In 2019, the Moscow Kremlin Museums will hold three large-scale exhibitions. Exhibits from China, United Kingdom, Holland and Germany will be presented in the exhibition halls of the Assumption Belfry and Patriarch’s Palace. Apart from that, visitors will see unique pieces from the museum depository and permanent exposition of the Kremlin Museums.

The following exhibition season will start in March 2019. The “Treasures from the Palace Museum: The Flourishing of China in the 18th Century” (15.03.2019 – 30.05.2019) introducing items from the Beijing Palace Museum (Gugong) will be dedicated mainly to the Qianlong Emperor (1736–1796), to important milestones in his life. A special place at the exhibition will be occupied by the exhibits related to court ceremonial in the Qing period. The reign of the Qianlong Emperor is marked by military success and achievements in politics, by the spread of Tibetan Buddhism and by a particular attitude of the educated ruler towards ancient cultural heritage. The Qianlong reign can be justly called the “golden age” of culture in Late Imperial China. There will be over a hundred exhibits on display, among which — symbols of power, ceremonial attire of emperors and empresses, portraits, paintings, calligraphy, documents, memorial items, as well as ceremonial utensils, musical instruments and ritual objects, used during main national ceremonies and daily at court. This project is a part of the bilateral cultural initiative between Russia and China. Then, in August 2019, the Moscow Kremlin Museums will give on loan pieces from the exposition “Russian Court Ceremony” to the Palace Museum.

From 10 July to 13 October 2019, the Moscow Kremlin Museums will introduce works restored in the museum Conservation Studios over the last five years. The exhibition “Keepers of Time: Conservation at the Moscow Kremlin Museums” will present unique pieces — state regalia, objects which belonged to the monarchs, ceremonial arms, ancient icons and magnificent jewels made by Russian and West-European masters. Those items were restored by highly professional conservators specialising in metal, fabric, paper, tempera and oil art. The display will uncover various aspects of this elaborate workmanship and hopefully become a notable event in the museum life. A rich multimedia program will help to immerse into the specific subject presenting processes of different museum Conservation Studios.

At the end of the year, the Moscow Kremlin Museums will present an international exhibition project “The Enchanted Wanderer. Peter the Great – Researcher, Artist and Collector” (28.11.2019 – 08.03.2020), demonstrating the significance and the revolutionary character of Peter the Great’s reforms concerning patronage of arts and science. The Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden, Amsterdam Museum and the National Maritime Museum, London, give on loan unique pieces from their collections. Apart from that many Russian museums, archives and libraries, namely the State Hermitage, Naval Museum, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera), State Tretyakov Gallery, State Museum of Ceramics and ‘Kuskovo Estate’, State Archive of Ancient Documents, Archives of St. Petersburg’s Division of the Academy of Science and the Library of the Academy of Science are actively involved in this project. The display includes about 200 items.