A Problem in Focus: Museum in Contemporary Culture

 Sapanzha O.S. Small Museum and Micro Museum in Modern Cultural Space — 5 (Rus.)

Sapanzha Olga Sergeevna — Doctor of Cultural Studies, Professor, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, sapanzha@mail.ru

The problems of introduction of categories “Small Museum” and “Micro Museum” into
the tradition of museology are in the focus of the article. In the second half of the twentieth century, important changes took place in the world. These changes influenced the interest in small museums. Interest in these definitions is determined by the situation of development of modern Museum space. These changes are the emergence of new museums of this type and their active inclusion in the communication processes (interaction with the visitor, partnership projects, etc.). The history of small museums in the XIX–XXI centuries and micro museums in the second half of the XX — early XXI century is presented in the article. The main types of small museums are named: art museums, memorial museums (museums-apartments, museumscottages,
monographic museums), museums of one class of objects, museums of the history of
everyday culture. Based on the analysis of definitions, the definitions of a small Museum and a micro Museum are proposed. Small Museum is a Museum (sometimes — a Museum-type institution), which implements all areas of Museum activity (collection, exhibition, education) in conditions of limited resources (financial, human, administrative). The Micro-Museum implements the same direction in conditions of over-limited resources.
Key words: museology, museum, small museum, micro museum, museum space, cultural space.

 Balash A.N. Museum as an “Other Space” of Culture — 12 (Rus.)

Balash Alexandra Nicolaevna — Candidate of Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Saint-Petersburg State Institute of Culture, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, alexandrabalash@gmail.com

This article analyzes a number of modern concepts of a museum, which are defining essential and institutional aspects of a museum in connection with the current trends in the development of culture. The author is demonstrating that the conceptual ideas of a museum have been created with the contribution of the opposing dialogue with the systemic critique of a museum during philosophical discourse in ХХ — XXI centuries. The author analyzes the circumstances of the formation of the “postmuseum” and “postmuseology” concepts within the framework of the Museum Studies at Leicester and compares them with a number of other authoritative concepts. Particular attention is paid to the idea of a museum as a heterotopic space first expressed by M. Foucault and further developed in modern analytical museology. The domestic concepts of a museum have also been analyzed, which can be defined as the models of the heterotopic space intended for the preservation and personal comprehension of
cultural essences. In general, the article indicates the effectiveness of the idea of a museum as a heterotopic space in the context of understanding the phenomenon of postmuseum and the development of postmuseology as a scientific discipline addressed to the interdisciplinary discourse of post-classical humanitarian culture.
Key words: museum, postmuseum, age of the post-medium condition, muse imaginaire, museum without walls, heterotopia, postmuseology, analytical museology.

 Potapova M.V., Ievleva N.V. Relevance of Art Museum for Contemporary Russian Population — 23 (Rus.)

Potapova, Marina Vasilievna — Candidate of Science in Philosophy, Head of The Department of Applied Sociology and the Youth Services, the State Russian Museum, Russia, Saint- Petersburg, marinnna@mail.ru;
Ievleva, Natalia Victorovna — Leading Research Fellow, the State Russian Museum, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, yevleva@yandex.ru

The article addresses the relevance of art museums in modern Russia in reliance on sociological studies. The surveys of museum visitors give an insight into its naturally evolving target audience — individuals who are interested in art and intentionally visit museum expositions and temporary exhibitions. Comparison of social and demographic features of this cohort with the structure of modern Russian society demonstrates that target audience is mainly represented by people with high social, educational, cultural and financial status. This conclusion is in accordance with data obtained in other countries and confirms the fact that art museum remains an institution externalizing social inequalities. Evidently, visual art exists and evolves according to its own laws, independently of trends in cultural politics, and requires a certain level of personal and socio-cultural development for its perception. Thorough understanding of this fact helps to define appropriate strategies of audience engagement.
Key words: relevance of art museum, target audience, social stratification, country population.

 Bu I. Exhibition Projects of Jan Fabre in Classical Art Museums: Aspects of Dialogue of Tradition and Modernity — 33 (Rus.)

