It has become known when the Yesenin Museum in Tashkent will reopen its doors to visitors. Video

It has become known when the Yesenin Museum in Tashkent will reopen to visitors. Video

The prolonged renovation of the Sergei Yesenin Museum in Tashkent is planned to be completed by the end of 2026. In the historical building, load-bearing structures will be reinforced, the facade will be restored, and an autonomous climate control system will be installed to protect the exhibits.

This was shared by representatives of the Cultural Heritage Agency and the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage at a meeting with the public and journalists, which was observed by a correspondent of Podrobno.uz.

The reason for the conversation between officials and residents was a collective appeal by Tashkent residents to the head of the Presidential Administration, Saida Mirziyoyeva, requesting her to take personal control of the restoration of the historic building ahead of the autumn rains.

Why has the renovation been delayed?

The house-museum was closed for major renovations in the autumn of 2025. Initially, all work was scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2025, but the facility will not open by the end of the year. In September 2026, city residents began to worry: active work on the site had stopped, the roof had been removed from the building, and mold had appeared on the exposed walls.

At the meeting, representatives of the Cultural Heritage Agency explained that the pause in the renovation was necessary. The work was suspended to await the results of an independent examination by the Scientific and Expert Council.

As explained by Sanjar Aripov, Director of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, the initial visual inspection of the late 19th-century building showed its condition to be satisfactory. However, after dismantling the roof and the old finishes, restorers discovered hidden defects.

"We did not run out of funds, we did not run out of people, we did not run out of desire. We were waiting for the right decision to understand how to move forward," Sanjar Aripov emphasized. "If we just wanted to speed up the process, we could have limited ourselves to plastering. But in 10 years, everything would have to be redone. Now we are bringing the building into a state that will allow it to stand for another 100 years. Our task is not to hide the problems, but to preserve the building."

Specialists received the experts' conclusion with technical solutions for reinforcing the structures last week. The active phase of reconstruction will start at the site as early as next week.

Preservation of authenticity and "Nikolayevsky" brick

Aripov emphasized that during the Soviet era, the extension of the building was carried out using the folk method of "khashar" (voluntary community work), which affected the quality of individual structural elements.

During the preparation of the project, the restorers consulted with the well-known Tashkent local historian Boris Golender, who worked for many years as a senior researcher at the State Literary Museum of Sergei Yesenin in Tashkent. The facade of the building is intended to be restored based on historical photographs, preserving the original masonry made of pre-revolutionary "Nikolayevsky" brick.

"The old bricks are in perfect condition; they will be treated and preserved. This is a rare pre-revolutionary 'Nikolayevsky' brick, which, according to experts' estimates, will be able to stand for more than another hundred years," the specialists assured.

To increase the museum's visibility from the main road, a special themed route will be established there. Since not all passers-by are aware of the historical significance of the building, the navigation solution will help attract the attention of pedestrians and make the site more visible and understandable for residents and guests of the city.

Autonomous climate control and new conditions

During the meeting, public activists raised a long-standing problem — the lack of a microclimate for storing valuable exhibits and for the staff, who freeze in winter.

According to Sanjar Aripov, Director of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, as part of the project, a modern autonomous chiller system with fan coils will be installed in the museum, which will automatically maintain the standard temperature and air humidity.

"First of all, a system will be installed here that will maintain the climate conditions and humidity levels necessary for the exhibits. We have already installed a similar system in the Tansykbayev Museum — it allows for the control of temperature and humidity," Aripov explained.

The layout of the memorial exhibition will remain unchanged. At the same time, administrative offices and restrooms for staff will be moved to a separate block, unconnected to the museum halls.

Transparency and weekly monitoring

It was precisely the lack of timely information about the prolonged reconstruction and the condition of the building that became one of the reasons for the public outcry surrounding the museum. At the meeting, residents reproached the Cultural Heritage Agency for insufficient communication.

The agency acknowledged the shortcoming. Starting next week, the construction fence around the museum will be replaced with special panels. In addition, the Agency promised to publish detailed reports on the progress of the work on a weekly basis and to share what is happening at the site.

Cultural heritage and new initiatives

The activists present recalled that the Yesenin Museum is an important part of Tashkent's cultural memory. The poet's works have been translated into 250 languages of the world, and they became close to Uzbek readers thanks to the outstanding translations by Erkin Vakhidov.

At the meeting, public figures proposed republishing the poetic translations of Erkin Vakhidov, as well as the popular science book by Tashkent researcher Sergey Nikolenko, "The Magic of Yesenin in Tashkent." This book describes in detail the poet's stay in Uzbekistan, including his trips to Tashkent and Samarkand.

Aripov supported this initiative and confirmed the institute's readiness to undertake the republication of the works.