Open Competition for Museum 4.0 in Russia

Deadline: 14-Feb-23

The Potanin Foundation is pleased to launch the Museum 4.0 competition.

The competition expands the Fund’s activities in supporting projects of museums and museum organizations that contribute to the involvement of Russian museums in solving socially significant problems, increase their openness to experiments and update the program of their public activities.

Competition Goals

• Strengthening long-term positive changes – the social effect – from the implementation of the Foundation’s charitable programs;
• Support for the sustainable activities of Russian museums;
• Increasing the openness of Russian museum organizations to the introduction of new approaches used both in the museum industry and in related areas;
• Formation in museum organizations of space for dialogue and interaction of different audiences;
• Introduction and improvement of modern professional standards in museum activities.

Possibilities

• Support for the implementation of projects is provided to legal entities in the form of grants. The amount of the grant and the duration of the projects depend on the nomination.

Competition Nominations

• Technologies and tools
  • Projects of interpretation of heritage by means of modern culture (art, digital, cinema, multimedia, etc.) and science, updating of communication and presentation technologies of museums.
  • Search for new ways and contexts for the presentation of museum collections, including with the participation of cultural and scientific figures (educational and research organizations, artists, musicians, scientists, media, IT, etc.).
• Research, exhibition, multimedia, educational, marketing
  • Projects aimed at equipping the material and technical base of museums to increase the availability and relevance of their activities.
  • Formation of a new language in which the museum speaks to its audience, including the development of digital technologies.
  • Projects that help make the museum a place of interesting and comfortable stay for different categories of visitors. Improving working conditions and the quality of jobs for museum employees.
• Participatory culture
  • Projects that increase the openness of museums and develop a culture of participation, through which the visitor becomes a friend of the museum and a creative partner in its activities to explore, interpret and present heritage.
  • Projects in which the museum analyzes and takes into account the values ​​of existing and potential audiences, learns to understand and involve them in its activities, creates an environment of diversity and equal opportunities.
  • Expansion of the digital format of interaction between the museum and the audience.
  • Attracting new audiences, for which the museum is still outside the sphere of cultural, educational and leisure preferences.
  • Involvement of interested visitors and communities in the educational and social work of the museum.
  • Creation and development of volunteer programs.
  • Organization of councils and “clubs of friends” for the long-term development of the museum, ensuring its relevance and financial sustainability.
  • Strengthening the material and technical base necessary for the development of such programs.
• Museum + theater
  • Projects that update or interpret museum collections through theatrical means:
    • performances, promenades, performances, installation performances, theatrical productions related to the museum theme and based on materials from museum collections and expositions, research expeditions, oral evidence, intangible heritage and archival sources.
    • Projects for the organization of museum and theater laboratories, including their technical equipment, for updating programs for visitors (stage and performative practices in the museum, excursions with theatrical elements, interactive museum programs, etc.), development of cooperation between museums and theaters.
    • Projects to combine the resources and potential of museums and theaters on their sites and in the digital environment for a better and more diverse presentation of cultural heritage.
• Network partnerships
  • Projects to pool the resources and potential of various participants (institutions) to achieve new quality results.
  • Projects that strengthen the status of museums as offline and digital centers of inter-museum, inter-sectoral and inter-regional dialogue.
  • Projects in which institutional partnerships are formed around museums to work in modern contexts and solve problems relevant to the region or the museum sphere: expertise, research, interpretation, presentation, educational activities, etc.
  • Inter-museum initiatives of the inter-municipal and inter-regional scale for museum professionals and/or a wide audience: traveling and exchange exhibition projects, lectures, educational programs, conferences, schools, laboratories, forums, festivals, etc.
  • Projects for the creation and development of professional, inter-museum, inter-sector communities, including online ones: websites, search and analytical resources, electronic publications, platforms, etc.
  • Technical equipment of museums necessary for the development of such communities.
• New challenges
  • Projects in which the museum operates in the space of social tasks, acts as an initiator of positive changes in the social and professional environment, becomes a center of hospitality for various groups.
  • Projects for the transformation of museum work models and the development of museum professions in accordance with the requirements of the time.
  • Projects that formulate relevant socially significant tasks (for a particular museum, territory, social group, society) and offer formats for the museum to participate in their solution.
  • The inclusion of the museum in the development of the tourism potential of the territories, cultural leadership, patronage. Participation in the social adaptation of various social groups to improve their quality of life and unlock their life social potential (including in partnership with social institutions).

