Tsar-Exhibition

10.12.2013 — 10.02.2014

Alexander III’s drinking cup and the first railroad tracks of the Novonikolaevsk Trans-Siberian Railway are displayed in the “Tsar-Exhibition.” The exhibition is dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty and the contribution of the royal family to the creation of Novonikolaevsk.

The exhibition features authentic etchings, documents, rare photographs, and items connected to the royal family’s life as well as cards and magazines from the early 20th century. Among the highlights of the exhibit is Alexander III’s silver drinking cup. Nicholas I gave the cup to his son after the birth of his grandson, Alexander III. The cup was later given to the young Alexander III. Besides the cup, viewers can see unique historical documents belonging to the first women’s grammar school in Novonikolaevsk. They were written about the celebration for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty, held in our city. Visitors can also see the first rails of the Trans-Siberian Railway, found in Novonikolaevsk.

The last tsar, Nicholas II, achieved a great deal for our city. He gave Novonikolaevsk the Altaic Railroad, thanks to which the city became a crossroads for Siberian trade. After the fire of 1909, Nicholas II allocated money for the reconstruction of Novonikolaevsk and building of the “Kryachkovsky” schools. This helped in changing the city into an educational center. The citizens had an unusually friendly attitude toward the tsar. In the spring of 1917, citizens revoked the status of the first honorary city resident, Minister Fredericks, because he signed Nicholas II’s abdication from the throne.

The exhibition was prepared in partnership with the antique store Siberian Chamber, Novosibirsk city archives, and the advertising agency “Mary Poppins.”

Never-Sibirsk

On December 10, 2013, an exhibition, “Never-Sibirsk: Outstanding Projects of Novosibirsk’s Architects,” was opened in the Novosibirsk Museum. The exhibition shows how the city could have been, if the most brave and creative dreams of the local architects came true. The exhibition presents the master plan of late 1920s with an independent city garden on the left bank of the Ob River, a monumental library 58 meters high where the National Science and Technology Library now stands, the Academy Town in the center of Novosibirsk, an idealized, orderly design in Marx Square, and other projects that today seem utopian.

Visitors can also view the different options for planning less-developed areas of the city, like the river valley of what used to be the Kamenka River or the floodplain of Ob River in the Gorskoy district. The exhibition also shows projects which still might be undertaken, like the orthodox complex in Academy Town and a new main building for Novosibirsk State University.

The works of the exhibition are made with old-fashioned architectural drafting techniques. In the recent past, multiple templates for a project design were drawn by hand and the expressive models were made by gluing together cardboard and matches. In the age of computer-aided design and 3D-printers, this art has started to be forgotten. The exhibition also displays designs and sketches that the Novosibirsk architects made while taking a stroll through Novosibirsk and other cities.

A separate theme of the exhibition is the inconsistency of Novosibirsk’s architecture. This is not always noticeable by its citizens because the inconsistencies have accumulated over 120 years and became part of the city’s landscape.

The exhibition was prepared by the S. N. Baladin’s Museum of the History of Siberian Architecture, design institute “WestSibNIIProject. 2,” Novosibirsk Museum, and Research and Production Center for the Conservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Novosibirsk Region.