The head of the largest Ural museum left the post under strange circumstances

She was followed by four other employees.

Kristina Gorlanova wrote a letter of resignation from the post of head of the Ural branch of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, which she has held since 2020. Together with her, four other key employees resigned. Among them is the head of the press service of the Ural branch of the Pushkin Museum, Ekaterina Zhuravleva, who finally spread information about the reasons for Gorlanova’s departure: “Moscow colleagues asked …”. However, the director of the Pushkin Museum, Elizaveta Likhacheva, who headed Pushkinsky a few months ago and is currently conducting an audit, claims that Gorlanova’s departure is connected with personal circumstances.

“The leadership of the Ural branch of the Pushkin Museum is resigning. Moscow colleagues asked our head Kristina Gorlanova to write a statement of her own free will, without explaining the reasons to us, so we want to declare that we do not agree with the personnel policy of the Pushkin Museum and leave our posts. We are sincerely sorry to leave the museum and the team, but we do not see an opportunity to continue our creative activity in such a situation,” said the press service of the Ural branch of the Pushkin Museum.

In addition to Gorlanova and Zhuravleva, the head of the department of special projects Daria Malikova, the head of the department of art programs and creative projects Irina Kudryavtseva and the leading specialist of the department of art programs and creative projects of the branch Alexei Bocharov wrote their resignations. There have been no comments from Christina herself yet. The director of the Pushkin Museum, Elizaveta Likhacheva, said that for the first time she heard about the dismissal of the entire team of the Ural branch, and Gorlanova, according to her, was leaving for personal reasons.

However, local media still associate the resignation with Moscow’s policy. Likhacheva was in Yekaterinburg in April, and during her visit she gave an interview that some described as a verdict. For example, when asked whether the Ural branch of the Pushkin Museum will remain a platform for contemporary art (and it became Pushkin only in 2020, initially it was the first museum of contemporary art in the Urals, created in 1999), Elizabeth replied: “No. As such, contemporary art is part of a larger cultural process. But the Pushkin Museum is a museum of classical art, and I think that no one will be against the classics within the walls of the branch.” Yekaterinburg journalists also found the statement about censorship to be decisive: “I don’t think that anywhere or ever a free expression of a curator or an artist was possible.”

In this context, it is appropriate to recall that before heading the Ural Pushkin Museum, Kristina Gorlanova oversaw the art residency program of the Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art. And the Biennale, as an idea, began precisely in the museum, which three years ago became part of the Pushkin Museum. Previously, it was part of the National Center for Contemporary Art (NCCA), and in 2016 it became part of ROSIZO and four years later became subordinate to the Pushkin Museum.

Against the background of the discourse about the future of the Ural museum, which is unlikely to please the team of the Ural Pushkin Museum, there is also one more problem. The branch occupies an emergency building of the former zemstvo school on Dobrolyubova Street. The two-storey house of the beginning of the 20th century is in need of restoration for a long time. The building has the status of a monument, however, it is not in the federal, but in the municipal administration. The Pushkin Museum occupies it under a gratuitous lease agreement for 49 years. However, not so long ago the house was purchased by a private company. The building was sold in April of this year at the municipal auction for 190 million rubles. along with the earth. The company-buyer is part of a large holding, which is not the first time restoring historical objects. They said that preparations for work would be carried out next year, and as soon as Pushkinsky leaves there, restoration will begin. The Ural branch of the Pushkin Museum may occupy the building until 2025. However, where the museum will move is unknown. There is still no place for it. It is planned to open a restaurant in the same building.

Probably, all these circumstances together led to a change in the leadership of the Ural branch of the Pushkin Museum. And before, its fate seemed vague – since 2015, they have been looking for options and means for restoration, but they have not been found. Now there is no clarity. However, Elizaveta Likhacheva says that a building was found for the branch to replace the emergency one. But it has not yet been announced where it is located and whether it is suitable for museum purposes.