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Golovnev A., Kukanov D., Perevalova E. Nikolaevsky Hall: Peoples of South Asia (Conceptual Sketch)

Andrey Golovnev
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the RAS
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-5716-655X
E-mail: Andrei_golovnev@bk.ru

 

Denis Kukanov
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the RAS
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-7219-4145
E-mail: kukanov-d@yandex.ru

 

Elena Perevalova
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the RAS
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-9480-715X
E-mail: Elena_Perevalova@mail.ru

 

 Download  |  Go to Issue #1. 2025

 

ABSTRACT. On June 17 2024, the opening of a new permanent exhibition of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Nikolaevsky Hall: Peoples of South Asia” took place. The exhibition hall is called “Nikolaevsky” since a significant part of the South Asian collection was assembled by Crown Prince Nicholas during his trip to the East in 1890–1891. On March 5 1914, already in the status of Emperor, he visited the Kunstkamera and gave his permission to name the Indian exhibition “the Halls of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II”. In our re-exhibition, the hall has been given back the name “Nikolaevsky”. The first permanent exhibition “India” was created in 1925 by Alexander and Lyudmila Meerwarth, who brought more than 6 thousand exhibits from a four-year trip to India and Ceylon (1914–1918). The new permanent exhibition “Peoples of South Asia” presents more than a thousand objects and illustrations on the cultures and peoples of the Republic of India (Bhārat), Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Most of the exhibits date back to the 19th — first half of the 20th century. The exhibits include masks and musical instruments, the theatrical costume of the monkey king Hanuman, images of gods and mythological characters of ancient religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism) and magical cults, weapons, fabrics, items made of precious metals and stones, ivory, valuable types of wood and other Indian curiosities.

 

KEYWORDS: peoples of South Asia, India, permanent exhibition, Kunstkamera, Crown Prince Nikolai Romanov, Alexander and Lyudmila Meerwarth

 

FOR CITATION: Golovnev A., Kukanov D., Perevalova E. Nikolaevsky Hall: Peoples of South Asia (Conceptual Sketch). Kunstkamera. 2025. 1 (27): 6–17. (In Russian). DOI: 10.31250/2618-8619-2025-1(27)-6-17

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2025-1(27)-6-17
UDC 39(54)

 

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