Description of the attraction
The Toy Museum is one of the first non-governmental cultural institutions in St. Petersburg. Located on the Karpovka embankment, not far from the historic city center. The Toy Museum was opened in the spring of 1997. It became the second such cultural institution in our country after the Sergiev Posad Toy Museum. Part of the Union of Russian Museums. Museum Director - Maria Marchenko.
The St. Petersburg Toy Museum was established as an art museum, the main purpose of whose scientific activity is to collect, store, exhibit and study toys not only as a unique phenomenon of material culture, but also as a special kind of art in which national customs and traditions and modern art trends are intertwined. The existence of the museum is supported by donations from individuals and parent companies.
The Toy Museum will be interesting not only for children, but also for adults. By using dolls and toys that are in the museum collection, one can study the history of the country and St. Petersburg, its cult and everyday life at different stages of its development. Still, toys have always been a reflection of the trends of the times and traditions of the state. And therefore, everyone who is studying Russian culture and the culture of other countries will be interested in visiting this museum.
In addition to Russian toys, the museum has exhibitions dedicated to toys from other countries. Therefore, there is an opportunity for visitors to trace their specifics, to make a comparative analysis of fun and games in different countries.
The Toy Museum consists of four halls: a folk toy hall, an industrial toy hall, a designer toys hall and a temporary exhibition hall (the exposition changes every 2 months).
In the hall of folk toys, which is a permanent exhibition, more than 17 crafts of our country and crafts of other states are shown. Here are the traditional peasant "fun" made of wood, clay, paper, cloth, cheese and dough. You can also see knitted, straw and rag dolls, whose costumes reflect the life of different sectors of society.
In the industrial toys section, which is a permanent exhibition, you can get acquainted with a wide range of factories from different countries. Dolls, railways, games, mechanical and soft toys, paper theaters, tin soldiers make up this exposition.
The section of the author's toys is a changeable exposition. It is represented by game art objects.
In total, the St. Petersburg Toy Museum contains more than 7000 items of storage, created from the 16th to the 20th century. Among the rarest exhibits are theater toys from Italy, cheese toys from Transcarpathia, and a kite from Japan.
From the guide, you can learn about the history of the toy, about the symbols used in its manufacture, about the penetration of another culture into the country and what effect the fashion of one time or another had on it. In the museum, you can choose an excursion on different topics: "The Tale of the Nations of the World in Dolls", "A Doll in Costumes of Different Times and Nations", "Making a Toy", "The Artist and the Doll" and others. During school holidays, performances for children are organized here. The museum also regularly hosts thematic exhibitions: for example, "Toy for Salvador Dali".
The St. Petersburg Toy Museum is also famous abroad. So, since 2004, his expositions dedicated to the Soviet toy, wandered not only in our country, but also in Austria, Italy and Finland.
