> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Russian Museum Makes Good on Its April Fools’ Joke and Hires a Cat
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/russian-museum-makes-good-on-its-april-fools-joke-and-hires-a-cat/
- Published: 2016-04-08T22:31:06.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:42:27.000Z
- Description: The newest employee of Serpukhov's Museum of History and Art in Russia will receive his salary in the form of fish and patties.
- Author: Claire Voon
- Tags: In Brief, Cats, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:17 (2016, 2017, part 1)

![Marai the cat at Serpukhov's Museum of History and Art (photo via @sluhserp/Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/04/marai2.jpg)

Maray the cat at Serpukhov’s Museum of History and Art (photo via @sluhserp/Instagram)

The newest employee of [Serpukhov’s Museum of History and Art](http://www.russianmuseums.info/M485?ref=hyperallergic.com) in Russia will receive his salary in the form of fish and patties. That’s because he’s a cat — and would probably rather feast on tasty meats than lick or nestle in rubles — [recently hired](http://serpuhov-museum.ru/novosti/529-muzejnyj-kot-po-imeni-maraj.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) after museum staff decided to play a goofy prank on local press.

Christened Maray, after the building’s previous cat-loving owner, the ginger feline had been frequenting the institution for a few years. On this past April Fools’ Day, human staffers decided to write a job application letter on behalf of Maray, issuing it along with a press release to Russian media and noting that the museum had accepted his bid for a position. After the publicity stunt naturally attracted inquiries, the museum decided to make the hire official. Maray now joins the ranks of museum pets, which include his fellow felines [famously roaming](http://hyperallergic.com/163895/from-hermitage-cats-to-a-chernobyl-safari-anna-jermolaewas-counter-histories/) St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum just over 500 miles away.

History, too, is filled with furry critters that called our cultural buildings home: the Museum of Modern Art had Don, a trusty German Shepherd whose antics made for [terrific newspaper reports](http://www.moma.org/explore/inside%5Fout/2016/02/12/don-the-moma-guard-dog?ref=hyperallergic.com) at the time; the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore has a statue and plaque to [commemorate](http://readtheplaque.com/plaque/the-acm-cat?ref=hyperallergic.com) a feline visitor–turned–museum mascot; and the Victoria and Albert Museum’s first director, Henry Cole, had two dogs that roamed the grounds and are buried in the institution’s garden, [their presence marked by plaques](http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/tales-archives/pet-cemetery-henry-cole-jim-tycho-and-pickle?ref=hyperallergic.com).

Maray is now the Serpukhov Museum’s official doormancat, working regular hours from 9 to 5 that are interrupted by breaks for meals and carefree strolls, [according to Buzzfeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/krishrach/meowseum-cat?ref=hyperallergic.com). As museum employee Nina Strelkova said, “All people who work in our museum love Maray. Many bring him food from home and take pictures with him. So he gets a little fat now. And visitors love the cat too — lots of them taking selfies with him.”

![cat](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/04/cat.jpg)

The note “signed” by Maray (courtesy Serpukhov’s Museum of History and Art)

![Marai the cat (photo via @oka_info/Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/04/marai3.jpg)

Marai the cat (photo courtesy Serpukhov’s Museum of History and Art)