Kostino Historical and Art Museum

About museum

The museum opened on February 2, 2002, in the building of a former school that was built in 1902 as a two-class church-parish school. The decision to establish the museum was made at a kolkhoz board meeting and at a general assembly of all residents of the village of Kostino. Today the museum houses 6 exhibitions and 12 exhibition halls, as well as a unique open-air 'Tractor Alley'. The exhibition 'Confession of a Peasant' covers a 100-year period of the village's peasant life and the history of the Chapayev collective farm; this exhibition was awarded a special diploma at the Russian Museums Union competition. The exhibition-project 'Road to Victory' comprises two halls: 'There Was the Front Here Too' and 'On the Battlefield'. The project ranked among the top five in the 'Museum in City N' competition in Moscow. The memorial art halls are dedicated to the works of local artist Valentin Melnikov; the museum displays and preserves more than 100 of his works in painting and graphic arts. In 2015, with a project based on the artist's works, the museum won the all-Russian 'Wonder of Russia' competition. Kostino Museum hosts traditional calendar festivals with theatrical elements year-round: summer festivals 'Ivan Kupala' and 'Ilyin Day'; autumn — 'Smotriny at Arina's'; winter — 'Christmas caroling' and 'Maslenitsa'. The annual intermunicipal festival of rural culture 'June-Khleborost' is gaining popularity among locals and tourists. Today the museum functions as the cultural center of the village of Kostino.