The “living history” format as one of the most promising areas of museum development

What is the attraction of the “living history” format in the development of a modern museum? This article is devoted to this issue and an attempt is made to clarify the specific differences between living history museums and classical ones, focusing on the possibility of the former to “immerse” the visitor in the recreated cultural and historical space of a certain era. The experience of Russian living history museums shows that by implementing new programs aimed at interacting with visitors, museums perform not only their main function of collecting and preserving, but also contribute to the popularization and comprehensive study of historical and cultural heritage as well as solving educational tasks. The author of the article aims to acquaint the reader with the most effective and popular projects to activate museum activities in the Krasnodar territory and the Southern Urals. Master classes on various topics, traveling exhibitions, costumed performances, quests, and, finally, festivals of historical reconstruction are just some of the modern forms of interaction with visitors, which can serve as a basis for developing interactive educational programs. The relevance and prospects of the immersive format in museum activities are provided by the need to solve the problems of fostering the cultural and historical memory among young visitors, the most popular museum audience, and the younger generation’s interest in living history. The implementation of new forms of interaction with the audience will help museums not only attract a wide range of visitors, but also increase financial opportunities for development and become more competitive.

Sources of acquisition of the collections of the Khorinsky District Museum of History and Local Lore

The article is devoted to the history of the acquisition of collections of the Khorinsky District Museum of History and Local Lore at various stages of its development, from its establishment to the modern period of its activity. The Khorinsky District Museum of History and Local Lore was founded on November 10, 1979. Its appearance testified to the economic and cultural development of the Khorinsky district. The created museum has become one of the centers to spread the district’s culture, accessible to the general population. Modern expositions of the museum make it possible to trace the history of the Khorinsky district at all stages of its existence, covering, among other things, the prehistoric era. Based on information from the inventory book, as well as on the basis of their own memories, the authors reconstruct the sources of museum’s collections after a fire occurred in the museum in December 1984. The damage turned out to be so serious that only 22 items, mostly large-sized ones, such as carts, sledges, and a lathe, were preserved. The restoration work in the museum was carried out under the leadership of director Innokenty Yakovlevich Trunev, whose active work made it possible to practically re-form the museum’s collections. The authors of the article describe in detail the goals pursued by the donors and creators of the items given to the museum. Most of the exhibits were collected as a result of trips. A significant source for the museum’s collections was the result of local residents donating items. Items were handed over to the museum that appear both simple, at first glance, from every day use and unique items, family heirlooms. The republic’s (Buryatia) museums rendered great support in the formation of the museum’s collections. A significant number of items were found as a result of scientific expeditions and subsequently transferred to the museum.

A matrix for museological diagnostics and planning

The article presents a theoretical discussion that provides support for the development of a methodological tool to assess and plan the activities of museums or musealisation processes. According to the author, a matrix for museological diagnostics, planning and management should be used to create or renovate small or large, conventional or unconventional museums. This work is the result of PhD research that produced a book already in its third edition in Brazil. For the creation of the matrix, an attempt was made to identify the common aspects among different types and museum models. The proposed concept includes a theoretical and conceptual discussion, as well as the establishment of a museological structure or tool to justify work in this field. These aspects will be discussed in this article, as well as the details of their contributions to applied research in museology and to the qualification of museums. The matrix resulting from this research can be used to not only carry out museological diagnostics or institutional evaluations of existing museums, but also as a reference framework for the creation of new museums and for musealization processes. In the article, significant attention is given to clarifying the use of the terms used in the matrix in order to allow its interpretation and application in a variety of cases based on precise museological thought. Thus, theory and practice are concerned with understanding and using this matrix for museological diagnostics and planning.

The fate of museums and historical monuments of Karabakh

The article presents a brief history of relations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani population of Karabakh and provides a concise chronological sequence of the resettlement of Armenians. It focuses on the consequences of the conflict that lasted for 30 years. As a result of the conflict, cultural heritage sites were destroyed on the territory of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and millions of residents lost their homes when they were evicted from their ancestral lands. The investigated events brought a significant amount of troubles and sufferings to the Azerbaijani people, the number of its victims is estimated in the thousands. The Khojaly tragedy went down in history as the cruelest massacre of the civilian population. The military clash affected not only the population, but also the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people. Karabakh was the birthplace of many leading figures of Azerbaijani culture, such as Uzeyir Hajibeyli (Hajibeyov), Bulbul, Rashid Behbudov and others. Before joining the Russian Empire, these territories were part of the Karabakh Khanate and its main city was the impenetrable fortress of Shusha, the main population of which was Azerbaijanis. However, after joining Russia, Armenians from Iran, Turkey, and Syria began to move to these territories. After the creation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, this region was preserved in its structure under the name of the Nagorno — Karabakh Autonomous Region, which later became a bone of contention between the two peoples. Emphasis in the article is given to museums and historical monuments destroyed as a result of the conflict. On the basis of facts, the authors trace the milestones of the destruction of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage — archaeological sites, museums, mausoleums, mosques, and churches. Ancient Albanian temples underwent armenization. Attention is drawn to the facts of violation of international conventions and normative legal acts on the preservation of cultural heritage.

