What is a museum of death? Is this a place where people come for vivid impressions or still to learn something new? Or are visitors to such an unusual exposition - people who dream of touching something beyond? It is not customary to talk about death openly. However, there is still a place where a lot of things will be enthusiastically told about it. This is the Museum of Death in St. Petersburg.
Why Peter?
Many find that the opening of such a rather gloomy exposition in this city is symbolic. Indeed, St. Petersburg is rarely sunny and friendly, this city is usually gloomy and sad. This mood of his was often noted in his writings by philosophers, painted by writers with words and artists with paints.
In 2013, a museum of death was opened in this city. A little later, in 2014, a similar gloomy exhibition appeared in Moscow on Novy Arbat. Interestingly, the founder and curator of both museums was Alexander Donskoy, the former mayor of Arkhangelsk. No less remarkable is the fact that thisa serious and respectable-looking man bequeathed to bury himself in a coffin in the shape of a fish. Why exactly? The costs of the profession make themselves felt, because Alexander Donskoy expressed this desire after he opened the museums of death.
Such an extraordinary wish of the founder of two expositions suggests that these seemingly gloomy exhibitions are actually not so serious. Is that right?
Mission of the Museum of Death
Alexander Donskoy had other scandalous projects under his belt until 2013. So, he opened a museum of erotica and a museum of power. The latter was safely closed at the insistence of the authorities of St. Petersburg. His new project was also criticized, which even many citizens considered too scandalous.
Alexander Donskoy himself commented on this attitude as follows: this project was not created in order to become some kind of dark cult in the future or to promote suicide among young residents of the city of St. Petersburg. The Museum of Death is actually a place where every person who is afraid of what is out there, beyond, can come. And he will leave here without his former mystical fears.
Agree, the mission is quite serious. And although many of the exhibits of this museum may seem strange or even cause a smile, in fact, in the funerary cultures of other countries, a serious and reverent attitude is preserved towards them. So what is the exposition of this museum?
Exposure description
The Museum of Death is located in the basement of a house on Nevsky Prospekt andoccupies four rooms. They maintain an atmosphere appropriate to the theme. No, it would be wrong to call it an atmosphere of horror or fear, but you can rightly call it sinister.
In the first hall, guests are greeted by skeletons dressed in mourning robes. These are the local bride and groom - symbols of the fact that no one canceled the oath of eternal fidelity even after death. Funeral masks brought from different parts of the world are also presented in the same hall. A sad angel looks indifferently at the viewer from his shelf. He seems to know what awaits us all there, beyond the last line.
The next two rooms are smaller. They contain multi-colored skulls, among which you can even find those encrusted with semi-precious stones. There are also a variety of tombstones, and even unusual and strange coffins from African Ghana. The exhibits displayed in these halls give a visual representation of how funeral rites are carried out in different parts of the world.
The last hall tells about the ritual traditions of the East. This is where the spirit of death from Hong Kong lives. Right there in his glass tomb rests a skeleton dressed in a samurai costume.
There are also special exhibits in the museum that enjoy increased public attention.
The most photogenic exhibits
In this museum you can see an unusual painting. A power couple, husband and wife, can suddenly, for no reason at all, take turns climbing into the coffin in order to take a picture in it. Yes Yes,a special coffin is installed here for these purposes, and, by the way, some visitors come to the museum of death in order to capture themselves for a long memory in such an unusual environment. Taking photos is not really allowed here. Only dim lighting sometimes does not contribute to this activity at all.
From this gloomy museum you can bring photos even with Death itself. She greets guests in the corridor between the halls and is also very often photographed.
Impressions of people who visited the museum of death
What are people talking about who have just examined the exposition of this museum? With what emotions do they leave the exhibition? The impressions are very different.
Some visitors express the opinion that something was still missing at the exhibition. Most likely, this can be explained by the fact that a certain percentage of guests still have high expectations.
Most visitors leave the museum impressed. It is always interesting to touch something transcendent, and the very atmosphere of the exhibition attracts with its mystical orientation. And many come here, to the Museum of Death (St. Petersburg, not Moscow) to feel this atmosphere of mysterious and sad peace.
