Break the Ice: New Connections across the North
Online museum conference
9.00 – 9.30 - Welcome and introduction to the Shared history project
moderated by Olga Sinitsyna
Christian Duncumb, Cultural Attaché, British Embassy Moscow
Roy Elwood, Arctic convoys veteran
Yury Alexandrov, the Chairman of the NGO “Polar Convoy”, St. Petersburg and Igor Kozyr, Vice-Chairman of the NGO “Polar Convoy”, author, and translator.
9.30 – 11.00 – Roundtable. Arctic Convoys: shared war history and how it is remembered
To mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the first allied convoy to Arkhangelsk and in the run up to the opening of a new permanent display at the Western Approaches HQ in Liverpool, we will be exploring the UK-Russia shared war history through the museum collections and programmes in the UK and Russia and discussing how it is remembered today.
New Arctic convoys exhibit at Western Approaches HQ. Dean Paton, Director of the Big Heritage, Liverpool. Western Approaches HQ.
Preserving the memory of Arctic convoys: the museum experience. Exploring new narratives between Arkhangelsk and the United Kingdom. Evgeny Tenetov, Director of the Northern Maritime Museum, Arkhangelsk.
The worst journey in the world: HMS Belfast and the Arctic Convoys. Robert Rumble, Lead Curator for HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museums.
Polar Brotherhood. Participation of the Krasin icebreaker in the Arctic convoys. Irina Stont, Director of Icebreaker Krasin Museum, St Petersburg.
The Russian Arctic Convoy Project - Loch Ewe. Chris Connolly, Trustee, Russian Arctic Convoy Museum Project.
The work of the museums of Murmansk region to preserve the memory of Arctic convoys. Elena Sabashnikova, Director of Murmansk Regional Museum of Local History.
11.00 - 11.10 – lightning presentations
Plans for a new museum of Arctic convoys in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Solomonov, International Centre of Arctic convoys, and Elena Elts, St Petersburg State University.
Big Heritage and its projects, Dean Paton, Director Big Heritage, UK
11.10 – 11.20 – break
11.20 – 12.50. Roundtable. Maritime heritage and traditions. Stories, objects, and living memories.
In 1697, Peter the Great of Russia travelled to England to learn about shipbuilding and navigation in order to establish the first Russian Navy. Connections between the two countries owe much to maritime heritage and traditions. The sea has played a central role in trading, exploration, exchange and migration of people and ideas over the centuries and shaped the way of life in coastal communities and environments. We will explore how this rich and diverse heritage is collected, nurtured, and presented by the museums and share expertise and international best practices in maritime museum operations and programming.
Maritime Heritage in Human Dimension. People, stories, memory in objects. Exhibitions “Pacific Time” and “Vitus Bering”. Victor Shalai, Director, Museum of Regional History, Vladivostok.
A Riddle, Wrapped In A Mystery, Inside An Enigma, Andrew Choong Han Lin, Curator at the National Maritime Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich.
The first Russian Naval Code – 350th anniversary of Peter the Great at the Northern Maritime Museum. Evgeny Tenetov, Director of the Northern Maritime Museum, Arkhangelsk.
The Mary Rose Project: Presenting our Maritime Heritage in a new Museum. Telling stories about people with objects. Chris Dobbs, Head of Interpretation and Maritime Archaeology, Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
The Naval History of Russia. Ruslan Nekhai, Director of the Central Naval Museum, St Petersburg.
Transforming Liverpool’s waterfront and creating a new Maritime Museum. Ian Murphy, Head of Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool.
12.50 – 13.00 – lightning presentations
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Victoria Ingles, Senior Curator
International connections of Mary Rose Chris Dobbs, Head of Interpretation and Maritime Archaeology
13.00- 13.10 – break
13.10 – 14.40 – Roundtable. Arctic and the Environment. Exploring the future, inspired by the past.
Climate change has a profound impact on communities of the North and their way of life. As Russia assumes the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021-2023, we open a conversation about the Arctic as a unique eco system and focus on the sustainable development of the region and what role can museums and heritage institutions play.
