Olga Galaktionova was appointed director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Friday, according to a Telegram post by Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova.
Galaktionova takes over from Elizaveta Likhacheva, who announced on Thursday that she would be leaving the post. Although no reason was given, literary critic Anna Narinskaya wrote on Facebook that Likhacheva was fired due to her support of the Gulag History Museum, which was closed in November, ostensibly due to fire safety regulations. Likhacheva described the museum's suspension as “almost criminal stupidity.”
Likhacheva also opposed the transfer of a priceless icon from the state-run Tretyakov Gallery to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church on the grounds that it could be damaged.
Other sources, however, suggested that Likhacheva had not been sufficiently active in developing the museum's exhibitions and programs, in particular failing to ready works for an exhibition in China, the first major foreign show since 2022.
Her successor Galaktionova was the head of the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO in Moscow and, as Lyubimova’s post notes, “actively carried out work in new regions of Russia.” Under her watch, children’s centers and a Museum of Cinema were opened in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Before ROSIZO, she managed major cultural events, exhibitions and theater festivals. She has also directed and produced around 50 documentary films.
This is the second change in two years for the museum. Likhacheva took over in March 2023, replacing Marina Loshak, who had been in charge of the Museum for a decade. The Museum has the largest collection of European art in Moscow.
This was not the only major change in museum management in the capital. The Gulag History Museum, which had been headed by Roman Romanov since 2012, will get a new director. Anna Trapkova, who is the current director of the Museum of Moscow, will take over on January 21. It is not clear if Romanov was dismissed or resigned.
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