MUSEUM. MONUMENT. HERITAGE 2 (10) / 2021

A Problem in Focus: Heritage and Challenges of Modern World

 Katsaridou I. The Crisis Displayed: Greece’s Participations in the Venice Art Biennale — 5 (Eng.)

Katsaridou, Iro — PhD, Curator, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Greece, Thessaloniki,
akatsaridou@culture.gr

Since the end of 2009 Greece has experienced a sovereign debt crisis that continues to
plague the country up to today, especially in the light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The Crisis, as it is widely known in the country, reached the populace as a series of sudden European Union-driven reforms and austerity measures that led to a harsh impoverishment of the population. Meanwhile, since 2015 Greece has experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants and refugees fleeing war and deprivation in their home countries in the Middle East and South Asia in search of a better and safer life in the EU. The present paper focuses on the artistic discourse addressing the financial and social crisis in Greece, as this is exemplified in three artworks selected to represent the country at the Venice Art Biennale (2011, 2013, 2017).
The fact that despite the economic difficulties and political turmoil, Greece continued to be represented in this important international event throughout all the years of the crisis, makes it a unique case study for the discourse that the official Greek cultural policy chooses to adopt in international art forums.
Key words: Venice Art Biennale, contemporary art, curatorial policies, economic crisis,
refugee crisis, ethical regime of images

 Biryukova M.V. On the Meaning of Curating — 15 (Rus.)

Biryukova, Marina Valerievna — Doctor of Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Saint-
Petersburg State University, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, m.birjukova@spbu.ru

In the theory of culture, art, and museum work, there are a significant number of definitions of curatorial activity. The role of the curator is contradictory and multifaceted: from an author of the exhibition concept to an organizer of art projects, teacher, educator, mediator, manager, theorist and art connoisseur. This essay attempts to generalize and classify the essential qualities of the curator and the curatorial project, based on existing opinions of theorists and art lovers, starting with the interpretation of Daniel Buren — “curator as a super-artist” and “exhibition as a work of art” and ending with definitions given by master students of the Department of Museum Work and Protection of Monuments of the Saint-Petersburg State University at the colloquium on the course “Contemporary exhibition process and curatorial projects”.
Key words: curator, curatorial project, contemporary art, museum, exhibition, theory of
culture.

 Petrunina L.Ya. What is Museum Today? Towards developing New Definition — 27 (Rus.)

Petrunina, Liubov Yakovlevna — Candidate of Science in Philosophy, curator of the ICOM Russia project “Recognize your visitors!”, independent museum consultant, Russian Federation, Moscow, Liubovgtg@yandex.ru

The article presents an analysis concerning the materials of the two editions of the International Committee for Museology of ICOM (ICOFOM), based on the last two symposia devoted to the decolonization of museology: “Decolonising Museology: Museums, Community Action and Decolonisation” and “The Decolonisation of Museology: Museums, Mixing, and Myths of Origin”. The review of the material thematically is arranged in four blocks. The first one includes a description of solutions by foreign colleagues to museum problems that have arisen in response to demands from various social groups to change the principles of a museum’s activity with a colonial heritage. The second block develops new approaches to the problem of restitution. The third one reveals the methods of rethinking the heritage that came to European museums in period of the colonial conquests. The fourth block depicts the postcolonial situation in the culture of the former colonies. The analysis of the two issues makes it possible to present the current trends that transform the parameters of the museum activities in the modern world, which together change the museum landscape towards its deconstruction. The article proposes a concept of activities regarding cultural values as the basis for the formation of a museum and its transformation towards a social institution today. Based on the analysis of the ongoing
changes, it is proposed to refine the formulation of the new definition of a museum notion.
Key words: deconstruction, ICOFOM, decolonization of museology, museum without
collections.

 Dianova E.V. Local Experience of Protection of Monuments:
Historical Retrospective on the Example of Povenets District of Karelia — 47 (Rus.)

Dianova, Elena Vasilyevna — Doctor of Science in History, the Associate Professor, the
Petrozavodsk State University, Russian Federation, Petrozavodsk, elena-dianowa@yandex.ru

In this article provides an analysis of information about the religious and industrial buildings of the former Povenets district, included in the 1920s in the lists of valuable monuments of antiquity, art and nature of Karelia, compiled by the head of the Karelian Museum V.I. Krylov and the director of the Central Public Library of Karelia I.M. Nikolsky. Comparison was made with objects of historical and cultural heritage of the Medvezhyegorsky district, formed instead of the Povenets district as a result of zoning the territory of Karelia. During the study, it was possible to establish that out of 20 monuments (list of V.I. Krylov), only 6 objects were preserved, out of 22 monuments (list of I.M. Nikolsky) — 8 buildings. The most famous of the surviving objects of historical and cultural heritage are monuments of wooden architecture of federal significance: the Epiphany Church in the village of Chelmuzhi; Barbara Church, which moved from Yandomozero to Tipinitsa; Church of Alexander Svirsky in Cosmozero; Arkhangelsk
chapel in Pajanitsy; Transfiguration Church on the island of Kizhi. Unfortunately, over
the past decades, the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Povenza has been lost; Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the village of Kuzaranda; Ascension Church in Tipinitsy; Paleostrovsky Church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Sennaya Guba on Bolshoi Klimenetsky Island in Lake Onega were lost too. Although even ruins, such as the remains of the domain of the Povenets plant, can become the object of a tourist route.
Key words: monument, wooden architecture, churches, chapels, factory, historical, cultural and industrial heritage, objects of cultural heritage.

