MISSION: ____________________________________________________________

We support and promote the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, one of the world’s greatest museums. 
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The Hermitage has had a presence in London for nearly a decade and has offices at Somerset House, the beautiful 18th century palace on the Thames. As a registered charity (No. 1100096), the Friends are dedicated to working outside Russia for the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and promoting the Hermitage and Russian culture abroad. Our principal priority lies in seeking sponsorship and fundraising from corporations, trusts, foundations and individuals for our main projects.
 
PROJECTS:

HERMITAGE 20/21 PROJECT

One of the most ambitious projects undertaken by any museum globally is 20/21. From 1917 to 2000 there were almost no acquisitions of contemporary Western art. The purpose of the campaign is to fill this gap by expanding the collection of 20th century art and display the very best of the 21st century art from Russia and internationally. We have recently mounted several high profile and exceptionally successful exhibitions that have brought in new audiences to the Hermitage and put the museum on the world’s contemporary art map.
THE ALIF FUND

Supporting one of the world’s great Islamic collections.
The magnificent collection covers a thousand years of Islamic art and culture, spanning the Arab World, Spain, Persia and the Indian sub-continent. 
Calligraphy, textiles, jewellery, metalwork, ceramics and paintings – a collection supervised by the museum’s director, Professor Piotrovsky, an Arabist scholar, who has published widely on the subject.
 
To find out more about the Alif Fund and how you can support it, please contact us - info@hermitagefriends.org. 
VISITING CURATORS

The London Friends recently launched a ‘Visiting Curator’ scheme, welcoming curators from the Hermitage who want to use London’s great wealth of museums and libraries to further their research interests.

This spring two curators came to London.
Yulia Kagan from the Western European Art Department came over to work on her book, “The Art of Gemstones in Great Britain”, which was published in 2010.
 
Elena Shishkova, Head of Paper Restoration Department, learned much about the restoration of Japanese scrolls by taking part in the Hirajama Studio‘s Collaborative Project for the Conservation of Japanese Paintings in the British Museum, together with the Association for Conservation of National Treasures in Japan.

The Visiting Curators scheme is an exceptionally important source of ongoing professional development for Hermitage curators, and costs approximately £35,000 annually to maintain. Any contributions, however small, will be greatly welcomed, and supporters will be able to meet individual curators to discuss specific aspects of the museum’s collection, and individual specialisms.