Roman Yuryevich Zhukarin (born 1982, Gorky) is a Nizhny Novgorod cultural figure and Director General of the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum (NGSAM). He has led the museum since November 9, 2011.[1]

Education and path to the museum

By training, Zhukarin is a historian specializing in international relations. He graduated from the History Department of Lobachevsky University in 2006, and completed postgraduate studies at the university's Faculty of International Relations in 2009.[5] His doctoral dissertation focused on the Arab–Israeli conflict and the career of Ariel Sharon. Alongside his academic work, he pursued music as a pianist. Before joining the NGSAM, he worked at the regional Ministry of Culture, where he oversaw the museum sector. He served at the ministry in 2010–2011, immediately prior to his appointment as museum director.[5][1] He was 29 years old at the time of his appointment.[1] He was born in Nizhny Novgorod and has lived there his entire life: he grew up in Sovetsky District, on Kozitsky Street, and attended a music school in the city's historic center.[3]

Leadership of the NGSAM

Over the years of Zhukarin's directorship, the museum has steadily expanded its exhibition partnerships with leading federal institutions — the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Russian Museum, and the Hermitage. The first major exhibition under his leadership — a show dedicated to Aivazovsky — set the tone for further development, by his own assessment.[1] In subsequent years the museum hosted exhibitions of works by Vasily Maslov, a show from the Tretyakov Gallery's collection, and an exhibition of the Russian avant-garde.[3]

For the NGSAM's 125th anniversary (2021) and the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod, major renovation and reconstruction works were completed at the museum's buildings in the Kremlin and on the embankment; the state exhibition complex and the Manège were also incorporated into the museum. Tretyakov Gallery Director Zelfira Tregulova and Pushkin Museum Director Marina Loshak visited the updated venues and praised the results highly.[1]

During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, Zhukarin conceived and performed in a NGSAM music video set to John Lennon's song "Isolation," in which famous canvases from the museum's collection appeared on screen — works by Kustodiev, Kandinsky, Malevich, Roerich, Savrasov, and others.[4]

In September 2026, Zhukarin participated in the first Russian "Mediamuzey" festival, held at the NGAM. According to him, the festival's program — including the session "Art Has Stepped Out of Its Frames" — was aimed at breaking down boundaries between art forms and formats of engagement with culture. He also opened a solo exhibition by artist Nataliya Pankova at the museum. For his contributions to the museum's development, Zhukarin was awarded the Minin and Pozharsky Prize of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region (2021), as well as the Nizhny Novgorod Prize (2022) in the category "Architecture, Design, and Ecology of Public Spaces."[5][2]

Links

Sources

  1. names52.ru — Roman Zhukarin was born on March 10, 1982. He graduated from the History Department of Lobachevsky University in 2006, and (archive)
  1. Kommersant (Volga Region) — "The Museum Has Always Been Magnificent" — Kommersant Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The exhibition was opened by the director of the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Roman Zhukarin — Nizhny Novgorod News
  3. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — "My Nizhny": director of the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum Roman Zhukarin (archive)
  4. Newsroom24 — The NGAM filmed a music video for John Lennon's song "Isolation" — Culture
Materials from articles used (3)

In progress, Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Mediamuzey (festival)