Unique Materials from the Collections of the RGS are Presented as Part of the SPIEF-2026 Cultural Program

Traditionally, the Headquarters of the RGS in St. Petersburg has become one of the venues of the cultural program of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Several exhibition projects from the richest collections of the Russian Geographical Society were prepared for the participants of SPIEF-2026 at the House of Geography at Pereulok Grivtsova, 10.

The exhibition «Great Russian Geographical Discoveries» is open in the courtyard of the historical building of the RGS. Here you can see the materials from the Cartographic Collection of the RSG: maps and atlases with descriptions of the most important and outstanding discoveries, as well as explanations and portraits of the travelers themselves. The illustrations related to the «Russian seven» (seven most important geographical expeditions with the participation of Russian explorers) were selected for the exhibition created based on the materials from the atlas «Great Russian Geographical Discoveries (18th — early 20th Century)» by a member of the RGS, professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences Dmitry Kopelev. For example, the topic of the development of the Northern Sea Route and the study of the Arctic is revealed by the journey of Fyodor Litke, one of the founders and first vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. He made four expeditions to the Arctic, mapped the shores of Novaya Zemlya, Lapland, and other territories in detail. The maps of the famous navigator have long served as a reliable guide for subsequent generations of polar navigators.

In the hall of the Scientific Library of the RGS, guests can get acquainted with the exhibition «The Peoples of Russia in Book Illustrations of the 17th–19th Centuries». The exhibition includes books and albums from the collections of the Russian Geographical Society on the topic of «Ethnography». Of particular interest are two volumes from the album «The Peoples of Russia» («Les peoples de la Russie») by the Russian engraver, draughtsman, and traveler Yemelyan Korneev (1780 — c. 1839). The album is unique in that it represents one of the very first large-scale ethnographic publications of the Russian Empire. It contains descriptions and images of representatives of peoples and nationalities living in the territory of the Russian Empire, their way of life, costumes, and traditions. The album was released in France in the second half of the 19th century.

The RGS Museum Collection has prepared a large tablet exhibition «Beautiful Maiden» from the collection of the RGS photo contest «The Most Beautiful Country». The contest has been held since 2015 and is currently the most popular national photo project in the country. In the Great Hall of the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg, female portraits are presented — emotional, characteristic, peculiar images of beauties from different regions of our multinational country.

The Scientific Archive of the RGS presented documents related to the activities of the Ethnographic Commission of the RGS and its first chairman Nikolai Nadezhdin (1804–1856). There are editions of the Ethnographic Collection edited by him in the exhibition windows. The scientist developed an ethnographic program to collect data about Russia and the Russian people. Since the late 1840s, the Society has been receiving descriptions of towns, villages, parishes, etc. The program aroused great interest, and people from a wide variety of professions joined its work. Among them is Grigory Myasoedov, a prominent Russian artist known for peasant life paintings. The Scientific Archive of the RGS presented at the exhibition manuscripts and drawings for ethnographic descriptions made by the famous painter.

All the exhibitions prepared by the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg for SPIEF-2026 are united by a common theme of 2026, which is dedicated to the unity of the peoples of Russia.