The artist Gennady Arkhireev is often referred to as the "Kazan Van Gogh" in Tatarstan. He was part of the Kazan underground and, despite not becoming widely known, left behind a significant legacy of paintings that have now found their place in Sviyazhsk. Although Arkhireev was born on this island, his childhood cannot be called happy. The artist's mother, serving a sentence, gave birth to him in a local prison, and the boy knew only life in an orphanage among other children of the arrested from an early age. Only after his mother's rehabilitation did he end up in Kazan.

Arkhireev is also associated with the art film "Dove," based on the stories of his wife and muse, Svetlana Kolina. The role of the artist in the film was played by actor Alexey Korshunov, who bears a resemblance to Arkhireev.

The opening of the museum in Sviyazhsk was an unexpected event. Svetlana Kolina, lacking significant funds, planned to sell part of her late husband's paintings and even found a buyer, but the deal fell through. Soon, a house was found on the island that resembled Arkhireev's home in Kazan, which led to the creation of the museum, where about 60 of his works are now exhibited.