Bu I — student of Master’s programme in Museum Studies, Department of museum work and preservation of monuments, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, bovey777@gmail.com

The article considers the joint exhibiting and cultural dialogue of contemporary and classical art on the example of exhibition projects by Jan Fabre — a famous modern artist, sculpture, theater director, choreographer and actionist. As a material for analysis and comparison, two personal exhibitions of Jan Fabre — at the Louvre (2008) and at the State Hermitage (2016–2017) are taken. In the final part of the article an attempt is made to analyze the phenomenon of demonstration of contemporary art in the space of the classical art museum.
Key words: Jan Fabre, museum, exhibition, classical art, contemporary art.

Museology — Museum Studies

 Bonami Z.A. The Mental Games with an Object: In Search of the Museum
Communication Definition — 41 (Rus.)

Bonami Zinaida Amatusovna — Candidate of Science in Pedagogy, museologist, Russia, Moscow, bonamizinaida@gmail.com

The notion museum communication, firstly introduced in 1960th by the authors of “Curator”, and lately applied in 1980th by Z. Bonami for the study of the Soviet literary museums’ exhibition activities, now demands essential reconsideration. Present crisis of philosophical concepts, constructing the language picture of the world, essentially devaluate the cognitive possibilities of museum representation. Interpreting possibilities of museum hermeneutics are limited by several factors that manifest the primacy of emotion and sensivity, including the inclination of the contemporaries to take the past as an introversion, contrary to master history narrations; domination of visual culture; characteristic of the contemporary art, ect. Thus, the effect produced by a modern museum over its public, is rooted mainly in heuristic — the possibility
of a sign (i.e. museum object) to communicate the notions, along with the emotion
expression, defined as an affect. The present-day model of museum communication should be described not just as an information technology, but a framework of object, space and interpersonal practices, including a human-machine dialogue. However, basing on the expert records, it is worth assuming that in time perspective the social value of reason, science, progress would be re-established, as well as the unique interpretation mission of the museum.
Key words: museum communication, museum object, sign, symbol, representation, interpretation, hermeneutics, heuristic, affect, visuality.

 Kuklinova I.A. Universe of Objects in the “Museum” Theatre of S. Quiccheberg — 51 (Rus.)

Kuklinova Irina Anatolievna — Candidate of Science in Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Saint-Petersburg State University of Culture, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, i_kuklinova@mail.ru

One of the topics entering today in the research field of historical museology is the study of the treatise of the Flemish Samuel Quiccheberg, published in 1565. This work is considered by most researchers to be the first “museum” treatise. The service of Quiccheberg at the court of the Bavarian ruler coincided with the construction of a special building for the Kunstkammer in Munich. The time of the creation of the treatise is the period of the popularity of the works that systematize knowledge. The article traces the connection between the work of Quiccheberg and such encyclopedias of the second half of the 16th — early 17th centuries. The Flemish describes the world of a universal collection, characteristic of the Renaissance. The complex classification system of the universe includes five classes. The first includes items related to the creator of the assembly, belonging to a selected circle of scholars. Next come the
classes of the hands of human, natural creations, instruments. The fifth class is given to images, which makes the treatise popular with modern researchers the phenomenon of a virtual museum. Finally, special attention should be paid to the fact that the owner of the collection is not a passive contemplator, but an active researcher, objects of the collection serve to study the laws of the universe. In the article, the provisions of the treatise are illustrated by examples of modern for Quiccheberg collections and their owners.
Key words: S. Quiccheberg, Theater, Collection, Renaissance, Universe, Microcosm.

 Bakayutova L.N. Philately in the Space of a Museum: View from the standpoint of cultural theory — 59 (Rus.)