Porcelain interior plastic of the 1950s in museums and private collections in China

In the two decades since the establishment of the people’s Republic of China, the challenges facing porcelain production have changed significantly. Porcelain production is one of the most important and oldest traditions in China. In the 1950s, porcelain craftsmen became involved in the creation of new forms of interior plastics. Many of the pieces they created are now part of museum collections and represent the history of the development of Chinese interior porcelain. Using the example of three museums and three reference monuments, the article examines the key trends in the development of porcelain art and stylistic changes that occurred during this period. The following museums have been selected as examples to showcase the specifics of Chinese porcelain art from this period: the China Ceramic and Porcelain Museum located in Jingdezhen City, which is the country’s first major art museum specializing in ceramics; the Chinese Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, which specializes in collecting, researching and displaying works of Chinese artists of modern and contemporary eras; and the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, which specializes in collecting, researching and displaying Chinese folk art. All of these museums are engaged in collecting porcelain, including interior porcelain plastics from the mid-20th century. In the collections of the aforementioned museums, three works were selected for analysis. These are three paired compositions created in the second half of the 1950s: the sculpture “An Old Man and a Child with a Peach” by Zeng Longsheng, “Good Aunt from the Commune” by Zhou Guozhen and “Fifteen coins. The rat case” by Lin Hongxi. These porcelain compositions reveal close relations with Chinese national culture and not only reflect various scenes, but are also aimed at expanding the role of porcelain in decorating residential interiors.

Museum of Classical Archeology of the 19th-century Imperial Academy of Sciences: The history of organizing and transferring collections to the Imperial Hermitage

The Museum of Classical Archeology of the Imperial Academy of Sciences is the successor to the 18th-century Kunstkamera of the Academy of Sciences in term of collections of classical antiquities. This article discusses in detail the stages of development of the Museum of Classical Archaeology as an institution within the structure of the Academy of Sciences through the Cabinet of Medals and Rarities, Numismatic Museum, and the Museum of Classical Archaeology. The fund of the museum consisted of ancient Greek and Roman coins, ancient Russian coins, coins from oriental cultures, ancient Greek vases, antiquities from ornamental stone, glass, precious metals, impressions of medals and coins, items from archaeological excavations and treasures, manuscripts, drawings of objects and photographs. Special attention is paid to the correlation of the possibilities of museum collections of the Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Hermitage in terms of storage, exhibition, research, and promotion of archaeological collections in the second half of the 19th century. The reasons for the very active transfer of the Academy of Sciences’ archaeological collections to the Hermitage in the 19th century and the types of compensation received by the Academy for the collections are discussed. The first archaeological collections donated from the Academy of Sciences to the Hermitage on the initiative of the chairman of the Imperial Archaeological Commission S. G. Stroganov were the “Siberian collection” of Peter I and the Melgunov treasure. The collection of the Museum of Classical Archeology also attracted the attention of art critic I. V. Tsvetaev when arranging funds for the new Museum of Fine Arts at Moscow University. The article introduces into scientific circulation archival documents, showing the state of the museum work in the 19th century in the institution of the Academy of Sciences, documents depicting the structure of the Museum of Classical Archaeology, and the composition of collections.

University museums of the Silesian Voivodeship (Republic of Poland)

The article considers the scientific basis for the study of the activities of university museums by Polish scientists. The main support for Polish university museums is said to be provided by the Association of University Museums (AUM). The author analyzes its research and popularization activities. The main purpose of the work is to study the history of the formation and development of six university museums of the Silesian Voivodeship in the Republic of Poland: “Museum of Geology of Deposits named after Czeslaw Poborsky at the Faculty of Mining and Geology of the Silesian University of Technology”, “Museum of the Faculty of Geosciences of the University of Silesia”, “Museum of Silesian Organs”, “Center for History and Traditions of the University of Economics in Katowice”, “Museum of Technology of the Silesian University of Technology” and the “Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy in Sosnowiec”. The author also examines their collections and exhibitions. Theoretical research in the field of studying university museums is considered in detail. For the analysis, scientific articles, books, brochures, mass media materials and information on museum websites are used in order to provide a complete picture of the historical and current state of university museums in the region. In the process of writing the article, the author contacted several guardians and university museum staff to clarify the dates and information provided in various sources. The work partially uses their responses received by e-mail, with the indication of information about the source.

