On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Russia’s State Hermitage Museum, Angela M.H. Schuster caught up with its director Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, who has been at the helm since 1992, to talk about the storied St. Petersburg institution’s past and present, and the concepts of a museum Sputnik and a “cultural McDonald’s.”

How will you be marking this important milestone for the Hermitage?

For us, the 250th anniversary is not so much a celebration as it is a time to take stock of what we have accomplished since Catherine the Great founded the museum, and to acknowledge that we have survived so much—fire, revolution, war, and economic hardship—despite the odds. We are committed to our mission, which is to be a cultural beacon, a great center of collecting, scholarship, and education. On the programming front, we continue to develop what I call the greater Hermitage— much like greater New York—in which we imagine the museum as a set of concentric circles. At the center, of course, is the museum itself: the six-building campus on Palace Square and four other St. Petersburg venues, including a storage and conservation facility in the Staraya Derevnya district that we have recently opened to the public. Beyond that we have our Hermitage “Sputniks,” satellite exhibition spaces in Amsterdam, Vyborg, and now in Venice, along with the Hermitage-Kazan in Russia. We have a Sputnik planned for Barcelona and two more planned for Russia—in Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan and in Omsk, in Siberia. Later this year, we are also opening our research library to the public in a new building in Staraya Derevnya designed by Rem Koolhaas. There is also our cyber presence, which has become increasingly important. We are continuing to build our capacity to provide virtual access to our collections and research materials. We recently developed an iPhone and Android app for the museum, which features many of our masterpieces. In addition, we have an orchestra, a newspaper, a magazine, a television station, and Radio Hermitage.

What is the inspiration behind your outreach efforts?

For us, the Hermitage is not just a Russian museum, it is a global museum, one that belongs to the world. When most people think of globalization, they think of McDonald’s. And, quite frankly, our idea might well be likened to McDonald’s, but in a good way, a cultural McDonald’s. We want to bring our collections—our treasures—and our interpretations of them to the world. The Hermitage already houses more than 3 million works.

Are you looking to acquire more?

We are working to increase our holdings of modern and contemporary art through a project called 20/21. As you may know, under Soviet rule there was no collecting of modern art. Our goal now is to bring some great examples of American art to the Hermitage. We have had some wonderful bequests recently, including sculptures and drawings by Jacques Lipchitz. We have works by Sol LeWitt on long-term loan from his family, as well as a collection of photographs by Annie Leibovitz, thanks to the artist and to the American Friends of the Hermitage. We are also very interested in increasing our holdings of applied arts. The noted American collector Helen Drutt English, who is based in Philadelphia, has donated some important contemporary ceramics, including works by Rudolf Staffel, to the museum. Last year we completed the renovation of the General Staff Building, which was designed by Carlo Rossi in the early 19th century and used during the time of the czars for various branches of the ministry. It holds art of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

Will there be any special anniversary exhibitions?

We have several important shows planned, including one celebrating imperial court life, which will go on view in the spring. We will also be highlighting our archaeological holdings, which are quite extensive. There will be smaller exhibitions focusing on conservation and museology at the Hermitage. And, of course, there is Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art. We will be hosting the 10th edition of the show in June.

Will any Hermitage-held masterpieces tour as part of the celebration?

We will not be making any loans in 2014, as we feel we should keep works here for the year. Of course, there have been no loans to the United States since February 2011, after a U.S. district court ruled in favor of a Brooklyn Hasidic group that had demanded Russia turn over a collection of religious texts once owned by its founder, who was born in Belarus. The works have always been in Russia. This past year the judge in the case, Royce Lamberth, imposed a $50,000-a-day fine on Russia, so anything on American soil is fair game in terms of seizure. The U.S. is unwilling to guarantee that loans from Russia will be returned. We are trying to put pressure on American politicians to find a solution. If you want one you can find one. It’s a terrible situation, really. Even during the darkest days of the Cold War, we still had exchanges between our two nations, as it was universally acknowledged that culture was off the table and that, politically, it was important to maintain that line of communication. For the moment, we do not even have that.