Award Information

Grant Fund: 50 million rubles

• Technologies and tools
  • The duration of the Project is not less than 12 (twelve) and not more than 18 (eighteen) months.
  • The maximum grant amount is 3,000,000 (three million) rubles. Projects must be implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation.
• Participatory culture
  • The duration of the Project is not less than 12 (twelve) and not more than 18 (eighteen) months. The maximum grant amount is 2,000,000 (two million) rubles. Projects must be implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation.
• Museum + theater
  • The duration of the Project is not less than 12 (twelve) and not more than 18 (eighteen) months. The maximum grant amount is 2,000,000 (two million) rubles. Projects must be implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation.
• Network partnerships
  • The duration of the Projects is not less than 12 (twelve) and not more than 24 (twenty four) months. The maximum grant amount is 2,000,000 (two million) rubles. Projects must be implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation.
• New challenges
  • The duration of the Projects is not less than 18 (eighteen) and not more than 24 (twenty four) months. The maximum grant amount is 5,000,000 (five million) rubles. Projects must be implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Expected Results

• Competition are museums and organizations that carry out museum activities, realizing their mission simultaneously through the preservation of heritage and the formation of cultura environment for the benefit of today’s society. They are ready to go beyond the traditional museum practice, experiment and change, improve their educational and social activities, improve the socio-cultural climate in the regions. The operator has access to the portal zayavka.fondpotanin.ru/ru (hereinafter referred to as the “Portal”) within the framework of its functionality.
• Projects – the winners of the Contest are focused on the visitor, including the remote one, take into account and analyze the features of communication, the intellectual, cultural level and interests of various audiences. We expect that through participation in the Competition, the winning organizations will be able to change the image of the museum in the eyes of today’s and potential visitors and partners from related fields towards greater openness, relevance, and professionalism. In the long term, the Program will help strengthen the status of museum organizations – winners as key participants in the formation of an accessible socio-cultural environment – a single space for creativity and dialogue that improves the quality of life of the population.

Eligibility Criteria

• The competition is open to staff members or involved specialists of Russian museums and organizations engaged in museum activities located and operating in the Russian Federation and registered in accordance with applicable law:
  • Are registered in a non-commercial legal form and have the word “museum” in their name and / or carry out museum activities in accordance with the Charter / Regulations on activities:
• Museums: state and municipal (state budgetary, autonomous) and private (non-state) institutions;
• professional museum or creative associations, or associations created in the form of non-profit organizations;
• Non-governmental non-profit organizations;
  • Are independent non-commercial legal entities (that is, they have their own TIN, charter without reference to the charter of the parent organization, current account);
  • or structural / separate subdivisions of non-commercial legal entities: departments, departments, branches, representative offices, territorial divisions (they have Regulations on activities, but may not have their own TIN, charter or current account, or have a charter with reference to the charter of the parent organization).
• Organizations must meet the following requirements:
  • not be in the process of liquidation, they should not be subject to insolvency (bankruptcy) proceedings, the activities of the organization should not be suspended in the manner prescribed by law;
  • Must be registered no later than six months before the deadline for accepting applications for participation in the competition.
• The number of projects from one museum organization is not limited, provided that each project is submitted by a separate applicant.

• Competitors cannot be
  • Individual entrepreneurs (IE) and commercial organizations of any form: business partnerships and companies, business partnerships, production cooperatives, state and municipal unitary enterprises, as well as their separate subdivisions (branches and representative offices);
  • Political parties;
  • Religious organizations.

Ineligible

• Applicants cannot be
  • Government officials,;
  • employees of organizations that are the Fund’s current program partners, specified in non-closed work contracts, paid services, agency agreements with the Fund as responsible executors (contact persons) or members of the project team, and their close relatives;
  • Persons specified as project managers in non-closed grant or donation agreements for any programs of the Foundation concluded on behalf of organizations.
• Selection Criteria 
  • Integrity: consistency, coherence, literacy of presentation.
• Applicant
  • Personal competence and professional achievements;
  • Leadership skills and team management experience.
• Project
  • Compliance with the objectives of the competition and the priorities of the chosen nomination;
  • Relevance to the organization, professional sphere, territory;
  • Professionalism of the team: experience, professional achievements, balance of competencies;
  • The complexity of the proposed solutions, technologies and methods;
  • Replicability: the possibility of applying the proposed tools, products and results to other organizations;
  • Partnership potential and partnership effectiveness: participation of other professionals and organizations, incl. from other areas of activity; their motivation to participate, balance of roles;
  • Risk management: assessment by the team of possible risks and the feasibility of their prevention/mitigation plan;
  • Sustainability: the feasibility of developing the project after the completion of support and its viability, incl. the contribution of the organization and attracted resources;
  • Realistic budget: compliance of costs with the stated goals and results.

For more information, visit Potanin Foundation.