Polytechnic museum

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

WE BELIEVE

that the world is moved by curiosity and creativity

WE REVEAL

the past, the present and the future of science to people

WE CREATE

the territory of enlightenment, free thought and daring experiment

INTRODUCTION

The Polytechnic Museum was conceived as a center for education of the masses. Our museum continues to bear this honorable mission for nearly 150 years, varying according to the requirements of time.

At present, the museum pursues an ambitious goal — to become one of the best science museums in the world. A new concept of the museum is under development, historic building is under reconstruction, we plan to build a multifunctional educational center together with Moscow University.

The grand opening will happen in 2018.

In recent years we have created new projects that involve children, teens and adults to the world of contemporary science and technology. The versatile activities of the museum make it an authoritative educational center in the eyes of the general public and professionals.

The museum is actively cooperating with the international community, conducting joint exhibitions, festivals, lectures and seminars with well-known museums and artists from different countries.

Julia Shakhnovskaya General Director of the Polytechnic Museum

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

3

BACKGROUND

The Polytechnic Museum is the national museum of science and technology. It is one of the oldest science museums in the world, and holds a collection of over 230,000 items.

Founded in 1872 upon the initiative of Russian scientists, members of the Society of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography, the Polytechnic Museum was engaged not only in object collection, but most of all — in public explanations, courses and other educational activity. Its contribution to public enlightenment and technical literacy made the Museum extremely popular among the broadest audience and gained massive support from government, manufacturers and entrepreneurs.

The famous Big Lecture Hall was known for the public science demonstrations, lectures, debates, conferences, as well as poetry readings and musical concerts. It hosted Ilya Mechnikov and Niels Bohr, Rachmaninov and Mayakovsky, Pasternak and Bulgakov.

NEW CONCEPT OF THE MUSEUM

5

By 2018 The Museum shall become a platform for creativity, a community center, where science, art and business will unite to bring up new ideas.

The Museum shall motivate new generations to choose sci-tech knowledge and occupation.

The large-scale project aimed at creating a state-of-the-art science museum started in 2010. In 2011, Event Communications Ltd. developed the Polytechnic Museum’s makeover and development concept. The goal is to become one of the world’s leading Science and Technology Museums.

The new concept implies the historical building renovation, extension of the educational venues and public spaces, development of the programs for audience of different ages.

Within the exhibition, the Polytechnic Museum will move away from the classical division of space by scientific discipline and focusing on objects. The aim is to reveal global scientific themes and discoveries in a modern, interactive, and engaging way.

It is also intended to create the Museum’s second venue, located on the territory of the Moscow State University. The venue will become the major platform for large-scale experimental exhibitions, interdisciplinary projects, professional and student conferences; it will host an advanced training center and the Polytechnic Museum’s open storage as well.

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

Designed by Jun’ya Ishigami (Japane)

Designed by MASSIMILIANO FUKSAS Architetto (Italy) and SPEECH (Russia)

PERMANENT EXHIBITION

“Rossia Delaet Sama” Opened 25.04.2014

The most amazing ideas that influenced the development of world science, the most significant discoveries and the most important inventions made by Russian scientists made during the last two centuries.

The exhibition space of the Museum is divided into eight sections displaying the subjects of major importance for the contemporary science. Each section unfolds around the key historical exhibit of the Polytechnic Museum’s collection, telling the story of the object and its creators, the inventions’ impact on the development of the civilization, as well as the current state of each scientific field displayed.

PERMANENT EXHIBITION

“Open Funds” Opened 01.11.2014

Open Storage is the first project in Moscow to make museum depositories accessible for general public, explaining the ways the objects are collected, preserved and studied.

The project Open Funds opens doors to the storage of the Polytechnic Museum. It invites to see and to judge the scale of the collection, that has been formed throughout the history of the Polytechnic Museum since its establishment in 1872; collection, that went through several stages of formation and survived a major relocation from the Museum’s Historical building at Novaya square to the specially equipped storage at the Technopolis Moscow in 2013. Its principal idea is to exhibit the very concept of storing museum objects. It comes to be not an extension of the main exhibition or its interpretation, but a new vision of the Museum and its inner life.

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

7

EXHIBITIONS 2015

05.06 04.10

nonMilitary Technique

Reinventing the Bicycle

Alice’s in ScienceLand

200 beats per minute

May — June 2015 “We do not need the war to go forward!”

The theme of the exhibition — the need for the development of peaceful technologies.

Focus — the fate of inventions created for a peaceful life, but turned into killing machines during wartime.

June — September 2015 The exhibition presents the genealogy of the most popular and at the same time high-tech vehicles. Bicycle has changed depending on the development of technologies, materials, design, customer inquiries, but since it’s appearance in our lives, it stayed for good.

June-October 2015 In the fairy tale “Alice in Wonderland “many incredible transformations happened, which can now be explained from a scientific point of view. For children, this exhibition is a journey into a fairy tale and acquaintance with fascinating science

December 2015 — March 2016 Typewriter — one of the symbols of the literature of the twentieth century.

The exhibition will show the unique exhibits from the collection of the Polytechnic museum, typewriters of famous writers, original typescript iconic works of Russian literature of the twentieth century

EXHIBITIONS 2015

9

Ideas 2020

Animatus

ToBeUs

February — March 2015 The exhibition, prepared in collaboration with the Helmholtz Society, devoted to technology in the field of ecology, urbanism, information technology, medicine and so on, which in the near future will change the world.

May — September 2015 Project by famous Korean artist Hyunko Lee combines modern technology, popular culture and contemporary art. The artist designed and “skeletons “famous cartoon characters.

