To mark the 135th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov, the Russian Railway Museum will hold the exhibition “Rails. Lines. Feuilletons” from May 19 to August 1, 2026. The exhibition is devoted to the writer’s work for the railway newspaper Gudok.
Bulgakov’s major works are widely known, but his journalistic work remains little studied. The exhibition will explore this short but significant period in his creative career.
Quotes by Bulgakov, recollections of his colleagues, and historical objects will be displayed inside a pre-revolutionary third-class carriage. Visitors will be able to read Mikhail Bulgakov’s feuilletons written for Gudok. The exhibition will also feature works by contemporary artists inspired by the writer’s plays “Flight,” “The Days of the Turbins,” and his novel “The Master and Margarita”: painting, poetry, and video art.
The carriage windows will display the triptych “Life’s Journey,” made on film to resemble translucent reflections in a fogged train window, while small human figures—travelers through the pages of Bulgakov’s books—will be placed on the luggage racks. Interactive art objects will complement the exhibition. One of them, a 1930s telephone, refers to an episode in the writer’s life: his telephone conversation with Joseph Stalin in April 1930. When visitors pick up the receiver, they will hear quotations and try to guess which work they are from. Younger schoolchildren can try writing a feuilleton with the help of a coloring-book brochure.
“The project marking Mikhail Bulgakov’s 135th anniversary gives us an opportunity to show this classic author from an unexpected, ‘railway’ perspective. Not everyone remembers that the author of ‘The Master and Margarita’ began his career at the legendary Gudok newspaper. At the exhibition, archival documents and authentic objects will meet contemporary art. We invite guests to travel through the pages of Bulgakov’s life and rediscover his extraordinary talent,” said Vladimir Odintsov, Director of the Russian Railway Museum.
Included with a museum admission ticket.
