The Museum of Social Life in Kazan is a unique and interesting place where you can take a journey through time and return to the past, during the times of the USSR. With the help of museum exhibits, you can plunge into the atmosphere of a multinational country. There are no analogues to him in Russia. A museum is a world of positive memories and positive emotions.
History of the foundation of the museum
The museum began to form in the early 90s, this is the period when the long-term way of life of all Soviet people collapsed. Rustem Valikhmetov at that time was a photographer and designer. It all started with the fact that he decorated his studio in the design of the Soviet era. At first it was an ordinary apartment where he lived with his family, then the basement of a residential building, which served as a photo studio and became a platform for meetings of musicians and artists.
Andrei Makarevich was present at one of such meetings in the studio, whom she was so struck by that he donated his jeans to the collection, where he recorded at the Beatles studio in London. Other musicians, such as Garik Sukachev, E. Margulis, A. Rosenbaum, Chizh, V. Butusov, the groups “Vopli Vidoplyasova”, “Picnic”, “Aria” also left their presents. The museum exhibits have a Joseph Brodsky jeans jacket. The collection of photo studios began to replenish, and space for all exhibits was not enough. At this time, the city authorities became interested in the studio and its design.
The leadership of the city noticed the creative idea of Rustem, and thanks to a partnership with the city hall in the very center of Kazan, the Museum of Socialist Life was opened. The premises for the museum served as a communal apartment of 200 m2, which was located in a house built in the 19th century. Brick walls, Soviet switches, old wiring, ordinary cast-iron batteries - this is the accompanying natural interior of the museum.
The Museum of Socialist Life was opened in Kazan in 2011, the exposition “Soviet School” was the first to be presented. The project immediately became popular among the people, citizens of all age groups and different social status joined in its development.
Acquaintance with social life begins on the stairs
The visitor begins acquaintance with the social life of the USSR immediately on the stairs. Once upon a time there was a smoking room on the staircase of this entrance, which the tenants themselves built here. After they were relocated and the museum was located here, the exposition “Bad habits in the USSR” was opened in a former smoking-room. In addition to cigarettes and cigarettes, there are exhibits of alcoholic beverages. Moreover, most of them are not dummies, but real ones. It is curious that many bottles are the former nest egg of husbands from wives that they forgot about, and years later were found by wives and brought to the museum's collection.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The history of this hall, beloved by visitors, begins in the 90s. Many musicians and other representatives of the creative intelligentsia gathered in the studio. It has become a tradition to give your old guitars to the owner of the studio, leaving them their autographs and wishes. Then the idea “Give the guitar a new life” was born: the stars who came to Kazan with concerts gave autographs on ordinary old guitars. So the usual old musical instrument became a valuable instance. A curious fact is that the museum has a homemade guitar by Garik Sukachev and a manual on making homemade guitars, which was published in the 20s of the last century.
Exhibits of the Museum of Socialist Life in Kazan
The museum has a lot of unique and interesting exhibits. For example, the pride of the museum is a leather jacket, which was made from the covers of party cards, and a tunic sewn from pioneer ties.
The museum displays a stereo camera, which was assembled by a resident of the city from two ordinary soap dishes.
Unique in ingenuity is the soldering iron electrobrush.
Visitors really like the exposition “Perfumes of the USSR”, all kinds of creams, perfumes, Leningrad mascara, colognes and lotions. Many bottles and tubes were not even opened; apparently, they were bought on a rainy day. Many perfumes still retain their scent.
Among the exhibits of the Museum of Socialist Life are presented clothes of Soviet times. Here you can try on and take a picture of her as a keepsake.
A unique exhibit in the museum is the poster of the “Time Machine” group. It was painted in 1980 by hand by Andrei Makarevich and his father.
The museum displays: children's toys, a school uniform, a portrait of V. I. Lenin on the carpet, board games for children, a Shkolnik bicycle, Soviet watches and sneakers that were fashionable in those days, uniforms from the national hockey team, radio, exercise bikes, pioneer ties, military uniforms, a vacuum cleaner, famous Soviet nets, a collection of badges, cassette recorders, photo albums, hats, Soviet money and many other exhibits. It is worth noting that the rules of visiting the museum allow children to touch toys and play board games.
The museum is presented in the form of badges, plush and rubber toys, figurines, a symbol of the 1980 Olympics - a bear. The whole country cried with him: "Goodbye, our affectionate teddy bear …".
In general, the interior of the museum is very similar to the computer games "Find the Cat" and online-seekers. The museum has about 7 thousand exhibits; you can safely play the game "Find an Item", only in real time and place.
Contingent of visitors
The Museum of Socialist Life in Kazan is visited by a very wide range of people. Many students who are actively interested in the Soviet era. Among the visitors there are a lot of those who were born and lived in the USSR, they come here for positive memories and emotions. Many come with children to show clearly how youth and childhood passed at that time.
Visitors leave different reviews about the museum of socialist life in Kazan, some like the museum and its idea, while others remain unhappy that there is no guide, others expected more from the museum. But be that as it may, museum exhibits evoke emotions among visitors, in most cases positive.
Where are the exhibits for the museum?
The museum's collection is replenished with ordinary people, guests and visitors to the museum. The museum and its director do not chase the quantity, there are so many exhibits in the museum’s exhibition hall, only a fifth of them are located, the rest are in storage.
Exhibited exhibits that can cause emotions and positive memories. In addition, exhibitions are organized devoted to a specific topic - “New Year”, “Soviet School”. Planned exhibition "Soviet Army", "1980 Olympics."
Museum address and opening hours
The Museum of Socialist Life is located in Kazan, on Universitetskaya Street, 6.
The museum is open from 10:00 to 20:00. It works seven days a week.