Exploring the climate crisis through collections and programming at National Museums Scotland. Dr Rebekah Higgitt, Acting Keeper of Science and Technology, National Museums Scotland.
Energy of the Arctic: human dimension. Dr Vladimir Davydov, Director of Science and Research, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian collections of the Scott Polar Research Institute. Dr. Charlotte Connelly, Curator, Museum of Polar Scott institute, and Dr Eleanor Peers, Arctic Information Specialist, Scott Polar Research Institute.
The experience of the Museum of Nature and Man in researching and preserving the cultural and natural heritage of the Russian Far North in Yugra. Gleb Chechevin, Director of the Museum of Nature and Man, Khanty-Mansiysk.
Arctic: Culture and Climate exhibition, Peter Loovers, Project Curator, the British Museum
Museum of Arctic and Antarctic Looking Forward to Sustainable Future. Maria Dukalskaya, Director, Museum of Arctic and Antarctic, St Petersburg.
14.40 – 14.50 – lightning presentations
Russian Association of Arctic Museums and new initiatives to engage with cultural and natural heritage of the Arctic, Olga Podshuveit, Association of Arctic Museums, Russia.
10th international scientific conference “Polar readings”, Dr Pavel Filin, Deputy Director of the Museum and Exhibition Centre for Technical and Technological Development of the Arctic.
14.50 - 15.00 – break
15.00 – 15.40 – Inversia festival, Murmansk, and UK artists in residence
Inversia festival unites diverse communities of artists and curators from Northwest Russia and Northern Europe in Murmansk to research the phenomena of geographical isolation and cultural exclusion and dispel the idea of darkness and remoteness as negative notions. The festival represents several art forms: audiovisual performances, multi-genre music programme that varies from experimental sound artists to folk and punk scene, video art and light performances, as well as discussion platforms with both traditional and alternative spaces of dialogue that make Inversia an international meeting place across the borders. Digital Northeast Passage is a theme for the 5th edition of Inversia international festival.
Oleg Khadartsev, programming director Inversia festival, creative director FRIDAYMILK, artist
Zhanna Guzenko, producer Inversi festival, project producer FRIDAYMILK
UK artists in residence at Inversia 2022: Sami El-Enany, Dia Hexen (Dianne Lucille Campbell), Su Shaw
15.40- 16.00 – final comments, closing remarks
Speakers
Yury Alexandrov. Commander Yury Alexandrov has been the Chairman of the NGO “Polar Convoy” since 1995. The organization plays an active role in remembering the Arctic convoys “true brotherhood in arms” and strengthening links between the Soviet, British and Allied sailors who fought side by side in the Second World War. A veteran of the Second World War himself, Alexandrov fought in the destruction battalion of the Red Army near Velikiye Luki, then served in the Soviet Northern Fleet for over 20 years. Between 1970 and 1976, he taught at the Frunze Higher Naval School.
Gleb Chechevin is the director of the Museum of Nature and Man in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. He graduated from the Department of History of the Surgut State University. In 2005, Gleb joined the team of the Museum of Local History in Surgut, where he played an active role in the creation of the “Merchant’s Estate” museum complex. In 2011, Gleb was the curator of a new Sberbank Museum in Samara. In 2017, joined the Literary Museum of Samara as a Deputy Director and curated the new display at the Museum of Eldar Ryazanov. Since 2020, Gleb has been working in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Andrew Choong joined the National Maritime Museum in 2004 and has held the post of Curator of Ships Plans, Historic Photographs and Technical Records for almost eighteen years. His core responsibilities include researching, cataloguing and facilitating access to this material. Although the collections in his care comprise a vast range of periods and subjects, Andrew’s particular specialisations lie in US, European and Japanese maritime history during the period 1860 to 1945. Over the last few years, he has represented the Museum as both a subject and collections specialist.
