#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In 1939, the combine’s head, Avraamy Zavenyagin, ordered the opening of a museum of ore and non-metallic minerals of Norilsk at the geological department. It was more of a scientific exhibition – not for visitors, but for geologists: a kind of chronology of their discoveries, not on paper, but in stone.
In the 1940s, the specialized geological museum turned into the Museum of the Norilsk combine of the USSR Internal Affairs Ministry (IAM). A wooden house on Ozernaya street in the Old town was given to it. In addition to geological collections, there were also departments of local history, the Norilsk deposit discovery history, the city construction history, and even a section dedicated to the sponsored Avam district. There were also zoological, ethnographic and agricultural collections. On the one hand, the museum was departmental, and the letters MVD (IAM) in the name obliged: even its catalog-guide was a secret document. On the other hand, the combine’s managers took into account the cultural demands of workers, students and schoolchildren and opened a permanent exhibition for public viewing. In the 1950s, the local newspaper already called it the city’s local history museum.
In 1960, the museum moved and became part of the Technology House, which operated on Komsomolskaya street, 12. However, that union did not last long: in 1965, the museum was liquidated: one and a half thousand exhibits were distributed among hands or thrown out. Why this was done is a mystery. Fragments of the museum could be found in the most unexpected places: for example, a stuffed brown bear stood in the Hantaika store, where furs were sold. And at the Technology House, only one small history hall remained from the entire local history exposition. Five years after the closure, the director issued another order to open another museum. Norilsk residents asked Krasnoyarsk authorities to open a local history museum, but they had to make it themselves. Finally, in 1971, a historical and industrial museum was created at the Technology House.
In 1985, the Norilsk museum was allocated its own premises, for which an extension with an arched entrance group was made to an ordinary Hrushchev-era building on Leninsky prospect, 47. In 1989, half a century after its creation, it got the status of a state museum. However, the museum was unlucky with that building as well. Ground thawing led to its demolition. Now there is a house for young specialists there.
In 2000, the museum moved to the historical district of Norilsk, to a building that is worthy of being an architectural and historical monument itself. Since 1960, the Lenin cinema had been operating there – the first wide-screen cinema in the city. In 2002, the museum began a reconstruction that lasted two years. It was not easy to place storage facilities and exhibits in the former cinema halls and foyers. Today, the museum collections number almost 80 thousand storage units. And one of the richest collections is the geological one, with which it all began in 1939.
In 1978, the First House of Norilsk became part of the museum with a separate exhibit. At that time, it still stood in its original location: in the Old town, on Gornaya street, 23. The house was restored, everything was made as it was at the very beginning, based on the memories and recommendations of Nikolay Urvantsev. In 1985, after the death of the Urvantsev couple, the house became part of the entire memorial complex To the Discoverers and Pioneer Builders, built on the Zero Point. Together with the First House, the Zavenyagin House, restored from photographs, was included there. In a niche in the memorial wall, the Urvantsevs ashes urns were buried, as they bequeathed to remain in Norilsk forever. But the memorial was built in a hurry – for the combine’s anniversary. After only nine months, deformations began, and the memorial fell into disrepair. In 1992, the First House was moved from there to the Museum of the Norilsk Industrial District’s Development and Exploitation History – to Leninsky prospect, 47.
And ten years later, it moved again after the museum – to its current location. Today, an art gallery is part of the Norilsk museum. It was created on November 23, 1973 and was first called the People’s Art Gallery. In January 1974, the first meeting of its council was held in the Technology House, where the exhibition hall was also located. The foundation of the collection was laid by 53 paintings, graphic and sculpture works donated by the exhibition directorate of the RSFSR Artists Union. In 1976, the People’s Art Gallery received its first small premises on Metallurgov square. The following year, it became the Norilsk branch of the Krasnoyarsk Art Gallery. In 1978, it moved to a new building on Talnahskaya street, 78, where it is still located.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we talked about snack bars operating in Norilsk in different years.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Olga Zaderyaka, Norilsk residents and Nornickel's Polar Division’s archives
