Vologda Lace Museum

For more than a century, a branch of the State Bank operated within these walls, and there were never any lace workshops here. When the bank vacated the building, it was given to the museum collection, which had previously been assembled without a home of its own. On the second floor, nine rooms and a broad gallery trace the path from old European lace to the work of Vologda craftswomen. Among the glass display cases, the large tablecloths and panels stand out in particular: such pieces require a special method of display, otherwise their patterns will stretch under their own weight.

A large lace tablecloth that had already been mounted under glass had to be taken down from the wall. Before the museum opened, staff checked the display and saw the gleam of forgotten pinheads inside. They unclamped the stand, removed the heavy glass, freed the tablecloth, and mounted it again.

Historically, lace was not made in this building. Until nineteen ninety-eight, it housed a branch of the State Bank, which had occupied the building for more than a century. After the branch moved out, Governor Vyacheslav Pozgalyov transferred the former bank to the Vologda State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve: its lace collection had been assembled there since nineteen twenty-three, but it had no separate home.

The museum's creation was overseen by General Director Lyudmila Korotayeva. Researchers selected pieces from the many-thousand-item collection, restorers prepared fragile textiles for display, and artists assembled them into a coherent narrative. They had to explain where lacemaking came from and how Vologda work differs from pieces made in other centers. Therefore, the first rooms were devoted to European lace and old pieces made with gold and silver threads, followed by works by local craftswomen—from peasant bed valances and clothing details to enormous exhibition panels.

The large works proved the most difficult. They could not simply be hung up: their own weight would stretch the pattern. Staff laid out the display stands on the floor of the main gallery, pinned down the lace, leveled it without tension, and stitched it through five or six times. Some pieces exceeded two meters in diameter. The curators were responsible for museum objects that could no longer be replaced, so after installation they searched for every pin with a flashlight. One such inspection ended with the dismantling of the completed stand with the tablecloth.

On the third and fourth of November, two thousand ten, the museum opened on two consecutive days—there were too many people wishing to get inside. Two years later, five members of the creative team received a government prize for creating it.

The permanent exhibition still occupies the second floor: nine rooms and a large gallery with those very large lace works. The forgotten pin under the glass did not survive until the first visitor—staff removed it and stitched the tablecloth through once more.