Museum of Moscow and Triumph Gallery open the Museum of Self-Isolation

Online exhibition opening date: December 3, 2020

The site of the Museum of Self-Isolation: https://isolation.mosmuseum.ru/

Dates of the offline exhibition at the Museum of Moscow: January 15 - March 14, 2021

Location of the offline exhibition: Zubovsky Boulevard, 2, bldg. 1, Museum of Moscow

Curators: Marina Bobyleva, Polina Zhurakovskaya, Nail Farhatdinov

The Museum of Moscow and the Triumph Gallery open the Museum of Self-Isolation exhibition about a unique period in the modern history of Moscow. On December 3, the website of the project will start working; it will be possible to see the exposition in the museum from January 15.

Muscovites faced restrictive measures due to the coronavirus pandemic in the spring. From March to June, it was possible to leave the house only in some cases - for example, to walk the dog around the house or go to the nearest supermarket. Museums, cinemas, cafes, libraries, theaters, shopping centers, universities, schools and kindergartens were closed. Work, study, entertainment - everything was concentrated within four walls. The city and the daily life of the townspeople have changed and continue to change in the uncertainty of the second wave. The events of 2020 immediately became the objects of scientific research and art projects, the authors of which tried not only to analyze the situation, but also to outline the contours of the future after the pandemic.

The history of the Museum of Self-Isolation began in the summer. On June 19, the Triumph Gallery opened a group exhibition on the Emergency Situation pandemic, and on July 13, the Museum of Moscow launched a collection of items and stories about self-isolation. The joint exhibition is a new stage in the study of this phenomenon, an attempt to comprehend the spring experience and present it in the form of a museum exhibition.

The project includes artifacts created by Muscovites and works of artists. They all took a fresh look at home, family relationships, work and creativity. Graphics, photographs, installations, performances, personal testimonies, homemade masks, jewelry, diaries - all this became part of the exhibition. The collection of testimonies from the townspeople continues to this day on the project website.

The exposition at the Museum of Moscow consists of four sections: Panic, Peak, Plateau and After. Each captures a certain emotion, which is associated with the chronicle of the spread of infection in Moscow. In the "After" section, a special place is reserved for artifacts of the second wave.