Presentation of the Results of Collaboration between the State Hermitage and Samsung Electronics in 2020–21
On 27 May 2021, the Large Hall of the Lecture Centre in the General Staff building was the venue for a joint event held by the State Hermitage and Samsung Electronics in order to present the results of their collaboration in 2020–21, including projects for the restoration of technically complex exhibits from the Hermitage collection as part of the programme Linking Times – Linking Technologies.
Katia Sirakanian, Head of the Hermitage’s Development Service, greeted those present and thanked the Samsung Electronics company for their long-standing collaboration in the sphere of innovative technologies, technical and restoration support for the museum’s programmes.
Tatyana Ageyeva, senior specialist in corporate sponsorship projects for Samsung Electronics, spoke about the fields of collaboration with the State Hermitage. Over the course of more than 20 years, as part of the joint work aimed at introducing innovative technologies in the museum, a programme has been operating to provided technical support for the museum’s educational, research and tour-guiding activities with regular updating of both equipment and content.
Yulia Selezneva, leading manager of the Project Finance Sector within the State Hermitage’s Development Service. spoke about the programme Linking Times – Linking Technologies. The programme is directed towards the restoration of unique mechanisms from the past, technological masterpieces from the collection of the State Hermitage that have historically been kept in the museum’s halls. Among the unique mechanisms that have been restored are a large table clock incorporating an organ that was made by the English craftsman Eardley Norton in 1792 and owned by Catherine II; another table clock with a musical mechanism made by James Cox in 1760; a long-case musical clock produced in the Roentgen-Kinzing workshop in Germany in the 1780s; the Cage Bird musical automaton with a timepiece made by the Swiss craftsman Pierre Jaquet-Droz in the 1790s; the mechanical bureau from the second half of the 18th century from Catherine II’s collection that is known as the Apollo Bureau; an astronomical clock with celestial and terrestrial globes created by the German craftsmen Georg Roll and Johann Reingold in 1584; a bureau with a musical mechanism made to a commission from Catherine II in the Roentgen-Kinzing workshop in 1786; and an 18th-century English clock with diamonds, music and animation. All these pieces have been restored, are in working order and part of the State Hermitage’s permanent display.
Dina Prusova, manager for work with key clients in the Department of Mobile B2B Technologies, spoke about the history of the development of devices and mobile networks, as well as future trends in the development of Samsung Electronics equipment.