First the pandemic and now a war that is destroying everything. Annabelle Birnie, director of the Hermitage Amsterdam for more than a year, gets emotional a few times in a conversation in which she explains why her museum has immediately terminated its ties with Russia.
Until Thursday afternoon, her museum was an art hall with only one collaboration partner: the Hermitage Saint Petersburg. Since 2009 the Amsterdam museum has put together a continuous series of exhibitions from the vast collection of the largest Russian state museum. This attracted more than five million visitors to the complex on the Amstel.
It’s not nothing to put an end to such a long collaboration
After careful consideration and consultation with her Russian colleague Michael Piotrovsky, the two Hermitages ended their decades-long partnership. The Amsterdam museum administrators wanted to make it clear how much they condemn the war in Ukraine. The consequences are great, says the director in an interview.
You left it at a statement on Sunday. Now you cut ties. What happened in the meantime?
Birnie: “A lot. The war has intensified to such an extent that cultural sanctions have also become conceivable. In our philosophy, the free movement of art and artists is the last bridge you break. The Hermitage Amsterdam was always assigned an exceptional situation. By our Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, but also by Russia. We were the only foreign museum still on loan to Russian state museums. Due to the intensity of the war, this exceptional position has come under increasing pressure. We noticed that in recent days.”
Also read: Hermitage Amsterdam breaks ties with Russia
What kind of reactions did you get?
Emotionally: “Threats of all kinds have come to us. I don’t want to say more about that. The safety of employees, visitors, the collection and the building is important. But that is not the reason for our decision. Why does this affect me so? It is not easy to end such a long collaboration. Our relationship with Russia was our main activity.”
You have long remained aloof from political developments in Putin’s Russia. Was that difficult in recent years?
“We have always been committed to maintaining the cultural bridge between the countries. This aloofness is no longer tenable. The war is so close, our support for the Ukrainians so great, we have no choice but to cut ties. It is noteworthy that our current exhibition, Russian avant-garde. Revolution in art, is about artists who have rebelled against Russian regimes. Art and culture can actually contribute to freedom of thought. In fact, art is freedom of thought.”
To what extent was your museum’s program guided by the exhibition committee in Saint Petersburg?
“Not at all. We have always made our own choices from the collection of the Hermitage Saint Petersburg. We were free to do that. We did, however, always work closely with the experts there. But we were free to do what we wanted with their advice.”
on the site of Metropolis M Dominiek Ruyters published a critical article about the Hermitage Amsterdam. He wondered if the West had not long underestimated Russia’s imperial thinking. What is your answer to that ?
“It is better to ask a historian that question. I am not the representative of the West, I am director of the Hermitage Amsterdam. After the Cold War, at a time when we were curious about Russian art and culture, we signed a loan agreement with the largest museum in the world. We did this to create exhibitions at our own discretion and at our own expense and risk.”
Is the war also destroying your museum?
“After severing ties with Russia, we no longer have access to the collection of the Hermitage Saint Petersburg. I have just made agreements with Piotrovsky about returning the current exhibition. But that certainly does not mean the end of art and culture in this place. The Amsterdam Museum and the Museum of the Spirit are still located here and with our team we will be working on new exhibitions. We are cultural entrepreneurs without subsidy, we will have to reinvent ourselves quickly. That process should not take longer than three months.”
You do not rule out the possibility of re-establishing ties with Russia. What is needed for that?
“I would like to repeat what Piotrovsky just said to me: ‘First things first.’ Let’s see how the war develops. We hope that the free cultural exchange between the countries will start again. But until Ukraine regains its freedom, we will not restore ties with Saint Petersburg. We have just sent out a clear signal that we are against that war.”
Will the name ‘Hermitage aan de Amstel’ remain on the facade?
With a laugh: „We can remove the M. Then it says Heritage, Heritage on the Amstel. Other variants are also conceivable and perhaps the name will remain. We have yet to discuss it.”
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