Backaiutova Liudmilla Nickolayevna — Candidate of Science in Cultural Studies, Curator-in-chief of the National philatelic collection, A.S. Popov Central Museum of Communications, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, bakayutova@rustelecom-museum.ru

The article deals with the idea of introducing the term “timbrology” as a word, which
most informatively renders the research processes affecting museum articles relating to history of post, postage stamps and postal stationery. Besides, the author sets the following tasks: to explain some most important timbrological and philatelic notions to a broad circle of readers; present all specific features and opportunities of «broadening» the museum space, which are associated with exhibiting philatelic items at the museums based on the activities of A.S. Popov Central Museum of Communication; and to try to substantiate the feasibility of creating a separate section of the State catalogue of Museum fund of the Russian Federation, which would be dedicated to stamps and postal stationery as unique museum articles, which have their own specific features and which have no analogs.
Key words: timbrologie (timbrology), philately, stamps and postal stationery, museum research, postal correspondence, national philatelic collection, object of cultural heritage.

Museum

 Bespalaya M.A. The Impact of the Socio-Cultural Situation in the Belarusian Provinces of the XIX— early XX Centuries on the Museum Movement — 71 (Rus.)

Bespalaya, Maria Arkadievna — Doctor of Science in History, Professor, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, Republic of Belarus, Minsk, kafistbel@gmail.com

The publication presents the review of the socio-cultural situation in the Belarusian provinces (gubernias) of the XIX — early XX centuries and its influence on the museum movement. The article concentrates on the peculiarity of the formation of the Belarusian national idea. The author concludes the museum movement to be the embodiment of the national idea. The interacting positive and negative factors of the phenomenon are revealed. Documentary sources of museum funds and research of historians and museologists served as the basis for the study.
Key words: Belarusian gubernias, Belarusian ethnos, Belarusian culture, museum, exposition, museum item.

 Nekrasova A.N. Faith in Reason. Leningrad Antireligious Museum as a Modernity Project — 80 (Rus.)

Nekrasova Alesia Nikolaevna — Junior Research Fellow, European University, Russia,
Saint-Petersburg, nelesy2@gmail.com

The article is devoted to the history of the Museum of Comparative Study of religions.
Museum was opened in Petrograd in 1923, renamed at Leningrad antireligious museum in 1924 and displaced to the building of Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in 1930. The idea of foundation of the museum was initiated by lecturers of Petrograd department of political education of the People’s Commissariat for Education. The exposition was planned according with ideas of typology of religion proposed by the anthropologist Lev Shternberg, who was a scientist of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Items for exposition were made in the Isidor Zolotarevsky’s Atelier of art reproduction using original items from the Hermitage and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. In the article I use the term “modernity” as a certain social and cultural paradigm based on philosophy of the Lumières and implied among other things
faith in reason, due to the emancipation of which the rejection of religion occurs, and in social progress. Based on texts left by founders of the Museum I try to show that, sharing common values, they considered its social significance self-evident and showed an intention to a social construction. The projected Museum had to become one of the tools of that construction.
Key words: Enlightenment, modernity, Leningrad antireligious museum, Saint Isaac’s
Cathedral, antireligious movement, reproduction of museum objects.

 Jumantayeva T.A. From the History of Creation and Activity of Polotsk Museum-Reserve — 92 (Rus.)

Jumantayeva Tamara Alexandrovna — Candidate of Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Director of Polotsk National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, Republic of Belarus, Polotsk, muzey@vitebsk.by

The article deals with the way of Polotsk museums from the ancient collections to the
modern museum-reserve from the museology point of view. Historical analysis shows that the development of the museum’s construction tends to accelerate. Particular attention is paid to the period of museum-reserve formation. Polotsk National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve is regarded as an example of the generating of artifacts by Polotsk museums and creating conditions for museumification as a basic principle of the museum-reserve. It is noted that the rich historical and cultural heritage of Polotsk, museum traditions and museumification of historical territory contributed to the development of a functional model of the museumreserve. The development of relations of the museum and the historical and cultural heritage and their transformation have created an innovative type of museum, — the Museum-Reserve, called to play a special role in the cultural renaissance of the city. It is part of the cultural space and the form at the same time of its functioning.
Key words: museum, museum-reserve, museology, museumification.

Monument

 Shukurova A.E. Work on the Research of the Collection of Paintings
at the Gatchina Palace-Museum in the 1920th: A case of intermuseum cooperation — 103 (Rus.)