June — July 2015 The traveling project of the Italian designer Matteo Rania in each country involves 10 famous designers who create unique versions of wooden machines based on a small piece of wood. The project demonstrates the diversity of ideas and trends of modern industrial design.

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age LONDON September 2015 — February 2016 Once-in-a-lifetime exhibition dedicated to the dramatic story of how Russia turned the dream of space travel into a reality and became the first nation to explore space.

Polytechnic museum will provide several fascinating gadgets cosmonauts used in space, including a fridge and camera.

FLAGSHIP EVENTS

The Festival of Science and Curiosity Polytech became flagship event of the Polytechnic museum since 2014. It gathers together scientists and artists from different countries to arouse and feed curiosity in minds of people of all ages. Exhibitions and installations, lectures, movies and interactive stands and objects attract thousands of visitors. It takes place in the end of May and has free admission.

FLAGSHIP EVENTS

The International Contemporary Science Film Festival 360° is a week of independent documentary films dedicated to science and research.

Apart from film screenings, the Festival runs a discussion program. In the course of discussions and workshops featuring scientists and movie makers, the audiences contribute to the search of new ideas and models of scientific expression by means of cinematic language.

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

11

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN

We see our mission in involving children into science since early age. To enrich school program with we focus on experiments, on practices, we introduce science in a playful way.

We have managed to build an ecosystem that involve snot only children, but adults as well, who can join us as teacher, researcher or volunteer.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN

13

The University for Children

The Science Labs

is a collaborative project of the Polytechnic Museum and the Higher School of Economics admitting students of 8–13 years old.

Researchers and science popularizers give lectures, conduct practical training and laboratory work, introducing the young audiences to the elements of real science.

is hands-on training in biology, mathematics, robotics, chemistry, physics, geared towards kids and youngsters. The program includes school classes, clubs, single workshops, scientific researches and experiments, conducted by young practicing scientists.

SKVT

Guided Tours

is a community, a program and a place where the Polytechnic Museum’s team supports enthusiastic young people in their creative endeavors, providing meetings, conversations and seminars for those, who love to design and carry out projects. Participants have a chance to organize events and be responsible for all the stages of arrangements.

We have a wide range of guided tours targeted at children of different age.

Open Storage invites children to take a journey through he history of human inventions, like photography or measuring devices of all kind.

Rossiya Delaet Sama helps to understand the connection between nature and science.

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS

We aim to make knowledge accessible to all, regardless of age and education. We introduce best science communicators — local and from abroad. And we invest efforts in growing new generation of scholars, who will engage and inspire wide audience with science The Polytechnic Museum’s Lectorium is the largest organizer of popular science events, lectures and discussions. Before 2014, the Big Lecture Hall was the main venue of the Polytechnic Museum’s Lectorium. Since the historical building is closed for reconstruction, lectures take place at different venues all over the city. Well-known Russian scientists and prominent foreign speakers talk about vital topics on science, technology, engineering etc.

The Science Battle is a contest between young scientists, where each participant takes 10 minutes to present their research to the audience and explain their subject matter in plain language. An important part of the project is the participant’s preparation for the Battle — before the contest, they take a special training on public presentation and modern approaches to the science communication, learning to talk exciting science.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR PROFESSIONALS

In 2014, the Polytechnic Museum and the Higher School of Economics launched a collaborative Master’s program on Applied Cultural Studies

The program is based on reinvented notion of the museum as a platform for creative practices focusing on emotions, imagination and new experience rather that memory. The program was designed together with international museum experts and museum studies professionals — in particular from Reinwardt Academie (The Netherlands). Looking to the global standards, the program creators involve top experts in the project — world-class professionals in modern museum affairs who have made the reputation working with Tate (London), Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) and Chopin Museum (Warsaw).

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

15

POLYTECH.SCIENCE.ART

The Polytech.Science.Art program, launched in 2014, represents one of the significant phenomena of contemporary culture — interdisciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists and engineers. The program runs education, research, exhibition and other experimental projects featuring Russian and international experts. The experts of the Polytech.Science.Art program formulate a comprehensive idea on the synthesis of science, art and technology as an artistic method, a space for innovation, present art projects showing scientific approach and innovative methods.

POLYTECH.SCIENCE.ART EXHIBITIONS 2015

Matters of Gravity March — April 2015 The project created by a group of multidisciplinary artists from Mexico, who participated in a training flight simulating weightlessness with Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia in 2014. The exhibits relate to various aspects of the phenomenon of gravity — philosophical, biological, emotional.

An Ecosystem of Excess

Polytech.Science.Art week

October 2015 The artist Pinar Yoldash (Turkey) has modeled a number of amazing living creatures that could develop in the ocean, filled with plastic and synthetic matter.

This artistic experiment combines a variety of scientific disciplines and artistic practices and demonstrates the principles of possible future design of the living environment.

December 2015 The annual exhibition of the works created by PSA program participants in the field of science-art, sound-art, faybertronics, net-art, bio-hacking etc. accompanied by lectures, discussions, performances.

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

17

SUPPORTERS

The Polytechnic Museum Development Foundation was founded in 2009 Its mission is to contribute to the large-scale project aimed at redevelopment of the Polytechnic Museum Foundation accumulates necessary financial resources and also provides intellectual assistance to the museum, initiates and supports some projects for the development of Polytechnic Museum such as education program for different audiences, science-film festival, various exhibitions and so on The Board of Trustees includes representatives of government bodies, educational institutions and commercial entities 1 / 2 of the Museum’s budget is funded by trusties Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Igor Shuvalov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation

PARTNERS

The Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia

19

polymus.ru

polytechnicum

119 Mira Ave. (VDNKh), bldg. 46, 129223 Moscow info@polymus.ru