publications for the media and publishing houses.

• Guides– creative and at the same time responsible specialists who conduct excursions for museum visitors, answer questions of interest and knowledgeable about history presented exhibitions “from start to finish”.

• Caretakers– workers who ensure the safety of exhibits, monitor the cleanliness of the halls and adherence to the rules for visiting museums.

• Methodists museum work – more experienced employees, whose functions include the universal combination of elements of work of researchers, tour guides, excursion organizers and others. Their activities are ideological and at the same time pedagogical character Therefore, only experienced specialists are accepted for such work.

• Exhibitors– specialists responsible for organizing certain exhibitions, responsible for their implementation and ensuring their most productive implementation.

Of course, it is quite obvious that Demand for specialists in the museum labor market due to a rather modest level wages, which in modern conditions Russian realities It is quite difficult to compensate for romanticism, a fundamentally new approach to the profession of a museum worker and the opening of many new departments.

Interest younger generation can be calledonly by popularizing the importance of historical heritage as a cultural component of society and at the same time providing sufficient social guarantees. However, the ignorance we observe today of the problems of the museum community does not allow us to talk about a bright future for this industry. Probably, even despite the enormous importance of the work of museum workers, they will continue to carry out their work in conditions left over from Soviet times, carrying out the functions of the custodian of cultural and historical heritage on sheer enthusiasm.

Any reprinting of portal materials in electronic or paper media is possible only with the indication of the original source - website.

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Reference

Museum or "museon" - word Greek origin, translated as “temple of the muses.” The ancient Greeks collected everything they considered valuable into this temple: paintings, statues, astronomical equipment, books, stuffed animals, medical instruments, anatomical busts and other objects of education. One could easily get lost among this diversity. To help visitors find this or that exhibit, a special person appeared in the museum - a curator.

One century followed another, the number of valuable objects increased. For comfort museum exhibits distributed by era, geographical location and purpose. The custodian's profession also changed, and new responsibilities appeared. Now museum curator not only knew what this or that exhibit was for, but could also tell visitors about what it meant for its time, what scientific discoveries helped to accomplish. In other words, the museum worker became a guide not only through the museum, but also into the history of the cultural heritage of mankind.

Description of activity

No matter where you go, local history museum, military museum or museum fine arts, - everywhere you will be greeted first by a museum worker. From appearance employee, his ability to maintain a friendly atmosphere and smooth out conflict situations depends on the image of the museum. Therefore, students studying are required to attend master classes on creating an image and participate in trainings on conflict management.

A museum worker never gets bored. The list of responsibilities, as a rule, depends on what level of museum he serves in. There are very small museums, occupying literally one room, and there are entire galleries, museum complexes. A whole army of employees works in large storage facilities: exhibition organizers,... In museums, all these specialists are replaced by one person - a museum worker.

Employees major museums, especially state-owned ones, own several foreign languages. If you have ever visited museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg, you have probably seen that excursions are offered at various languages- from English to Chinese.

Wage

average for Russia:Moscow average:average for St. Petersburg:

Features of career growth

A museum employee must keep up with the times: explore opportunities information technologies, computer programs and applications that are actively used in museum affairs. It is important to constantly work on your memory and erudition, travel and visit museums in other cities and countries, and gain experience. Institutions additional education Regularly conduct advanced training courses for museum workers.