The Chelyabinsk Antique Toy Museum

The museum’s beginning can be considered December 2005, when Marina Belyakova held the first doll exhibition in Chelyabinsk at the Architect’s House, with the Puppet Master magazine and with the support of Svetlana Voskresenskaya.

In the same period, Marina Belyakova bought a small (350 items) collection of antique and vintage dolls from St. Petersburg artist T. Bun. From that moment the museum began its work, first in the Spiridonov Business House, and then in the Creativity House for Youth and Schoolchildren in Chelyabinsk. Since 2014, the museum has been located at Sadovaya ul., building 1, Uvildy village, Chelyabinsk region, where The History of Russia in Dolls and Toys permanent exhibition is located.

The museum has antique and vintage dolls and toys as well as multiple artifacts. Along with the permanent exhibition, exhibition activities are carried out. Over the years of its existence (from 2005 to 2019), the museum’s collection has visited more than 40 cities in Russia and the CIS, including Yaroslavl, Krasnodar, Astrakhan, Rostov-on-Don, Murom, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Arkhangelsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kaliningrad, etc. Over 30,000 people have seen it.

From year to year, the collection has been replenished by owner and donor efforts, and today totals more than 1,500 exhibits. Many dolls and toys have high artistic and historical value and have unique stories.

In addition to excursions, the museum hosts various master classes on the production of designer and traditional dolls, on contemporary applied art, on the creation of puppet shows, etc.