Meeting of the administration of the Hermitage–Amsterdam Exhibition Centre and extension of the exhibition “Jewels! Glittering at the Russian Court”
On 15 May 2020, the administration of the Hermitage–Amsterdam Exhibition Centre held an online meeting chaired by Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage.
At present the Centre is hosting the exhibition “Jewels! Glittering at the Russian Court” from the stocks of the Hermitage. The exhibition opened in Amsterdam in mid-September 2019 and became such a resounding success that it was decided to extend its run until the end of May. Sadly, by order of the authorities, all museums in the Kingdom of the Netherlands were obliged to suspend the reception of visitors from 13 March. The Hermitage–Amsterdam unwaveringly followed the authorities’ recommendations, and so for more than two months the exhibits from the Hermitage have been “relaxing” in the quiet and dark of the Centre’s display halls.
From 1 June 2020, the Hermitage–Amsterdam Exhibition Centre will be re-opening its doors to visitors as the quarantine period in the Netherlands approaches its end. The “Jewels! Glittering at the Russian Court” exhibition has now been extended until the end of September 2020.
Cathelijne Broers, Director of the Hermitage–Amsterdam Exhibition Centre, and its technical manager Sebastiaan Lagendaal. acquainted Mikhail Piotrovsky with a detailed plan of the measures devised in full accordance with the instructions of the public health services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands aimed at ensuring the safety of visitors.
The main measures will be providing for the recommended social distancing of 1.5 metres and reducing manipulations involving interpersonal contact – at the ticket windows, cloakrooms, restaurant and elsewhere. Consequently, it will now only be possible to buy tickets to the Hermitage–Amsterdam Centre online, for a particular time that will be calculated in such a way that no more than 80 people will be in the exhibition at any given time. It will also be necessary for the present to abandon the established route for entry and exit to the Centre so as to separate visitor flows. In the display halls, special markings will be made on the floor – in the Netherlands a distinctive design has been developed for such markings incorporating the text “We will defeat COVID-19 together!” The online sale of tickets will begin on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, and Cathelijne Broers expressed the hope that the Dutch public will hurry to see the “Jewels! Glittering at the Russian Court” exhibition.
The second item on the agenda was the presentation to Mikhail Piotrovsky of the refurbished design for the Hermitage–Amsterdam Exhibition Centre, which has remained unaltered since the Centre opened in 2004. The chief idea of the new design is to establish a firm link in people’s minds between Hermitage–Amsterdam Centre and the State Hermitage by visually connecting the two brands. Besides that, the new design will use a “Don’t miss it!” principle to attract visitors – all the State Hermitage’s exhibitions at the Centre run for a limited time period, so this principle is very appropriate. The presentation of the Hermitage–Amsterdam’s revamped image is planned for the first day of the Centre’s re-opening after the compulsory quarantine – 1 June 2020.