The ideal essence of a museum object

The article examines the museum object from the theoretical and methodological positions of the idealistic approach, placing the Human Creator at the center of culture and history. The museum object is characterized as a substance of nature from the theoretical point of view. Also, it is designed in accordance with the ideological content of human consciousness and having value from the point of view of the main ideas of society’s worldview. An explanation of the phenomenon of information of a museum object is provided in the article. The process of endowing a museum object with such a specific property as museum character is substantiated and the procedure for its creation is described. At the same time, it is indicated that the main properties of a museum object are not immanent, but they are instilled in it by the consciousness of a museum worker and a visitor. The value of a museum object is determined by the ideas of the dominant worldview; when it changes, the value of the museum object also changes. The degree of expression of the main properties of a museum object such as expressiveness, attractiveness, and associativity also depend on the ideas of the current worldview. Original objects that sufficiently express the main content of the subject are of the greatest value. From the authors’ positions, criticism of views on the most important properties of a museum object is made. From the standpoint of an idealistic approach, a definition of authenticity of a museum object is provided and the particular importance of authentic objects inthe current time of multimedia and interactive technologies being introduced into museum practices is emphasized. The article concludes that the idealistic approach, offering a solution to many problems in relation to a museum object, nevertheless, is not at the moment an all-encompassing theory that can explain it in all manifestations of creation and functioning. However, according to the author, in comparison with other theories the idealistic approach is able to give more answers to questions in this area than other museological concepts.

The unfulfilled museum collection of works by G. S.Vereiskiy: The artist’s autobiography as a key to his creative heritage

In 2021, the 135th anniversary of George Semenovich Vereiskiy (1886–1962) was celebrated. Vereiskiy was a talented, methodical, and self-disciplined artist who focused on the subject of his work. He was a member of the “World of Art” association, curator of the State Hermitage’s Department of Engravings, teacher of painting, laureate of the second degree of the Stalin Prize (1946), People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1962), honored worker of the arts, and member of the Academy of Arts. Vereiskiy was involved in various forms of art, especially drawing and painting. He worked in many genres (portrait, landscape, interior, still life, residential and industrial genres). In his drawings and lithographs in the 1920–30s, he was a pioneer of industrial themes. The main source of his work was love for Russian nature (his landscapes are imbued with a soft lyricism). His clarity of perception of the surrounding reality and high civil position enabled him to make the most important aspect of art — a portrait. Without exaggeration, it can be argued that Vereiskiy for more than half a century created a large portrait gallery of his contemporaries, from science and artists to the Knights of St. George from the First World War and military officials of World War II (1941–1945). Vereiskiy’s artistic heritage is very extensive and it is still waiting for its explorer. This article was created in order to establish a precursor for the study of the artist’s creative heritage, fragmentarily concentrated in a number of museum collections, which are discussed below. The reference point to the artist’s creative heritage is his autobiography, which the article introduces into scientific circulation for the first time.

Museums of the Soviet Belarus during the Khrushchev’s ‘Thaw’ (1953–1968)

The historical perspective allows us to take a fresh look at a complex and contradictory period in the development of museum affairs in the USSR, which entered into historiography under the name of Khrushchev’s ‘thaw’. Using archival sources that are part of the Ministry of Culture of the Byelorussian SSR record, published statistical data, as well as periodicals, the article attempts to show the growth of the museum network in the BSSR and trace the process of its profile differentiation and museum branch development during this period. Using the specified source base, an analysis of state policy and public initiatives in the field of museum work was carried out. The public discussion of the early 1960s on the role of an artist in the process of museum display design is considered. While listing and analysing museum innovations during the ‘thaw’, the author pays special attention to the legalization of the activities of Belarusian private collectors. The emergence of museum architecture as a material embodiment of socio-cultural ideas about the museum is considered separately. The transformation of Belarusian museums into a subject of international relations in 1953–1968 is presented as an important new trend in their development. Appreciating the positive changes in the life of museums during the ‘thaw’ period, the author points out that it was in those years that the subordination of all activities of Belarusian museums to the tasks of glorifying Soviet society at the expense of other historical periods was finally established at the normative level. All areas of museum activities were filled with ideological content, which reflected the general cultural policy, invariably pursued by the party leadership. The article significantly expands the museological interpretation of the ‘thaw’ era and its role in the expansion, democratization, and professionalization of museum activities.