Department of Interdisciplinary Projects

The Department of Interdisciplinary Projects at The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts organizes research programs and social initiatives that embrace knowledge and practices from various realms of education, art, and culture. These activities incorporate accomplishments from anthropology, neurobiology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, gender studies, caregiving philosophy, diversity, social performance/drama/dance, etc., into the Museum’s art space. The establishment of the Committee for Sensory Accessibility at The Pushkin Museum in September of 2017 was one of the Department’s first successful interdisciplinary projects. The Committee brought together experts and people with autism to create Russia’s first “Art Space Sensory Safety Map.”

The Department implements disability art programs and promotes the “Accessible Museum” initiative launched at The Pushkin Museum in 2016. Every year the Department holds the International Inclusive Festival, the Summer School of Inclusive Practices, and the social program “Pushkin Museum for All.”

A considerable number of professionals representing the largest museums worldwide have taken part in the “Accessible Museum” international conference since 2017, including the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice), Kyushu National Museum (Fukuoka), the Israel Museum (Jerusalem), the National Museum of Finland (Helsinki), Kiasma (Helsinki), National Palace Museum (Taipei), and many others.

In the course of the integrative interdisciplinary projects carried out by the Department, a corpora of documentation was added to the Museum’s collections covering performances, workshops, stage plays, and roundtable discussions with performers, artists, and researchers in various fields. The Department actively collaborates with other Museum departments on research, educational, and youth programs, and it works together with the IT and the Customer Service departments to introduce innovative display and communication formats for the various categories of visitors.

Click here to learn more about “Accessible Museum” media projects.

Click here to review the Museum’s educational programs for people with disabilities.