Samsung Electronics

The partnership between Samsung and the State Hermitage Museum began in 1997 when the company provided the museum with a grant for technical equipment in the Main Vestibule of the Winter Palace. This was followed by delivery of the company's latest state-of-the-art multimedia equipment for an information system in the Main Vestibule, the setting up of a lecture theatre in the General Staff building and implementation of a program to provide technical support for the museum's public lecturing and educational activities.

One element of the cooperation was the creation of an information system in the Main Entrance of the State Hermitage Museum, opened in 2003, for the 300th anniversary celebrations of St. Petersburg. At the heart of this system are four plasma panels from Samsung Electronics displaying general information for museum visitors in Russian and English.

The city's anniversary was marked by the creation of a special multimedia information system enabling text and visual information to be rapidly updated, as well as the creation of a special work spaces for staff members responsible for preparing, entering and updating information provided for museum visitors. This project was carried out with assistance from Samsung Electronics.

During 2004 and 2005 the entrance area of the State Hermitage Museum was re-equipped (information displays which could be updated with visual and textual information concerning new exhibitions, excursions, special programs etc. were installed); also the former State Council Hall where now take place meetings of the museum’s Academic Senate was furnished with multimedia and audio equipment. Furthermore, Samsung’s multimedia equipment was installed in the Youth Centre, in the new entrance area of the Winter Palace and the excursion bureau of the museum. At present Samsung Electronics’ products are presented in all the Hermitage’s public zones and lecture halls.

In 2006 the company celebrated its tenth anniversary of cooperation with the museum. In the same year they started a unique restoration project that was completed a year later and involved repairing Empress Catherine the Great’s musical clock from the museum’s collection.  And now visitors to the State Hermitage Museum can see this exhibit, which decorated the palace interiors in the 18th and 19th centuries but has been in storage for a significant period of time.

Furthermore, they began to introduce a new computerized system in the museum’s halls, which allows visitors to get more comprehensive information about the exhibits, to review their high-resolution digital images and to learn about the history associated with the creation of the works of art. Interactive computer terminals with a multimedia programs are used to achieve this. Now touch screen kiosks are installed in five museum halls and there are plans to install another five next year.

In addition, Samsung Electronics supports a whole range of projects in the area of culture, sports and charity. Since 1991 Samsung Electronics has collaborated with the Bolshoi Theater and since 1997 with the Yusupovsky Dvorets (Yusupov Palace) historical-cultural centre. The Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award co-founded by the company and the Memorial Estate Museum of Leo Tolstoy in July 2003, has for many years now supported the creative work of modern writers who continue in the tradition of Russia’s classical literature and Leo Tolstoy’s art form.
Samsung Electronics pays special attention to charity projects. Together with children’s cardio surgery division at the Bakoulev Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences the company carries out a charity program aimed at aid children with congenital heart disease. With Detskiye Domiki Children Relief Fund Samsung Electronics provides assistance for a Russian-wide project Sporting Festival for Children. The project’s main aims include equipping children’s home’s territories with playgrounds and sports fields for physical training and leisure, and furnishing gyms with sporting play equipment, and providing computer and social events and musical  classes, play rooms and TV rooms using Samsung’s digital devices. The company cooperates with the Novye Imena (New Names) Interregional Non-Governmental Charitable Organization, which is involved in searching for talented young people and helping  them to fully achieve their abilities and develop their skills.