A Visit to the Museum of Industrial Culture, Moscow

Recently, Olivier and I went to a very unusual museum.  It’s called the Museum of Industrial Culture. 

What does that name conjure up for you?  Industrial machinery?  Business/office machines?  Machines for the home?

Well, to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect.

So, we set off one Saturday to find out.

Finding the museum

We went by metro, and after leaving the metro station, we started walking to the museum.  In the wrong direction!  Not to worry, we found a great car museum which we’re planning to go back and visit one day!

So, we turned around, took a different street, and found ourselves, this time, going in the right direction.  It’s quite a long walk, walking down what appears to be a winding country road.  We finally arrived at the right address.

What was Waiting for Us?

As we walked through the gates, it seemed to be one big junkyard.  In the front yard are old phone boxes, a door covered with different door handles, parts of a plane, theatre seats, and a lot of other strange objects.

Then, we have the building that the museum is housed in.

It’s a huge warehouse!  One big room, crammed with almost everything that people use in their daily lives.  Toys, musical instruments, furniture, computers, phones, traffic lights, an airplane!

It wasn’t how I imagined in would be.  Not at all!

Just inside the entrance was a desk, with a man standing behind it.  I asked him how much was the entrance fee – no charge!  There was a donation box on the desk, although he didn’t refer to it.  It was basically, come in, look around, have a great time!

I don’t know how long we spent inside this museum.  Time seemed to stop while we were in there.  And with every step we discovered something new.

What did we Discover?

Some things are behind barriers, and so you can’t touch them.  But there are a lot of things displayed within reach, and you’re allowed to pick them up, feel them, play with them, discover them.

Looking up, we saw a plane hanging above our heads.

And there’s even a speedboat hiding in all the mess!  And motor bikes!

There’s a corner dedicated to life with Lenin.  A kitchen.  A child’s bedroom.

I can’t tell you everything that’s there, there’s just so much stuff!  And rather interestingly sorted into groups, despite the apparent randomness of the place.

Where is it?

The museum’s website is in Russian – but you can find the address, how to get there, and other interesting information about the history of this museum (use an online translator).

Some people might say it’s just a big room full of junk (as I read in one Trip Advisor review), but I disagree.  It’s a record of our progress in the 20^th century.  A time capsule of our lives, our parents’ and grandparents’ lives. 

I think that this kind of museum is invaluable.  Everybody should visit this museum!  We should show our children these pieces of history.  We should be explaining to them and showing them what life was like before smartphones invaded every part of our lives! Although, there is a section with computers!

All in all, this is a great museum for everyone – young, old, and older!  The children we saw there were having a great time exploring.  And it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak or read Russian – there are no signs or labels on anything like in other museums, so nothing to read!   What you see is what you get!

Of course, it could be nice to see everything labelled, organised into more controlled sections, and cleaned up a bit.  But, really, would it be any better?  Probably not.  I love this museum, and am really thankful that someone is providing it to us for free (but don’t forget to leave a donation when you leave).

Do you like it?

How do you feel about a museum that’s a bit unorganised like this one?  Do you like it?  Or do you prefer everything to be correctly displayed and labelled?  Let me know in the comments or in our Facebook Group.

I’m going to leave you with some more photos below to enjoy.