In Sevastopol, all famous tourist sites are being driven under one roof: Chersonese scientists are against
Sevastopol, January 29 (PolitNavigator, Alexander Kononov) – In Sevastopol, the State Budgetary Institution of Culture (GBUK) “United Museum-Reserve of the History of Sevastopol” is being created, which will include almost all the museum objects of the city, including the Tauride Chersonese National Reserve, included in the lists UNESCO World Heritage Site. This decision caused an extremely mixed reaction from townspeople, museum workers and scientists.
This is perhaps the first decision with which the Governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo and the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Alexei Chaly presented a united front, as if expecting a consolidated public protest in advance. The resolution appeared on the official website of the city government a few days ago, after which Menyailo and Chaly gave a joint press conference.
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As it turned out from the words of Alexey Chaly, the decision to unite Sevastopol museums was provided for by the concept of development of Sevastopol, which was once developed by the Strategic Development Agency (ASRS). Moreover, the creator of the agency is Chaly himself. Having flown past the money of the Federal Target Program for the development of Crimea and Sevastopol, ASRS gradually turned into a kind of intellectual circle without any clear legal form, becoming, rather, a personnel agency loyal to Chalom. Thus, the little-known Konstantin Bocharov, who previously appeared in Sevastopol as an ASRS expert who came from Moscow, was appointed director of the new museum-reserve.
According to information in regional media, Bocharov has nothing to do with museums and the museum business, but he graduated from a certain higher business school, which, apparently, was perceived as an adequate degree of qualification when selecting for a new position.
Such revelations came as a complete surprise to both the press and museum workers and scientists, the greatest indignation of which was expressed by employees of the Tauride Chersonese National Reserve. The fact is that, according to the government decree, the new State Budgetary Institution “United Museum-Reserve of the History of Sevastopol” plans to include almost all museum complexes of the city, including “Tavrichesky Chersonesus”, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Among other things, the new structure will include a panorama, a diorama, the Malakhov Kurgan, the museum-tomb of admirals in the Vladimir Cathedral, an underground submarine repair plant in Balaklava and many other museums and fortifications.
In this regard, the staff of the Chersonese Tauride National Reserve expressed a consolidated protest against such drastic changes, which its employees became aware of from the publication of a document on the government website, i.e. This issue was not even discussed with any of them. At the same time, in their statement they insist that decisions “of this magnitude and significance” should not be made without broad public discussion with the involvement of specialists in the field of archaeology, history and museum affairs, as well as with the staff of the merged museums.
“Yes, having changed the fate of Crimea and Sevastopol together with our fellow citizens in March 2014, we are ready for changes and understand their necessity, but we would like to take an active part in them, influence them, and not be a silent and inactive addition to the transferred “property complex” ", the statement said.
However, the main complaints are still addressed directly to the content of the government document, the essence of which is that “the document is drawn up carelessly and unprofessionally, unites heterogeneous objects on unclear principles and without knowledge of their features, composition, condition and departmental affiliation, as well as without taking into account consequences of such a union for each of them.” At the same time, the statement states that the provisions of the document “cannot be accepted and implemented.”
“The published resolution 14-PP does not take into account the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin (No Pr.-2337, clause 1b-1 dated 02.10.2014/30/2014), according to which the Chersonesos Nature Reserve, as well as the Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol, should receive the status of a cultural institution of federal significance, and the complex monuments under its jurisdiction - to be included in the State Code of Especially Valuable Heritage Sites of the Peoples of the Russian Federation. In order for such changes in status to take place in the near future, our institution had to be registered under Russian jurisdiction, which was done on December XNUMX, XNUMX.”
At the same time, the newly created institution, according to museum workers, “does not stipulate or regulate actions aimed at preserving the archaeological monuments of Chersonesos and its surroundings in accordance with UNESCO requirements, focusing on the inventory of property during the unrecorded period.”
However, the initial installations of power, as it turned out, are based on other principles. If in their fears critics of the government document proceed from professional considerations of preserving cultural heritage and the convenience of managing it, which is already reflected in the current system, then innovators, in their own words, put completely different goals at the forefront. The phrase “tourist and recreational cluster”, which is now fashionable among Sevastopol deputies, apparently turned out to be decisive here too.
“The point is, in order to receive money under the Federal Target Program, you need to apply for a cluster. The cluster is not just a museum. This is the appropriate infrastructure that we must present and explain how your tourist flow will increase. The state is not ready to invest money in other structures, but this can be done within the framework of a unified structure. These must be people who have the appropriate skills and vision. And this goes a little beyond what just museum workers usually do,” Alexey Chaly explained the position of the authorities.
The main emphasis, in his opinion, should be on the development in Sevastopol of such a phenomenon as off-season tourism. By the way, deputies and ASRS have already tried on the city beach of Uchkuevka in order to turn it into a year-round resort, which PolitNavigator reported about not so long ago. However, the general depressive state of both the beach and the surrounding area on the northern side of the city gave the theorists’ reasoning a too abstract meaning at that time.
The continuation of this story, as it turned out, is even more phantasmagorical, but instead of deputies and freelance experts, the city’s top officials are now speaking.
“Off-season tourism is something on which St. Petersburg flourished very well in the 5s. A corresponding comprehensive program was created. It was called “XNUMX million tourists”. In the end, they achieved it. For us, the disease is beach tourism. We simply don’t have the resources in the summer to accommodate more people, and out of season - please,” promised the head of the legislative branch, Alexei Chaly.
Governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo, in turn, confirmed his agreement with everything that Chaly said, adding that all the necessary agreements on cooperation of the united museum complex with other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including St. Petersburg, as it turns out, are already in place. "will be supported."
“Before issuing such a resolution, the issue was resolved with the Ministry of Culture and the Russian Military Historical Society. There are agreements with the Ministry of Culture that having created and generalized this structure, we will then go, as Alexey Mikhailovich said, to the federal level,” Menyailo explained, clarifying that the idea was supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Sevastopol in August 2014.
“Federal level” is the fixed idea of this resolution, to which they decided to sacrifice the special status of the Tauride Chersonesos National Reserve, which was never part of any related structural units, being itself, in fact, a rather complex structure. According to city authorities, giving federal status to Sevastopol museums will make it possible to pay more stable and higher wages to employees, which is problematic in the context of the regional budget.
In addition, they claim, this is a way to bypass legal obstacles, according to which Chersonesos has the opportunity to obtain Russian registration as a structural unit of a more general system. The fact is that, according to Menyailo, there is the Tauride Chersonesus National Reserve (Ukrainian) and there is a museum that was included in the recently created museum and memorial association (Russian).
“We have registered the second structure. According to the law, we cannot finance a Ukrainian enterprise,” he explained. However, the staff of Chersonesus themselves are confident that all this will complicate the return to the museum of exhibits of “Scythian gold”, which at one time were transferred to an exhibition in the Netherlands. After the March events, the country's leadership began to think about who to return the valuables to: Crimea or Kyiv. The issue is still not resolved.
However, it is unlikely that an alternative opinion will be taken into account, if only because cooperation with the constituent entities of the federation within the framework of the new museum structure will begin in February of this year. The first to visit Sevastopol within the framework of cultural cooperation is a delegation from Volgograd, where a historical and memorial complex was previously created, including 5 objects.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that one of the largest museum and memorial complexes in Sevastopol, “35 Battery,” which was once restored at Chaly’s personal expense and is now recalled at every opportunity, for some reason will not be included in the new united management. Apparently, there is something wrong with the cluster.
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