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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

IMAGES OF JESUS IN THE TURBINS’ HOUSE Mikhail Bulgakov Museum augments its display

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Two families are registered at 13 Andriyivsky uzviz: the Bulgakovs and the Turbins. Guests come and leave, while the house continues to live a life of its own. Bulgakov's talent brought to life the Turbin family and Kyivans perpetuate their memory. The destinies of the author and his heroes are whimsically intertwined such that fiction and reality are almost impossible to separate. Or perhaps the Turbins really existed under a different name? The Day discussed this with Kira Pitoyeva, author of the House of the Turbins museum concept.

Q.: Isn't it hard working on an exposition dedicated to a single person?

A.: Oh no, with Bulgakov the exposition almost did itself. Actually, this museum belongs to him as much as to the Kyiv residents who demanded it be opened for twenty years.

Q.: How close do you think the atmosphere now is to Bulgakov's spirit?

A.: I am convinced that one can come to understand someone else only by opening one's own heart. I will probably never know how Bulgakov really felt when writing his books, but I can sense when he was hurt, when others did not understand him. The whole exposition is profoundly mystical. None of us museum workers feels that Bulgakov is dead. You must have heard of the almost legendary story about opening this museum in 1991. When after the words "And now welcome to the house!" there was thunder in a perfectly cloudless sky. This was followed by a stunned silence. We all sensed some surreal presence. As I have said, I treat this house as really belonging to Bulgakov. His White Guard is a sea of blood, a blizzard, and thin cream-colored curtains attempting to protect people. Well, they did. The war came and went, and the house remains and people continue to visit. I realized that memory was the topic that would interest me most. Man is human only when he remembers something that has never happened to him. Museum items help arouse this memory, because they are things others once touched and used. Arousing this memory is very simple. One has to care for others, especially one's relatives, ask them about their worries and sympathize with them. Man and his experience are unique, but behind every individual is the memory of millions of others.

Q.: Is the exposition recently opened on the ground floor a logical sequel to the main display which has become familiar to so many?

A.: The new display represents part of V. I. Ekzempliarsky's collection, Pictorial Images of Jesus Christ. Legend has it that the author of The Master and Margarita explored it. In reality, Bulgakov's younger sister did. For a long time this collection was thought lost. Fortunately, it was found in a family descending from the Rev. Aleksandr Glagolev, a well-known Kyiv priest. Now we have the Images thanks to the Ukrainian Art Relief Fund.

Q.: Is there a reason why Bulgakov has played such an important role in your life?

A.: He was bequeathed to me by my father who was fortunate enough to make friends with his sister Nadezhda. I was taught to love Bulgakov since childhood. To me he is the embodiment of an ideal.

Q.: You mean Bulgakov the writer or Bulgakov the man with a far from simple character?

A.: I think that a creative personality should be judged by his works, not by contemporaries' recollections. Books cannot lie.

Photo by Oleksiy Stasenko, The Day:

Kira Pitoyeva, the keeper and defender of the Bulgakov House

 

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