From Abbacum to Agafia. Heritage of Old Believers

This project is dedicated to the 400th anniversary of Archpriest Abbacum, one of the brightest figures of XVII century. More than 400 items of the XVI to early XX centuries will tell you about the history of the Old Belief in Russia. Most of the showpieces will be displayed for the first time. Unique VR content specially filmed in the interiors of the Intercession Cathedral of the Old Believers Church, located at the Rogozhsky Cemetery, will accompany the exhibition.

This exhibition project is designed to acquaint visitors with the major milestones of the Old Believers’ history, but most importantly with people, who made the preservation of ancient Orthodoxy their life’s work. The title of the exhibition and the exposition series are determined by the idea of a personalized display of history.

The exhibition displays icons, handwritten and printed books, church household items, and documents. Visitors will also see portraits of people of XVIII-XX centuries who faithfully kept the Old Belief and made a significant contribution to the national history and culture. The names of the Morozovs, Soldatenkovs, Ryabushinskys, Kuznetsovs, and Rakhmanovs are now widely known for their contribution to the development of Russian industry and banking, generous charity, patronage of arts and the scope of collecting.

Among the exhibits you can see the earliest known image of Archpriest Abbacum – an icon painted in the settlement of Kerzhenets in the late XVII - early XVIII centuries, unique autographs of Archpriest Abbacum and Boyaryna Morozova, sketches by Vasily Surikov for his famous painting ‘Boyaryna Morozova’ (1887), authentic documents from the Solovetsky Monastery Uprising period. A significant section of the exhibition consists of the artifacts from two chapels of Old Believers, which were located near the village of Kolomenskoe. Nowadays, the artifacts are stored in the museum-reserve funds. The exhibition also features portraits of Old Believers merchants: Ilya Kovylin, Fyodor Guchkov, Vikula Morozov, Kozma Soldatenkov, Sidor Kuznetsov and others.

A whole range of objects related to Agafia Lykova, the only surviving representative of the Old Believers’ family, found by geologists in 1978 in the Western Sayany, will also be on display. The harsh life in the remote taiga could not break these people. The Old Believers’ mentality that covered not only the religious, but also the ethical side of life, allowed them to keep on the service and to preserve books, icons and the old way of life.

The exhibition was prepared on the initiative of the Metropolia of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church and with the support of Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, who on the eve of the opening noted: ‘I am convinced that the exhibition will become an important spiritual and cultural event, allow Moscow citizens and guests of the capital to get acquainted with the past and present of the Old Believers more closely, learn more about the fate of people who have made a huge contribution to the development of Moscow and Russia. <...> The exhibition helps to realize the unity of our common history, the importance of the continuity of generations and the preservation of cultural heritage.’

Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Cornelius: ‘Recently there has been an increase in interest (scientific, cultural and religious) in the primordial, pre-schismatic Russian Orthodoxy – the Old Belief. I am glad that the museum community did not stand aside and prepared an exhibition where a part of the Old-Orthodox Church culture is presented vividly, and everyone can visit and come into contact with it.’

Elena Yukhimenko, curator of the project: ‘Faith in God, strength of spirit and purity of soul helped all Old Believers to survive in difficult and sometimes very dramatic environmental conditions. The materials displayed at the exhibition demonstrate demonstrate the inexhaustible creative power of the Old Believers, who focused their talents not only to successful agricultural work and entrepreneurship, but also to building churches, charity, book-writing, icon painting and casting of copper icons.’

Project Participants: Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve, Metropolia of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, State Historical Museum, Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, Russian State Library, State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum, Moscow Kremlin Museums, Central Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad, State Museum of the History of Religion, Samara Regional Art Museum, Egorievsk Historical and Art Museum, Serpukhov Historical and Art Museum and Private Collections.