Piotrovsky spoke about the abolition of traditional culture as such

At a press conference timed to coincide with the events around the Hermitage’s birthday, which is celebrated on December 7, Mikhail Piotrovsky also touched upon many issues of concern. In particular, the problems of “the abolition of Russian culture” in the West.

“Russian culture cannot be canceled, we are not so weak that we can be canceled. They are trying to push Russia aside, because we have done a lot in the world. We have now returned 15-20 exhibitions from around the world, they all glorified Russia. Many people are fed up with this,” said the director of the Hermitage.

At the same time, he called the return of the Morozov collection “a brilliant operation.” He also recalled that Russian museums have not been working with the United States for 15 years, because they do not give guarantees for the return of our museum collections. The Europeans, accepting Russian projects, gave such guarantees, and as a result, all promises were fulfilled, Mikhail Borisovich emphasized.

“But now in the world there is a general tendency to abolish culture in general. Post-colonial discourse: they say that all museums are repositories of loot, things that are in museums were not created for them. This is a denial and misunderstanding of the role of the museum.

There is also a trend towards the abolition of traditional culture: Voltaire is bad because he owned the ships on which the slaves were transported. Suddenly cultural heritage is unnecessary. There is another trend – that each culture belongs to one people.

However, culture belongs to the whole world – only then does it make sense. When it belongs to one people, it will be rhythmized in local rituals. Or become a Disneyland for tourists.

There is a difference when you see the culture of different peoples in a large museum, or you come, have fun and leave. The problem is that there is a tendency to abolish complex culture – not only in the West, but also in our country,” Mikhail Piotrovsky said.