The Fourth Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center was Held
Moscow 19, 2015
The fourth meeting of the Board of Trustees under the chairmanship of Victor Vekselberg, who heads the Board, was held in the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. The following members participated in the meeting: Sergey Ivanov, Kremlin Chief of Staff, Leonard Blavatnik, Chairman of the Board of Access Industries, Alexander Boroda, President of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Russia and Director General of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Alexander Klyatchin, Chairman of the Board of AZIMUT Hotels, Metropolitan Juvenal, Ali Hazrat Hasanov (the representative of Ravil Gainutdinov, Deputy Director of Mufti Board of Russia) and Berl Lazar, the chief rabbi of the Russian Federation. During the meeting the members of the Board of Trustees and guests of the event reviewed the report on the Museum activities held during the last year and the strategy of its further development which includes regular renewals of the exposition, organization of large-scale exhibitions, the Research Center program extension, new exhibition spaces construction and strengthening of international cooperation. One of the first important steps in the set direction was the solution about the cooperation of the Museum with the USC Shoah Foundation, founded in 1994 by director Steven Spielberg and located at the University of North Carolina. The Fund possesses around 52 000 video-evidences of genocide victims including 700 videos recorded in Russia, some of which will probably be included into the permanent exposition within the framework of this common initiative. One of the most important results of the meeting was the approval of the building of the new pavilion for temporary expositions, the pavilion will perfectly match the architectural complex of the the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage. An open tender for the development of the architectural concept will be held for Russian and international architects in the nearest future.
Victor Vekselberg specified in his opening statement: “The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center have occupied the essential place on the cultural map of Moscow. The Museum is known not only in Russian but also all over the world. The interest to the Museum, the way of information presentation, the problem of tolerance – these are the facts nowadays which cannot be underestimated. And the numbers eloquently prove it. In 2014 the Museum was visited by 170 000 people and it is twice as more comparing to the pervious year. And this is, of course, a success for this young industry.”
In 2014 the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center hit Top Best Museums of Russia 2014 based on the feedback of a million users of TripAdvisor, the international travelling portal, became the winner of Afisha magazine contest – Best in Moscow, was awarded as the Best Culture and Leisure Center by The Moscow Times.
One of the most important events was the Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th anniversary from Auschwitz liberation. Vladimir Putin, the RF President, the representatives of the Russian government institutions, religious confessions, international organizations, diplomatic missions, former prisoners and veterans-liberators participated in the event dedicated to that memorable date.
Describing the Museum success and the achieved results Alexander Boroda, Director General of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, stated: «There is a promising and encouraging element in the constantly growing interest to the Museum. This proves we are making the proper things which are popular. The citizens and guests of Moscow vote every time when they come to us giving in such a way the highest rating to our activity.» The people who were most actively involved into the process of the establishment and development were for the first time awarded with the Certificates of Merit of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center during the meeting of the Board of Trustees. Natalya Tretyack, First Deputy of the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, received the Certificate for her substantial contribution to the realization of the Tolerance Center programs all over Russia. Now it is planed to open more than 20 similar centers, the first ones will appear in Saint-Petersburg and Kazan. The second Certificate was given to Ilya Pokrovsky, Deputy Director General on the administrative and technical issues of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.
The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center was opened November 8, 2012, in the building of the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, the monument of Constructivism. The Board of Trustees was founded in February 2013. Prominent representatives of Russian and international business and political circles, religious and non-governmental organizations, culture and art became its members. The Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center consists of: Victor Vekselberg (Chairman of the Board), Sergey Ivanov, Leonard Blavatnik, Alexander Boroda, Mikhail Gutseriev, Alexander Klyatchin, Metropolitan Juvenal, Ravil Gainutdinov, David Rene James Rothschild, Lord Browne, Ronald S. Lauder, Darya Zhuckova, Alexander Smuzickov, Iosif Diskin, Vadim Moshkovich, Roger David Kornberg.
