2 million visitors and 1.5 billion money earned – these are the figures following the results of the work of the Tretyakov Gallery in 2022, the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Irada Ayupova cited today in a conversation with BUSINESS Online. But this did not save the CEO Zelfira Tregulova from resignation, with whom the Russian Ministry of Culture decided not to renew the contract today. Two months ago, Tatarstan signed a new agreement with a leading Russian museum on joint exhibition activities in the presence of Rustam Minnikhanov. About whether the high-profile personnel news jeopardizes these agreements – in our material.
“Of course, we made certain plans that can change”
Obviously, without much joy in Tatarstan today they learned loud personnel news from the world of national culture. The Federal Ministry of Culture announced that the contract of the general director of one of the main museums in the country, the Tretyakov Gallery, Zelfira Tregulova, which expired this Thursday, will not be extended.
Just a couple of months ago, right in the Lavrushinsky Lane of Moscow, where the Tretyakov Gallery is located, Tregulova and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Irada Ayupova, in the presence of Rustam Minnikhanov, signed a new three-year agreement on cooperation between the museum and Tatarstan.
The press service of the gallery “BUSINESS Online” then explained that the contract involves the organization of four exhibitions: two will be held in Tatarstan, two – in Moscow. In the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery, works from the collections of the museums of the Republic of Tatarstan will be exhibited, and in Kazan there will be an exhibition under the working title “The Thaw” from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. “Such exhibitions always include masterpieces from the main collection of the gallery,” the press service promised. Also in Kazan and Moscow exhibitions of media art pioneer Bulat Galeev are to be held.
Rustam Minnikhanov: “We understood who our partner was and who was a fellow traveler”
Recall that the previous agreement between the Tretyakov Gallery and the authorities of the republic was valid from 2017 to 2022. Moreover, the first exhibition within its framework – “The Genius of the Century”, dedicated to the art of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries – where, for example, the famous “Swan Princess” by Vrubel came from Moscow, according to Tregulova herself, still “remains the most visited exposition Central Museum in the Regions”, then gathering 75 thousand spectators in three months.
“We are happy that we have several years of interesting work ahead of us and the closest interaction with our colleagues in Tatarstan. We hope that the projects will be adequately covered and will be in the focus of public attention,” Tregulova said in December 2022. And in general, it was clear that the general director of the Tretyakov Gallery found a common language with the first persons of the republic, moreover, she always publicly emphasized her Tatar roots.
“We have built very close, productive and effective communications,” the head of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Ayupova told BUSINESS Online today about working with one of the country’s leading museums. – Naturally, we made certain plans, which may change with the advent of a new leader. Let’s hope that the general degree of cooperation between Tatarstan and the Tretyakov Gallery will not decrease. Our republic is a very reliable partner in interregional museum projects, we are implementing partnership projects with the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, the Russian Ethnographic Museum…”
Last year, the Tretyakov Gallery attracted about 2 million visitors and earned about 1.5 billion rubles, reminds Ayupova: “This is a lot of money.” In addition, the Minister of Culture of Tatarstan gave Tregulova a personal assessment: “Zelfira Ismailovna is a professional in her field, she is a very competent expert and a strong leader. Therefore, I hope that her professional qualities will be in demand in society. It is difficult to give an objective assessment of why she did not renew the contract. Rotation is always present, this is the established practice.”
The daughter of a general from the FSB
Tregulova was born on June 13, 1955 in Riga. Father Ismail Tregulov, originally from Tatarstan, was a military operator at the front. Mother is from Kyrgyzstan, a sound engineer by profession. Tregulova’s parents met while studying at the Institute of Cinematographers in Moscow, and after graduation they began to work at the Riga Film Studio. Tregulova herself graduated from the art history department of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University in 1977, and in 1981 she completed her postgraduate studies at Moscow State University. In 1984, she began working in the All-Union Art and Production Association, first as a curator of international exhibitions of Russian art, and then as an assistant to the general director. In the 90s, Tregulova did an internship at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, after which she was head of the department of foreign relations and exhibitions at the Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin, from 2002 to 2013 she worked as deputy general director of the Moscow Kremlin Museum-Reserve, after which she became the curator of the state museum and exhibition association ROSIZO. She has headed the Tretyakov Gallery since February 2015.
Under Tregulova, the gallery became a truly fashionable place. At the exhibitions of Russian classics, unprecedented queues of those wishing to touch art gathered here, one of which was even sung by the Leningrad group in their immortal hit: “Who is the main exhibit at the Serov exhibition?” Perhaps the last in a series of such expositions was the absolutely outstanding exhibition of Mikhail Vrubel, which opened at the end of 2021 and is dedicated to various stages in the work and life of the famous artist. Also, the museum, under the already ex-general director, made a real breakthrough in the field of multimedia, which Tregulova herself recently spoke about at Kazan Digital Week.
