Legacy · Museums
Creating museums is one of the areas of our work. We provide families with end-to-end support on the path of preserving family and human heritage. A museum is just one of the possible forms that heritage can take.
Where we begin
The form can be anything. What never changes is the main thing — shaping a legacy and preserving memory.
That is why we never begin with the question “What kind of museum do you want to build?”. We begin with a different one: “What exactly do you want to preserve for your children, grandchildren and the generations to come?” The answer defines the future format of the project.
In more than 18 years of work we have accompanied or delivered turnkey a wide variety of projects.
The family archive
For many families it all begins with the family archive.
We sort through documents, letters, photographs, albums, awards and other materials, organise them, describe, restore and preserve them. Where needed, we restore photographs and documents, rebuild family albums, create new archival collections and frame panels with awards and historical documents — working directly with the originals.
Every original is professionally digitised. We create digital copies of the archival materials and keep them in a secure digital archive, forming a single family fund that does not depend on the survival of the paper originals.
This archive can become the basis for a catalogue book of the family archive, a digital family Wikipedia, a digital archive on our own IT platform Famiry, a home media server and other formats for storing and presenting family heritage.
In essence, this is already the first family museum. And it is very often where the long path of preserving family and human heritage begins.
A family museum room
The next stage is a small museum display within an existing space.
It may be one or several rooms in a house, an office or another family property. Here the family tree, a family encyclopaedia, the family coat of arms, documents, photographs, films, awards, paintings, keepsakes and other materials find their place.
Even a small space becomes a place where the family’s history is brought together and open to children, relatives and guests.
A family museum or museum complex
A separate category of projects is creating a full family museum or museum complex from scratch.
For example, a client builds an ancestral estate with a family museum inside. It houses the items listed under “A family museum room”, as well as other family heirlooms, a family library, various collections and other materials.
We take part in creating the family part of the project: we develop the concept, carry out research, search for documents and artefacts, prepare historical content and accompany the creation of the future exhibition.
Historic estates
Another direction is projects involving the purchase and restoration of historic estates.
As a rule, this is not random property. The estate is connected with the family’s history or lies near the places where the ancestors lived. Sometimes it belonged to relatives. Sometimes it stands in the lineage’s homeland. And sometimes it is the estate of the former owners of the lands where the client’s ancestors once lived.
In such projects architectural restoration and historical research go hand in hand. We work in archives, reconstruct the history of the estate and its owners, search for documents and lost objects, prepare books, take part in creating the museum and return historical memory to the place. Along the way we handle a wide variety of tasks — for this we have our own concierge service.
Corporate museums
Very often an interest in family history gradually extends into the business.
People who begin preserving the history of their lineage in time want to preserve the history of their company too. They bring the same principles, the same values and the same approach to their enterprise.
That is why we also take part in creating corporate museums. We help research the company’s history, organise the materials, prepare historical content and shape the future exhibition.
What all projects share
In all these projects the scale changes, the tasks change, the final form changes. But the meaning stays the same.
What we steward