Indeed, in the era of digitalization, it would be expected that the museum would use modern technology to create a more interactive and engaging experience. However, this is not enough in the Semipalatinsk Literary Memorial Museum of F. M. Dostoevsky. The atmosphere, of course, is there, but the feeling of a lack of engagement and interactivity makes the visit less exciting.
Modern museums actively use multimedia, virtual reality and other innovative solutions to make excursions more interesting and accessible. Unfortunately, there are not enough such elements in this museum. This creates the feeling that the museum does not keep up with time and does not use all the opportunities to attract visitors. Hopefully, new technologies will be introduced here in the future to make the experience more modern and exciting.
My favorite museum! A unique place in Kazakhstan is a real home where the great Russian writer lived! I remember the atmosphere of the XIX century in and around the house since childhood. Definitely worth a visit!!
Where did Dostoevsky's house museum come from in Kazakhstan, and what connected Fyodor Mikhailovich and Chokan Valikhanov?
The Dostoevsky Literary Memorial Museum in Semey was founded in memory of the years spent by the famous writer in local places in military service, where he was sentenced to be sent after long torments in hard labor. Fyodor Mikhailovich stayed here in the period from 1854 to 1859.
It all started in 1965, when in the house of postman Lepukhin, in which Dostaevsky once rented a house, one of the apartments was allocated for the placement of the district library. Readers often asked questions about the writer and persistently raised the issue of creating a Dostoevsky museum in this house. People brought clippings from newspapers and magazines, things typical of the XIX century, the analogues of which could be used by a writer, books and brochures, playbills.
Zinaida Georgievna Furtseva, who was the head of the library at that time, was so imbued with the idea of creating a house museum that she decided to devote her next vacation to a trip to Moscow and Leningrad to get acquainted with the Dostoevsky museums. She wanted to ask the staff about ways to create a thematic exhibition. They helped not only with advice, but also handed over some manuscripts, books and letters.
In 1968, the tenants were evicted and the house was renovated. The library remained on the 1st floor, and the 2nd level was given for a small exposition, where it turned out to recreate the environment in which the writer lived and worked.
The museum was opened in the year of Dostoevsky's 150th anniversary - in 1971. A year after the opening, due to the increase in the volume of the exposition, another structure was added to the log house in the form of a half-open book.
The greatest value of the museum is the miraculously preserved autograph of Dostoevsky himself.
A bronze composition depicting the folklorist historian Chokan Valikhanov and Fyodor Dostoevsky is installed in the museum courtyard. Their chance acquaintance in Omsk turned into a strong friendship.