"Geography Lessons" exposition and a new approach to discovering the country discussed on Class Radio

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Class Radio (Klassnoye Radio) aired a broadcast dedicated to the "Geography Lessons" exposition, currently being held at the National Centre RUSSIA. Olesya Malevannaya, Head of the Laboratory for Cultural and Educational Projects at the National Centre RUSSIA, and guide Anna Shulga told listeners how the project was created and why geography can be exciting.

"Once, while walking around Moscow with our curator, Rector of the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg Semyon Ilyich Mikhailovsky, we caught ourselves thinking that a map is also a work of art. It seemed important and interesting to us to tell the story of Russia, its culture and history through maps. That is how the idea of 'Geography Lessons' was born, and today an exposition dedicated to the space of our country feels more relevant than ever," Olesya Malevannaya noted.

According to Olesya Malevannaya, the title "Geography Lessons" was also chosen for a reason. On the one hand, it refers to the school subject; on the other, it invites people to look at geography more broadly: as knowledge about the land we live on, expedition routes, borders, resources and the people who explored and developed this territory.

Olesya Malevannaya emphasised that the team of the National Centre RUSSIA deliberately sought to combine engaging formats with substantial content: "I really wanted to bring together as many partners as possible: museums, libraries, archives — to obtain everything that an ordinary person finds difficult to see in everyday life. For the National Centre, this was an unprecedented gathering of participants. On the one hand, interactivity is an exciting story for young people, but it was important for us that behind it there should be a meaningful, slightly academic, but genuinely interesting part. And we can see how guests examine these maps, ancient publications, and the atlases of Krusenstern and Lisyansky. It works."

Anna Shulga noted that during guided tours of "Geography Lessons", guests actively join the conversation and sometimes ask highly unexpected questions: "Recently, at the exposition, we were talking about Lake Baikal: its depth is 1,642 metres. And suddenly I was asked: 'Where exactly is that depth? At what point?' It seems like an obvious question, but at first it caught me off guard. Of course, my colleagues and I immediately found the information, and now, on every guided tour I give, I always explain that the lake’s maximum depth of 1,642 metres was recorded not far from Olkhon Island. Moments like this are very disciplining and help us learn more ourselves."

The participants in the broadcast also discussed the importance of geography as a science, both in the past and today. Olesya Malevannaya recalled that historically, geography was one of the fundamental areas of education, alongside history and literature.

"We have a pre-revolutionary textbook at the exposition, and when you open it, the sections follow one after another: knowledge of the Fatherland, knowledge of the homeland, knowledge of the world. That means first the family, the yard, the town, the province, and only then the scale of the country. It is impossible to love a country if you know nothing about your small homeland. We really wanted to show that geography is not just a political map, but also a story about where and how we live," Olesya Malevannaya emphasised.

The large-scale project of the National Centre RUSSIA, "Geography Lessons", invites visitors to set off on a real journey through the centuries: from ancient scrolls to digital maps, from the first geographical discoveries to space exploration.

The exposition brings together unique maps from Russia’s largest collections, stories of expeditions and discoveries, accounts of natural resources and military history, and the story of how geographical space shaped the country’s history. The exposition is aimed at families and schoolchildren aged 9 to 16, combining authentic artefacts, multimedia content and interactive elements.