As for the claims against Tregulova, they went both on the economic and on the creative side, which is quite normal when it comes to such a troublesome household. For example, in August 2020, after a rainstorm, the museum building on Krymsky Val was flooded, where, in particular, an exhibition from the collection of the Pushkin Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan “Masterpieces from Kazan. From Roerich to Kandinsky. There were also questions about contemporary art, for example, in April 2022, in the same place, on Krymsky Val, the exposition of Grisha Bruskin, which had opened even before the start of the SVO, completed its work ahead of schedule. Someone thought that these works speak too boldly on the topic of relations between power and society.
Interestingly, a few days ago, the Tretyakov Gallery was subjected to a real information attack when information appeared that the Russian Ministry of Culture was demanding that the museum prepare a response to a complaint by a certain Sergei Shadrin, who had doubts that certain exhibits of the gallery correspond to the state policy “to preserve and strengthen traditional Russian spiritual and moral values”. And Tregulova herself today told NSN that she learned about her resignation from the media.
Now the Tretyakov Gallery will be headed by Elena Pronicheva, director of the Moscow Polytechnic Museum. She was born on June 6, 1983 in the city of Melitopol, Zaporozhye region. In 2005, she graduated from MGIMO with a degree in comparative politics. As indicated on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, in different years she worked in the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, in the department of foreign economic activity of Gazprom, Gazprombank, at VDNKh (VVTs). Since 2013, she has served as executive director of the Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance, and in December 2020 she was appointed director of the Moscow Polytechnic Museum.
She is the daughter of Army General Vladimir Pronichev, who led the hostage rescue operation in Nord-Ost, the former first deputy director of the FSB, the former head of the border service and the board of directors of football Dynamo. Her sister Ekaterina Pronicheva was the general director of VDNKh, from 2018 to 2022 she headed the Moscow Tourism Committee, and now she manages the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve.
“I don’t think that the new leadership of the Tretyakov Gallery will say: “Oh, that’s it, we don’t work with Tatarstan!”
BUSINESS Online experts evaluate the quality of cooperation between the Tretyakov Gallery and Tatarstan, as well as its prospects after Tregulova’s resignation.
Rozalia Nurgaleeva – General Director of the Pushkin Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan:
“Honestly, this is a big surprise for me. I want to say that Zelfira Tregulova is a very educated person, tuned in to all kinds of projects with the regions and especially with Tatarstan. I know that she had very big plans for organizing exhibitions with us. Of course, her household was very large. Reconstruction, renovation, here it leaked, then it leaked … I know that she was charged with punctures, that the roof was leaking, and there, by the way, our things were also there … But everything worked out! In general, all the negative things that are pouring on the Tretyakov Gallery, it seems to me, are provoked by some people. Some group of people.
As for the further partnership of the republic with the Tretyakov Gallery, I think that this resignation will not call it into question. Given that now all the eyes of Russian museums are redirected from abroad towards Russia. Although the Russian Museum has been working with the regions for many years, the Hermitage has, of course. To a lesser extent, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum, but now, based on the fact that tourist flows also come here, these major museums have been tasked with working with the regions.
As for Elena Pronicheva, I can hardly say anything about her. Neither good nor bad. She is, so to speak, unheard of. Of course, I think that Zelfira Ismagilovna will not be left without a job. She will work in culture. At least that’s what I would like to do.
Artem Silkin – Director of the Sviyazhsky Museum-Reserve:
– It is difficult for me to evaluate the work of Tregulova, because we did not, in fact, have any joint projects in recent years. But it seems to me that under her leadership, the Tretyakov Gallery hosted exhibitions that everyone knows and remembers very well. Serov, Polenov, Vrubel, Kuindzhi. Who else? In fact, the Tretyakov Gallery is like a big universe, like the Hermitage. So how can you evaluate her work without really knowing what happened there? I am not aware of any shortcomings in her work.
I think that cooperation between the Tretyakov Gallery and Tatarstan is a matter of agreements not only at the level of top officials, but also at the level of the next “layers”. And I don’t think that the new leadership of the Tretyakov Gallery will say: “Oh, that’s it, we don’t work with Tatarstan!” It would be very strange, because Tatarstan, the museum community of the republic is well known in the Russian Federation, the successes of Tatarstan in the “museum field” are highly appreciated. And I do not see, to be honest, any reason for these agreements to be canceled due to a change in leadership. This is the state museum. Today there is one director, tomorrow another. So they will change me – do you think that the museum in Sviyazhsk will disappear? No. Other persons will be engaged, nothing special will happen.
About Elena Pronicheva speak well. It seems that I don’t know her personally, but in the museum environment nothing bad is said about her.