Dr Charlotte Connelly joined the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge in 2015, where she is the Curator of the Polar Museum. She trained as a historian of science and technology, and now enjoys caring for collections from both the Arctic and the Antarctic and covering a whole range of types of material from art to scientific instruments, clothing to transport technologies and all things in between.
Christopher Connolly left the Royal Navy in April 2020. For his final posting, he served as Defence Attaché at the British Embassy in Moscow. Whilst there he organised key elements of the Dervish 75 events in Archangelsk. He led a joint project with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Russian Navy to place the world’s most northerly CWGC gravestone at the top of the Kola peninsula. He also provided support to three further Arctic Convoy events in St Petersburg, forging strong links with local veterans. He became a Trustee of the RACP in November 2020.
Dr Vladimir Davydov is the Director of Science and Research at the Russian Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St Petersburg. In 2003, he graduated from St Petersburg State University, majoring in social anthropology. In 2006-2011 worked in the ethnographic module of the Baikal Archaeological Project and completed doctoral studies at the University of Aberdeen, UK. As part of his dissertation research in 2007-2009 he carried out an 11-month field study of the North Baikal Evenks. Vladimir has been working at the Russian Academy of Sciences since 2012, heading the Department of Ethnography of Siberia in 2012-2019.
Die Hexen (Dianne Lucille Campbell). Composer, sound artist and performer, DIE HEXEN is a daringly innovative composer merging composition & unconventional sound elements to create unique sound worlds. Often described as otherworldly, haunting, intense, textured, ethereal and atmospheric with shades of light and darkness, their boundary pushing repertoire spans a range of mediums including narrative and experimental film, dance theatre, animation, installation, performance, documentary and game.
Christopher Dobbs MA, PGCE, MBA, MIfA, FSA was one of the diving archaeologists who excavated the Mary Rose (1510-1545) and then raised the ship in 1982. For the last 15 years he has been working on presenting the ship and her contents in the new, award-winning museum in Portsmouth, England. Chris has advised other projects internationally – often on behalf of UNESCO and in countries as diverse as Egypt, China, Peru, Taiwan, Chile, India, Sweden, Finland and USA. He is a Vice-President of the Nautical Archaeology Society and former Chairman of both the NAS and the Maritime Archaeology Committee of the International Congress of Maritime Museums.
Maria Dukalskaya is the director of the Museum of Arctic and Antarctic in St Petersburg. With her background in meteorology, Maria worked for many years in a publishing house specialised on meteorology and joined the museum’s team in 1987, first as a tour guide and growing to become the science and research director. Maria’s husband was a regular participant of polar expeditions, so the theme of Arctic runs through all her life.
Sami El-Enany works with sound, often negotiating the fringes of new instrumental, electronic and field recording. His practices range widely from composition and sound design for the screen, sound art, theatre, record production and radio production. He is a regular producer for BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts and Radio 3’s Between the Ears — his work in this field most recently being recognised with a Best New Radio Producer nomination at the Audio Production Awards 2021. His work has filled spaces in the Barbican, Tate, ICA and the National Theatre. El-Enany is also a pianist and improvisor, performing solo and in ensembles across the world.
Dr Elena Elts is an Associate Professor of international humanitarian relations at the Department of International Relations, St Petersburg State University since 2010. She is a member of St Petersburg Association for International Collaboration and the author of multiple publications on international cultural cooperation, human rights, cross-cultural communication, and preservation of cultural heritage. Elena’s research interests include international activity of museums, preservation of cultural heritage, European cultural integration, as well as international educational connections.
Roy Elwood. In September 1943 Roy Elwood was called for service in the Royal Navy and did basic training at HMS Glendower, a shore base near Pwllheil, North Wales. He then trained as a radar operator on the Isle of Man before joining HMS Zambesi, a Z class destroyer. For the rest of the war, they formed part of the Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow. Roy was a radar operator his “action station” involved scanning a screen to spot enemy ships or aircraft.
