About the project “In Front of the World”
@kizhi
IN FRONT OF THE WORLD: Coverage of restoration of the Kizhi monuments. The Kizhi Pogost is a World Heritage property and the most valuable object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
The project was launched in 2005 and was supported by the D.S.Likhachev International Charitable Foundation.
The project was initiated at the moment when the Kizhi Museum started preparations for the complex restoration of the Church of the Transfiguration.
The project objectives:
- To create the conditions for the most effective restoration of the World Heritage Monument that is held literally in front of the world.
- To establish sustainable partnerships between experts and organizations in the field of restoration and traditional carpentry technology.
- To create the conditions for the formation of a “virtual carpentry school” and to revive the traditional trades.
- To attract the attention of potential investors to the cultural heritage and to stimulate interest in the preservation of historical and cultural monuments and their involvement in the sphere of social and economic activity.
The museum experts realized that the restoration project should be implemented in collaboration with the best specialists in the world. The same conclusion was reached by the participants of the International seminar organized by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. The seminar participants noted that the restoration could be carried out only with the support of the international cooperation, with the participation of various stakeholders, international organizations, national and international experts and with a regular information exchange between all the stakeholders in the field of world heritage preservation.
The project has been constantly developed and provides the most current information about the monuments of wooden architecture, the works of conservation and restoration and, in the first place, about the restoration process of the Church of the Transfiguration (1714). Realization of this project has set a precedent for restoration of a considerable object of the cultural heritage in front of the world.
Today the project “In Front of the World” is:
- A catalogue of wooden architecture monuments of the Kizhi Museum that includes profiles, layouts and images of monuments.
- Constant informational support of the restoration process of the Transfiguration Church on Kizhi Island.
- The history of construction, preceding restoration and research works of the Church of the Transfiguration. Interior and exterior of the monument.
- Virtual reconstruction of the iconostasis of the Transfiguration Church. It is one of the most complete iconostasis complexes of the Russian North of the 18th century that has been disassembled for over 20 years.
- Virtual carpentry school: carpentry and restoration technologies, etc.
- Online forum for open discussion of the issues connected with both the restoration of the Transfiguration Church and restoration and carpentry technologies in general.
- News feed on the topic of preservation and restoration of wooden architecture monuments.
- A webcam, aimed at the monument and the restoration site, allows users to see the current events with their own eyes.
The museum has a lot of partners in the field of wooden architecture restoration both in Russia and abroad. We hope that the project work will result in the formation of a network of partners participating both in the restoration of the monument of world significance and in the creation of a common information resource “Virtual Carpentry School”.
The “In Front of the World” project is open to cooperation with all the experts and organizations concerned.
The participants of the project “In Front of the World”:
- Olga Titova – the author and project leader
- Inna Kazakova – development of initial design
- Olga Zaitseva – Web-programmer (2005)
The section “Metamorphoses of the Century”:
- Alexander Lubimtsev – chief curator of immovable monuments
- Viola Gushchina – senior research worker
- Galina Frolova – keeper of the Old Russian Painting collection, restorer
- Larisa Starkova – senior engineer
The section “Restoration of the Church of the Transfiguration”:
- Nikolai Popov – deputy director for the restoration of the Kizhi Ensemble monuments
- Alexander Kuusela – senior engineer for the restoration of the Kizhi Ensemble monuments
- Tatiana Kontsevenko – senior engineer for the immovable monuments records department
The section “Carpentry School”:
- Tatiana Vakhrameyeva – the author of the “Theory of Carpentry” manual
- Alexander Lubimtsev – video catalogue of carpentry techniques
Translation to the English language:
- Nadezhda Medvedeva — deputy director for the organization of excursion service
Photos by:
- Vladimir Rakhmanov
- Alexander Lubimtsev
- Sergei Potekhin
