Museum Events as a Tool for Community and Organisational Development

Abstract

‘Museum Night’ is a widespread event held annually across the world. In 2015 the event will be staged for the eighth time in St Petersburg, one of the top tourist destinations in Russia and Europe, and one that is well known for its cultural heritage. Initially the idea of such an event, when museums stay open late into the night, started up in Berlin. In 1997 the Long Night of Museums (Lange Nacht der Museen) was held for the first time (Dumbraveanua, Tudoricua & Craciuna, 2014). A similar event entitled White Night (Nuit Blanche) was initiated in Paris in 2002 and sought to reconceptualise that time of the evening associated with antisocial behaviour (Evans, 2012). ‘Nuit Blanche’ has been spreading all over the world, attracting more and more capital cities to develop nighttime cultural life in museums, libraries, galleries and other institutions. In Russia, Museum Night was held for the first time in 2007, and since then the number of cities participating in the event has increased from two to more than 23. It is not only the big cities, such as Moscow and St Petersburg, or regional hubs such as Ekaterinburg, Kazan and Novosibirsk that are taking part. Small towns with only a handful of cultural venues are also enthusiastically participating in the event. Due to its high popularity, the event is not limited solely to museums, but includes libraries, creative spaces and galleries as well.