Dr Pavel Filin is the Deputy Director of the Museum and Exhibition centre for Technical and Technological Development of the Arctic, executive secretary of the Inter-departmental Committee for Marine Cultural and Historical Heritage of the Government of the Russian Federation. His main research interests are focused on the history and cultural heritage of the Russian Arctic, maritime heritage, as well as the history and ethnography of the marine activities in the Russian North. Pavel is the Head of the International Scientific Forum “Polar readings”, which takes place annually in St Petersburg since 2013, a regular participant of the expeditions into the Arctic of the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Zhanna Guzenko has been a project producer and curator at Fridaymilk since 2012, independent curating organisation based in Murmansk (Russia) which aims to develop culture and art in the North. United by the idea of Northern identity Fridaymilk is promoting the concept of cultural decentralization by shifting the cultural centres «from capitals to remote areas». Currently Zhanna is producing Inversia, audiovisual festival in Murmansk and Uncapitals, collective art-residency.
Dr Rebekah Higgitt is Principal Curator of Science and Acting Keeper of Science & Technology at National Museums Scotland. She has previously worked at Royal Museums Greenwich (2008-2013) and was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent (2013-2020). He current research includes a digital humanities project on the history of the scientific instrument trade in Britain and Ireland and developing a series of workshops on observatory sites and networks. Previous work has included a project on the history of the Board of Longitude, the history of scientific biography and knowledge and practice in early modern London.
Oleg Khadartsev is a founder and creative director of Fridaymilk, artist and experimental filmmaker. As part of the team and in individual projects Khadartsev researches and reflects about migration from the northern regions and tries to find new reasons and motivation to stay north. Oleg Khadartsev has been a programming director of Inversia audiovisual festival since its beginning in 2017 as well as a creative director of Uncapitals, collective art-residency in the North.
Ian Murphy has worked in museums in the UK since 1998. After working for Leicestershire County Council museums service and Leicester City Council museums, in archaeological and social history venues, he returned to my home city of Liverpool in 2006. I was the Curator of Port History at the Maritime Museum, before becoming the Head of the Museum in 2010.
Dean Paton is the founder and managing director of Big Heritage – a multi-award-winning heritage organisation that connects people to the past in non-traditional ways. Dean studied archaeology at Chester and Oxford universities before forming Big Heritage in 2011. During that time, he has overseen the creation of hundreds of heritage projects, bringing history alive for hundreds of thousands of people. In his spare time, he is a long-suffering Evertonian and has a keen interest in the archaeological origins (and taste!) of wine.
Dr Eleanor Peers has been conducting fieldwork in Siberia since 2003, and principally in Sakha (Yakutia). She has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany, and at the Social Anthropology Department of the University of Aberdeen. She is currently Arctic Information Specialist at the Scott Polar Research Institute, curating the Institute's collection of Russian polar literature. She has published on a variety of themes, including the Sakha Yhyakh festival, Sakha pop music, human-environment relations, and local newspapers in Buryatia.
Dr Olga Podshuveit is an executive manager of the project “Research, preservation, and popularisation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Arctic” on behald of the Russian Museum of Ethnography.
Robert Rumble is the Lead Curator for HMS Belfast at Imperial War Museums. A postgraduate of Museum Studies at the University of East Anglia, his recent projects include the reinterpretation of HMS Belfast in 2021, as well as the ten-year Masterplan for the ship. His specialisms at IWM include Second World War and Cold War naval history, as well as irregular warfare, spies & intelligence and RAF photography. A regular contributor to IWM’s media content, he has worked with leading historians, and has collaborated with other museums as far afield as France and Russia.
Elena Sabashnikova is the director of Murmansk Regional Museum of Local History. In 2006, she graduated from Murmansk State Pedagogical University. In 2000-2012, Elena worked at the Museum of Local History in Kirovsk, Murmansk region, including as its director for 5 years. In 2015, she took up the directorship of the Regional Museum in Murmansk, which over the years has transformed to become the cultural, educational, and research centre of the region, drawing in tourists and local communities. Elena has been focusing on building and developing her team, who make the museum an engaging community space.
