In Bokshay Art Museum there is no place for exhibition

Today, May 15, on the eve of the Museums Day, a round table discussion on the current state and prospects of J.Bokshay Art Museum took place in Uzhgorod. The event was initiated by the public organization "Native Transcarpathia" (“Ridne Zakarpattya”). The managers of the museum, representatives of regional and city authorities, cultural and artistic circles of the region also took part in the meeting.

The main problems of the Art Museum still remain unresolved, these are land and property. The building of the mayor palace (“zhupanat”) is still divided between regional and Uzhgorod authorities. Such uncertainty prevents efficient funding of the museum. "Where there is no single owner there is no order" – complained artists during the roundtable.

Only 3% of the museum’s exhibits can be shown. There is just no room for others. At the same time part of the premises is occupied by the Recorder of Deeds office and formally it also places several non-governmental organizations, although in reality the rooms stay empty for years.

"We cannot keep exhibits in a semi-humid environment! It’s a crime. There were 5000 of them, now there are about 10000 and this number is constantly growing. At the same time, most of the works are not seen, some of them can be exhibited only once in 10 years ", – the museum staff said at the meeting.

As a result, participants of the roundtable decided to turn to Uzhgorod mayor and deputies with a request to reconsider the museum property issues at the session, as well as to determine the strategy of its development.

One of the plans of cultural figures is creation of the reserve "Zhupanatskaya Mountain". "However, these plans will not be possible to implement if the priority issues are not dealt with, these are vacating the premises of zhupanat and expansion of its exhibition spaces," – said the director of Joseph Bokshay Art Museum Francisc Erfan.