exposition the Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum is opening Friday next, October 29, announces the Russian Culture website. The number of exhibits coincides with the museum's age-it is celebrating its 110th establishment anniversary.
The items to appear on display make a mere per cent of what the museum has stocked up in its depositories. In a painstaking selection and fierce debates, the museum personnel sieved out its treasures to choose the ones of the greatest value and interest. Some of them have never been exhibited before.
The Bakhrushins were one of Moscow's wealthiest and best-respected merchant families, known as "philanthropists by calling and profession". Alexei Bakhrushin (1865-1929), opulent industrialist and generous patron of the arts, was the most spectacular member of that memorable family. He donated his private mansion to house his vast collection of stage art, which he ceded to the public. It made the world's first theatre museum. That was in 1894, on the threshold of the belle epoque, which Russia knew as Silver Age and which offered unheard-of achievements by all arts.
The exposition preview will include a public introduction of a luxury edition fresh from print. The Russian Theatre: An Illustrated Chronicle of Russian Stage Life is part of Interros Co.'s ambitious book-publishing project and bases on Bakhrushin Museum depositories. The gorgeous book has no analogue, whether in or outside Russia.
An exposition catalogue will offer a detailed description of each of its 110 spectacular exhibits.
The Bakhrushin Museum possesses an inimitable collection of national stage mementoes-material history of all its genres and trends from the inception of the Russian theatre to this day. The depositories are storing the private archives and personal possessions of foremost theatre personalities. Portraits of top-notch drama and operatic performers, stage artists and directors, playwrights and composers are preserved side by side with stage costumes, props and scenery from foremost artists' brush, and an ample choice of their sketches. There are also posters and programmes of unforgettable productions; rare books on acting and stage art; cinema and video footages, sound recordings, and everyday things from behind the scenes.
