Joseph Brodsky is a Soviet poet, playwright, essayist and translator. Born and lived in the Soviet Union, but his work was not accepted by the authorities in his homeland, he was accused of parasitism, and Brodsky had to emigrate from the country.
Poet Brodsky
He reached great heights in his work, his name is known all over the world. Already in exile he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Only during perestroika, his poems began to be published at home. Until that moment, Brodsky's work was known to a limited circle of people in the USSR. He was invited to return, but he kept postponing his arrival.
After his voluntary exile, he never visited Russia and died in exile. The Brodsky Museum in St. Petersburg was created in his memory.
Brodsky's American Study in the Anna Akhmatova Museum at the Fountain House
Brodsky never lived in the Fountain House, moreover, he never visited it. But he was very close to Anna Akhmatova.
In 2003, the poet's widow donated items from his home in St Hadley, where he lived, to the museum. These are pieces of furniture, posters, a library, a collectionpostcards and many other little things. There was even a place for the suitcase with which Brodsky left the country.
The Akhmatova Museum presented some of them in the exposition. In the office there is a desk, a sofa, an armchair, a lamp, a typewriter. You can also see an installation by media artist Bystrov, which tells about Leningrad and the house where Brodsky lived.
The museum tried to arrange all the items exactly as it was in the poet's office. The newspapers contain exactly those newspapers that Brodsky read. There is also a pile of bills and receipts, and the pillows on the sofa are laid out in the same way as the poet's.
A record of the trial plays in the background, after which he was sent into exile. In the office you can watch films about Brodsky.
Different people come to the poet's office: schoolchildren and people of the older generation, those who are familiar with his work, and those who do not know about him at all.
Poet's apartment
Despite the fact that Brodsky is an honorary citizen of the city of St. Petersburg and a great poet, until recently, he was mentioned only in the exposition at the Anna Akhmatova Museum.
Brodsky's apartment in St. Petersburg, where he lived with his father and mother, was decided to be turned into a museum in memory of the poet.
The room is located on Liteiny Prospect, 24, in Muruzi's apartment building. Many famous writers lived and visited this building: Merezhkovsky, Gippius. Here Gumilyov opened the Union of Poets.
To the apartment of the Brodsky familymoved in 1955. Joseph Brodsky lived there until 1964, after which he was sent into exile for parasitism. Then he returns and lives there until he emigrate.
Work on the museum
The Brodsky Museum in St. Petersburg was planned to be organized back in the nineties. Many prominent cultural figures, both domestic and foreign, asked the governor to create a museum in the former apartment of the poet. He gave the green light, but did not participate in the process.
Five out of six rooms in a communal apartment fund managed to buy the museum at the expense of sponsors. It took almost fifteen years to achieve this.
The first repair work was completed by the 75th anniversary of the poet, and Brodsky's museum-apartment was opened for free visits for one day. And then it was closed for further repairs, the completion date of which is unknown.
Museum display
The exposition of the house-museum of Joseph Brodsky shows the main events in the life of the poet from the beginning of his literary path.
In the museum you can see one and a half rooms where Brodsky lived with his father and mother, a communal kitchen and neighbors' rooms.
The exhibition also includes prints of photographs taken by friends and the poet's father, preserved interior elements and sculptural portraits.
The creators of the museum tried to preserve the atmosphere of the Soviet communal apartment where the poet lived. Recordings of poems read by Brodsky himself can be heard in the rooms.
The museum opened for one day, there were practically no real exhibits,because construction and repair work is not finished. But in the future it is supposed to place the things that the poet's widow gave to the museum.
Obstacles
Great difficulties were caused by the resettlement of the tenants of the communal apartment where Brodsky lived. The museum managed to be placed in five rooms of a communal apartment, but a neighbor still lives in the sixth. She did not agree to sell her room, and the organizers of the museum decided to fence off the exposition. Because of this, the opportunity for sightseers to enter from the main entrance was lost.
Now Brodsky's museum-apartment uses the back door, and immediately from the stairs a person gets into the kitchen. And in the future, it will probably remain so. This greatly upsets the organizers of the museum.
Besides the lack of finances, the creation of the museum is complicated by legal and everyday problems. The house is old, in disrepair, and the premises require extensive repairs, primarily to preserve the exhibits.
It is necessary to transfer the apartment to non-residential fund, so that the Brodsky Museum in St. Petersburg will officially appear. And it is not known how long the bureaucratic procedure will take.
There are also professional problems. Views on what a museum should be are divided. The director of the Akhmatova Museum in the Fountain House believes that the rooms should retain authenticity, the spirit of that time without embellishment.
It is quite possible that in the future the Joseph Brodsky Museum is expected to expand. The organizers of the museum are thinking about buying an apartment below or an attic space. As long as the museum can accommodateabout ten people at the same time.