Shukurova Aysulu Erkinovna — Senior Research Fellow, Curator of Paintings, the Gatchina Palace-Museum, Russia, Gatchina, ais.shukurova@yandex.ru

The attribution of painting is an important part of museum research work. Until 1917 the
imperial residences were the property of the Romanov family, therefore their artistic treasures were practically inaccessible for specialists. In the early years of the Gatchina Palace-Museum, a systematic scientific study of the palace collections of painting was begun by the employees of the Gatchina Palace-Museum. It was an important phase of the transformation of the royal palace to a public museum. In that work they were assisted by the colleagues from other museums, first of all by the employees of the State Hermitage, J.A. Schmidt and A.N. Benois. In the 1920s, foreign specialists, especially from German museums (Lübeck, Hesse), were interested in studying the paintings of the Gatchina Palace. They studied Flemish and Dutch painting, also with the help of the colleagues from Germany it was possible to clarify the attribution
of portraits. At that time a hand-written journal “Old Gatchina” was issued by the research department of the Gatchina Palace-Museum, a significant part of the articles in which was written by the chief curator, V.K. Makarov.
Key words: Gatchina, State Hermitage, portrait, V.P. Zubov, J.A. Schmidt, A.N. Benois,
V.K. Makarov.

  Vakhromeeva O.B. The Exhibitsof The Museum of The History of The School of Karl May in Saint-Petersburg as a Reflection of Pedagogical Principles of Its Creator — 110 (Rus.)

Vakhromeeva, Oksana Borisovna — Doctor of Science in History, Professor, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, o.vahromeeva@spbu.ru

The modern museum has many faces, the most significant of them is the educational one. Education is an indispensable element of pedagogy, both in the family and in school. The Museum of the History of the School of Karl Ivanovich May in St. Petersburg on the Vasilievsky Island, which is discussed in the article, is the center in which historical sources that reflect the educational principles of pedagogy of K. May are concentrated. The materials suggest the history of the creation of the museum collection, analyze the activity of the famous teacher, reveal the principles of practical pedagogy on the example of the museum exhibits.
Key words: May school, Karl May, Nikita Vladimirovich Blagovo, educational principles
of pedagogy, exposition.

 Bilyalova G.A. The Questions of Interpretation and Adaptation of Historical Monuments in the Contemporary Museum Exhibition: Case of the Museum of Almaty-City — 123 (Rus.)

Bilyalova, Gulmira Alimgazinovna — Leading Research Fellow, the Museum of Almaty-
City of Association of museums of Almaty-city, Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, mira.bilyal@yandex.kz

Тhe article is devoted to the history of the Zhetysu region — the history of the formation
of the early Saк associations, Uysun, Turkic, Karakitay (Kidan), Karluk, Naiman, Shagatai states. The historical monuments of the Bronze Age, the Early Iron Age, the Early and Late Middle Ages, various in their content, form, material, described in scientific sources from different positions must be collected in historical chronological order in the exposition and should carry the most authentic historical information to visitors. Complex processes of ethnogenesis of Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Uighur and other Turkic peoples, their role in the political events of the Middle Ages in Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan represent to the visitor of the museum in the interpretation of material monuments, as historical sources. When building a new exposition of the Almaty Museum, first, it was necessary to abandon the outdated stereotypes
of the show, inherent in most operating museums, apply a new approach to the exposition at the level of world standards, saturate the museum with unusual reconstructions, multimediaforms of showing the exposition.

Key words: Zhetysu region, the Museum of Almaty-City, interpretation, ethnogenesis,
the Mediaeval Ages.

Heritage

 Trofimova N.Yu. The Problems of Preservation and Museumificationof the Historical Heritage of the Kamenny Island — 133 (Rus.)