Victor Shalai is the director of the Museum of Regional History in Vladivostok. He graduated from the Far East State University, majoring in history in 2007. Victor’s museum career started in 2002, when he joined the Museum of Far East History as an administrator, becoming its director in 2011. Under his management, the museum has become a real cultural hub of the region, which was recognized by giving the museum a federal status in 2019. The same year, Victor was appointed the director of the Vladivostok Fortress and has been managing both institutions since. Vladimir is a member of the Presidential Council for Arts and Culture, Executive Committee of ICOM Russia and the Russian Museum Union.
Olga Sinitsyna is an art historian, curator, and specialist in the museum and library development. Olga graduated from the Department of History of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Between 1981 and 2013, she worked at the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature, including as its Deputy Director. Olga is a member of the expert board of Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation, a member of the presidium of ADIT, a non-profit partnership for the development of new media and information technologies in museums and libraries, as well as national coordinator at ICOM International Committee for Education and Culture Action. She is lecturer in cultural management at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in Moscow.
Su Shaw. S H H E is the alias of Scottish-Portuguese artist, musician and producer, Su Shaw. Her artistic practice is influenced by environment, exploring themes of identity and connection at the intersection between sound and space. S H H E ’s eponymous debut album was released by One Little Independent Records and was shortlisted for Scottish Album of the Year 2020. Previous composition and sound installations have been presented at V&A Dundee, Summerhall and Cryptic Nights (Scotland), Hangar (Portugal), BFI and Sensoria’s FAMLAB (international) and the Westfjords Residency (Iceland).
Vladimir Solomonov is the director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Memory “The International Centre of Arctic Convoys”. He graduated from the Leningrad Higher Marine Engineering College, completed a professional development course for senior managers of the Soviet Navy Ministry at the North-Western Academy of Public Administration. Served in the Soviet merchant fleet as the first officer, worked for many years in international companies focusing on the recruitment and placement of seafarers. Vladimir is an Honorary Worker of the Navy.
Irina Stont is the director of the Krasin Icebreaker Museum, which is an affiliate of the Museum of the World Ocean, an activist, and a veteran of the Russian icebreaker fleet. Irina competed two postgraduate degrees, majoring is maritime law and linguistics. She joined the team of the Museum of the World Ocean in 2009 and has been the director of Krasin since 2017. Irina is an active participant and supporter of the NGO “Polar Convoys” in St Petersburg and an honorary member of the HMS Belfast Veterans Association. Icebreaker Krasin is the centre of excellence for preservation and promotion of the Arctic convoys heritage in Russia.
Evgeny Tenetov is the director of the Northern Maritime Museum in Arkhangelsk, an artist, and a journalist. He graduated from the Department of History of the Pomorsky State University in 1999. Before joining the museum, Evgeny worked as a journalist for many years and managed public relations for a number of leading forest enterprises in the region. He is Editor in Chief of PLUS, a magazine of the Arkhangelsk city life. His focus as a museum director is on the role that the museum can play in the development of regional identity, as well as new media instruments and practices in museums.
Arctic Convoys: A Shared History / Background
2021 marks the 80th anniversary of the first Arctic Convoy to Soviet Russia, which sailed from Liverpool to Arkhangelsk in 1941. In total, 78 convoys made a dangerous voyage through the Arctic Ocean, carrying munitions and supplies from the UK to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. They played a crucial role in Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War and remain an enduring symbol of shared history, cooperation, and peoples’ sacrifice in the joint fight for freedom.
The programme is delivered by the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy in Moscow in partnership with the Big Heritage, the Western Approaches Museum, Liverpool John Moores University and Northern Maritime Museum in Arkhangelsk.
This programme aims to connect people, museums and universities to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first Arctic Convoy to Russia which sailed from Liverpool to Arkhangelsk in 1941. It aims to build deeper links between the two cities and highlight the historical connections of Russia and the UK. The programme involves creating artistic collaborations and longer term links between the museums of Northern Russia and the UK, as well as organising student exchanges between higher education institutions in Liverpool and Arkhangelsk.