Everyone knows about world-famous Hermitage cats. However, fascinating “employees” are present not only in this museum but also in many others. Here, for example, are just a few stories about cats “in service” in museums in Moscow.
Vasilisa. The Gulag History Museum. Before the appearance of Vasilisa, the museum staff already had a universal favorite, or rather, a favorite – a Chilean squirrel named Dale. But this did not prevent the team from falling in love with the new inhabitant, who was brought by the head of the department of economic support of the museum Oksana Klimanova. She actually found the cat, picked it up on the railway bridge – small and loud, heartbreakingly screaming. The name of Vasilisa was given to Oksana’s daughter, “she simply looked at her and decided that the cat looked like Vasilisa. Now Vasya, as museum workers call the cat, has completely gotten used to it, is pleased to be present at general meetings and even climbs onto his knees to people discussing important issues.
“Vasilisa is very well-mannered, she never went past the tray,” says Oksana Klimanova. – We drop everything together on the feed and filler. We are vaccinated, she has a passport, we regularly undergo examinations at the veterinarian, we wash her, feed her. On long holidays, the attendant and guard help her to follow her. In each office, there is a sign “When leaving, do not forget to check if Vasya is sleeping somewhere,” because she might fall asleep somewhere on a shelf or under a battery. ”
Not only employees but also visitors to the museum are friends with the cat; they are happy to pet the wards of the social-volunteer center, which is engaged in supporting older people who have survived repression. True, not everyone succeeds in taking Vasya in his arms, because cats are known for their independence.
Garage. Museum of Contemporary Art “Garage”. How many Instagram followers do you have? This cat has more than six thousand of them! And also – materials in Tatler, Poster, Puss Puss Magazine and even a personal line of souvenirs, which can be found in the bookstore of the Garage Museum of Modern Art. Impressive? Still would. But all this cat named Garage honestly earned its devotion to the place where he “serves” for many years. Museum employees discovered a small red kitten in front of the front door of a former historic building. Without thinking twice, the kitten was called the Garage, and together with the team, he had already made two transfers: first to the temporary and then to the permanent pavilion in Gorky Park.
Olga Yazhgunovich, public relations manager, says that the Garage is extremely freedom-loving and walks by itself. He spends most of the day in the office and visits the park directorate – as befits a decent cat – through the window. But they don’t let a cat in the museum itself in order to comply with safety rules for exhibits. For example, in the exposition of kinetic and optical art, everything moves and spins, which is unlikely to allow the cat to remain calm. But no one bothers the Garage to test soft sofas on the open veranda of the museum cafe.
“We do not have a special position in charge of the cat’s appearance, and we don’t take it to the barbershop, but regularly wash it, wipe it with special napkins, smear its paws with Gulen’s wax and show it to the doctor. There is always someone in the office even on holidays, so feed and shelter await the Garage after his travel around the clock, ”said Olga Yazhgunovich.
Hippopotamus. Museum-Theater “Bulgakov House”. Well, what, tell me, a cat who lives in the famous house on Bolshaya Sadovaya 10 can bear a name ?! Well, of course, Hippo and only Hippo! According to Natalya Sklyarova, the executive director of the Bulgakov’s House, it was decided to settle the living Cat Hippo about ten years ago. Then a special competition was even announced, in which cats and cats from all over Moscow participated. So there appeared a big black cat Stepan, which was brought by a young couple – due to allergies in the child, the family could not keep the pet at home. Looking at Stepan, the staff immediately realized: here he is, a Hippopotamus in person!
Is it not true that looking into these bottomless cat eyes, you begin to suspect that mystical forces had clearly worked here, and Mikhail Bulgakov wrote his brazenly charming hero from him, the cat Stepan? Not just because he loves to lie on his knees by the writer himself – more precisely, by the sculptural portrait of Mikhail Afanasevich, standing in one of the halls of the museum, by sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov. Natalya Sklyarova: “The cat quickly got accustomed to the role of the Hippo. He can be affectionate to be stroked, and give a paw, if not in the mood. At first, we were very worried about the safety of the exhibits, but the cat turned out to be intelligent. When he posed for “Master and Margarita” for photo illustrations, the author of the series, photographer Elena Martynyuk, said that he looks aristocratic and that he looks like a person. ” And this is true, right?