Trofimova Natalia Yuryevna — MA in Museology, Engineer, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, tasch_a@mail.ru

The article deals with the formation of the architectural and natural heritage of Kamenny
Island in the period of XVIII–XXI centuries. The aim of this work is the study of methods
of preservation and museumification of historical architectural objects. The development of country construction, traditions and customs associated with imperial Russia, is in the middle of the XVIII — beginning of XX centuries. The Soviet period (1917–1990) is characterized by the change of the functional purpose of cultural objects, establishment of a system of sanatoriums and rest houses in the former mansions. The post-Soviet period marked a new milestone in the development of the island, the revival of private ownership. A modern form of protection of the island does not account for continuity in the planning structure, which leads to the diversity of the architectural space. The work tasks include research of legal issues on the protection of the architectural heritage, marking the ways of preservation with the use of visual technologies. Source base of the study consists of pre-revolutionary editions, articles and publications of the Soviet period, reference books, modern e-publications, dictionaries, legal documents, law codes. Used monographs dedicated to the history of the emergence and development of the architectural space of the Kamenny Island, as well as general issues of
preservation of monuments of architecture. The relevance of the theme is related to the study of national memory, embodied in monuments. The author presents a number of measures for the development and preservation of recreational and tourist potential of the area, the design of the historical-cultural space of the island as the interest place of the city.
Key words: monument of architecture, historical heritage, noble estate, cultural landscape, excursion route.

 Popov V.A. The Contradictions in the Field of Protection of Architectural Heritage: The Search for Causes and Reasons — 143 (Rus.)

Popov, Vadim Alekseevich — Chairman of the Council of the Mari regional branch of
The All-Russian Society for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments, Russia, Yoshkar-Ola, popov_vadim65@mail.ru

The article gives an attempt to take a fresh look at the problems connected with the protection of the cultural — and especially — architectural heritage of Russia. The very need to protect the heritage derives from the possibility of conflict situations, which in different societies are solved differently, but have, as a rule, common roots. The thesis is held about the prevailing influence of the attitude to the heritage that has developed in society and its consideration from the position of psychoanalysis. Differences in the perception of objects of architecture, visual and applied art by society are revealed on the basis of the unspoken inviolability principle, and author make an attempt to explain these differences by the deep processes of unconscious activity. Further, the author analyzes the approaches taken to date to identify architectural monuments. The society cannot ensure the protection of the entire historical environment, which has a certain value, and is limited to the artificial allocation of a number of protected sites and places of interest. The one-sidedness and subjectivity of the prevailing stereotypes in the study of heritage becomes most noticeable in the transition from theoretical research to practical actions — the division of objects into “monuments” and “non-monuments”.
Issues of continuity in the transfer of the newly formed architectural environment to descendants, the identification of new objects with a hypothetical possibility of being included in the category of cultural heritage in the future remain unresolved.
Key words: building, monument of architecture, object of cultural heritage, architectural
property, principle of inviolability.

 Zheng Yu. The Tools for Creating the Image of China in the Scenery of the Ballet “The Red Poppy” — 153 (Rus.)

Zheng, Yu — PhD Student, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russia, Saint-Petersburg, 617937110@qq.com

The article analyzes the decoration decisions of the first two editions of the “Red Poppy” ballet, staged in Moscow and Leningrad. The study of ways to transfer the image of China, created by the artist-decorators on the stage of the theater, allows us to look at the level of mutual understanding between Russia and China of that time, characterize the degree of awareness of the citizens of the USSR about China and its realities, and highlight important cultural symbols-images of China inherent in Russians. The material of the study was photographs from the plays of those years, collected by the author from various sources. A preliminary conclusion is drawn about three main ways
of recreating China on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater and GATob: the re-creation of recognizable details of Chinese architecture on the stage; the inclusion in the scenery of recognizable Chinese symbols (including the reference to Chinese hieroglyphic writing); imitation of traditional Chinese guohua painting. One can say that the ideas about China in the late 1920s and 1940s were superficial. The production directors of the “Red Poppy” ballet in Moscow and Leningrad, relying on the works of ancient Chinese art, decorate the scenery more closely with the style of the chinoiser.
Key words: ballet “The Red Poppy”, ballet decor, traditional Chinese painting, the image of China, the history of the Bolshoi Theatre, the history of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Download full issue  MUSEUM — MONUMENT — HERITAGE 1 (3) / 2018