Maria Romashova

Graduated from the faculty of History of the Perm State National Research University, runs History Museum of the Perm State National Research University.

Quotes

• My dream is to unite all the most interesting museum values in one space. It would be an opportunity to reimagine our collections, ways of working with them, and getting feedback from the students.
• I really lack broad professional community. We have to to take course on large museums, but we are different, there is the lack of internal professional interest.
• It is very interesting — picking out things created with a completely different idea several decades ago.
• I am inspired by the example of other, more successful, people. In order to keep moving, I need a real healthy competition. At the same time I am capable of finding inspiration within, because if we don't do it, who will?

My story

I was introduced to the inner setup of the museum during student practice while reading letters of Perm poets and writers of 1960-70-s. I liked those texts so much that I thought, «My God! How interesting it is, how exciting.» Time passed, but museum stayed somewhere inside me. After finishing my post-graduate studies, I taught, partook in projects and conferences, and started travelling abroad, introducing myself to different museums and historical museum projects. And I understood, it was what I lacked in Perm. Next three years in the PERMM Museum — 2009 to 2012 — were extremely useful for forming my museum identity, for understanding what I am as a museum curator.

I always kept in touch with the university museum, and once, when times were harsh for the museum, they asked me to become its director. It was three years ago and a lot has changed since. Celebration of 100 years anniversary of the university was a turning point to reconsider both role of the university in the city, and role of the museum in the university and in the city. We are currently moving towards more active interaction with the citizens, trying to get more involved in various university projects. I am keen to understand desires of the audience, not just to show what we've got. In some sense, our museum is an experimental area; we attempt not to be so academic, to mix museum things, to go beyond the usual expectations of what a university museum is.

There is a fine and diverse collection in the museum, many objects have stayed from the times of our founding professors. University museums are usually of the same type, yet I wish everyone would have their own identity. We are trying to make it through our projects, our antic collection is of great help in this attempt — we are talking about it, get researchers to examine it, soon there will be a catalogue, our common project with the stuff of the Hermitage. We are happy that our actions and searching for museum's own identity have some results.

I really like personal documents, so my favourite one is letters between [merchant and founder of the university] Meshkov and his wife in 1914-1916. We found it when we were going through the museum funds, and I thought, «There is such a history everywhere here, such an enthusiasm of a bunch of people who gathered masses around them just because they wanted there to be a university!»

«My biographical trajectory is entirely connected to Perm and university. I am 36 years old, 20 of them I've already spent at the university! Yes, I stayed, but being here I can travel, share experience and get it shared with me. I can look at the city, at the university; value myself as a professional in various projects. There are no borders these days; it doesn't matter where you live, honestly.»

I am lucky to have worked at the personal archives of the first professors of the university. I was so inspired that I still charge from that energy and this explains why I am here and why it is important for me to talk about university and museum.