Museum Of Old Things
On the first night after I arrived to Moscow, Jane took me to the museum.
Jana is an arts and architecture historian. She organizes all these artsy exhibits and absolutely devastated that I am looking for the place to get souvenirs, Russian nested dolls “matreshka”, ballet posters and key chains with the Kremlin. That’s what friends in Boston expect me to bring from Russia.
– Shame on you! – Jane is really mad. – You perpetuate an obsolete picture of Russia!
She brings me to the state-of-art exhibit hall next to the Red Square.
One exhibition hall features modern video art. The other one displays historical design artifacts from the Soviet Union from 1960 to 1980.
The video art hall reminds me of my days at Emerson College when I was involved into experimental videos and documentaries. I want to tell Jane that I did this 15 years ago. But I don’t want to disappoint her – she’s really excited about showing me this gallery.
The design artifacts from the Soviet history includes old memorabilia from my childhood – the first home washing machine, the first radio and TV sets, old Soviet watches, lighting fixtures, plates and silverware… It’s a total success based on the number of visitors that came to see these “old things’.
It’s late in Moscow. I just came back to the place where I grew up.
I am looking around and see all these things that I saw in the museum.
Time froze here.
I’ve traveled thousands of miles from Boston to Moscow to come back in time.
I don’t need to go the the museum to see the “old things”.
They are here in the place I came from.
Welcome to Moscow, old man!