 Hookk D.Yu., Kharitonova T.Yu. Digits about Digital: the Reputation and Rating of Museum in the Context of Remote Work — 70 (Rus.)

Hookk, Daria Yurievna — Candidate of Science in Philology, Senior Research Fellow,
the State Hermitage Museum, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, hookk@hermitage.ru;
Kharitonova, Tatiana Yurievna — Candidate of Science in Psychology, Research Fellow,
the State Hermitage Museum, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, tatiana@hermitage.ru.

The debate about a definition on the reputation of museum has been going on for years.
This includes international activity, social responsibility, the preservation of traditions, the effectiveness of the organization of the management of the institution and the image of the people working in it. The simple solution calculating the numbers of traffic and generated revenue was criticized. Data about real users was gradually supplemented with information about virtual sessions. The number of platforms and information channels that the museum must work with is constantly growing. Remote work in the context of the pandemic revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the previously created information resources, and the State Hermitage Museum is not an exception. Volume of the information coming from various sources in digital form is growing like a snowball, and the concept of museum communication is still not clearly defined. Using the research of the museum audience in the General Staff, the conclusion about the connection between the functional and personal components of museum communication is formulated, as well as the importance of on-line and off-line communication between museum employees and visitors.
As an alternative to the reputation of a museum, the concept of a ranking has emerged,
which can vary in real time, demonstrating a dynamic assessment of the activity of a cultural institution. Changes in the quantitative indicators that show the rating of the museum on the platform ProКультура.рф, due to the method of its calculation. The analysis of the situation is made considering the choice of the strategy for reflecting the museum’s activities in the digital space and the model of museum communication. The task for museum staff is not just to learn how to use the new reporting tool, but to understand in practice what makes up the museum’s reputation for visitors. The question of whether the digital images of museums and excursions in the virtual space meet the expectations of visitors is subject to further research.
Key words: museum communication, museum reputation, museum ranking, digital culture, museum studies.

Museum 

 Tuminskaya O.A. An Icon Frame: Sign, Index, and Symbol in a Museum — 81 (Rus.)

Tuminskaya, Olga Anatolievna — Doctor of Art History, Head of the Sector of Aesthetic
Education, Methodic Department, the State Russian Museum, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, olgmorgun@yandex.ru

The museum space, which includes an exhibition of icons, looks special. In most cases,
the museum design refers the viewer to the allusion of the temple interior. Modern exhibitions, which include icons, can build a dialogue with the viewer by using computer technology to reproduce the historical authentic interior, or to set the visitor to the perception of the icon as an object of entelechic perception of the world. In this perspective, the icon can position a sign of the time, style, and spirit of the era and provoke the viewer to active contemplation. The icon is closely related to architecture. Internally, the church space indicates the location of the icon as a result of the content context of the services, calendar and festive ritual, and coordination with the frescoes. The icon is part of the iconostasis. The frame of the icon is not a frame like the usual wooden edging, but a whole iconographic complex that helps to better understand
the work itself. The article pays attention to such types of iconographic framing as a kiosk, hagiographic stamps, iconostasis openings, enamel cells. Each of these examples evokes associations with the sign, index, and symbol of the visual semiotics proposed by Charles S. Peirce. The frame of an icon is not a frame, but a demarcation bordering the plane of the wall (mural), which creates a sharp perception, at the same time separating the picturesque spot from the neighboring background and at the same time introducing it into the general visual space.
Key words: icon, icon in the church, icon in the exhibition, icon-painting frame, sign,
index, symbol.

 Malorod D.D. Household Museum in the Yelagin Palace in 1910s–1920s — 88 (Rus.)

Malorod, Daria Dmitrievna — worker of the funds department, The Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, dariamalorod@yandex.ru.

After the Great October Socialist Revolution a new type of museums appeared in Russia — household museums or historical museums of everyday life. The term was understood to mean both museums with recreated dwellings of nobles, merchants or working class, that took place less often, and also museums established in the palaces of the royal family and the nobility where the authentic interiors were preserved. These museums differed from their prerevolutionary counterparts essentially because they were state-owned which meant they took on ideological undertones and often were much poorer. In the article the author examines one of these newly formed museums on the example of the Elagin Palace in the period between the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 and the establishment of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation on the island in 1932. It should be noted that in Russian museology the history of the Elagin Palace is restricted either to the consideration of its existence in the hands
of the St. Petersburg nobility and the royal family, or to the establishment of the Central Park on the island in the 1930s, so the facts from the history of the 1920s remain unexplored. The author examined the archival materials of the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg to reconstruct the course of events on the island in the late 1910s — 1920s. In the article the author consistently focuses on the history of ownership of the island, the financial aspects of museum work, the peculiarities of creating expositions and exhibitions, educational and scientific activities during the period under review. The article is intended to expand our understanding of museum construction in the first years of Soviet state and fill in the missing information on the history of the Yelagin Palace.
Key words: museumification, nationalization, household museum, museums of history,
park-and-palace complex, exposition, restoration.

  Shegren A.M. The Projects about Museum Workers as a personified Story about Museum — 101 (Rus.)

Shegren, Anastasiia Mikhaylovna — Bachelor of Museology, Student of Master Programme, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, nshegren@bk.ru

In this article the author examines how, in the era of the metanarrative crisis, the strategies of interaction between the museum and society are being transformed by the example of creating projects dedicated to the work of museum employees. According to the researcher, such plots, which reveal the specifics of museum work, make it possible to visually demonstrate the functions of the institution in a historical perspective, emphasize the socio-cultural orientation and strengthen the position of the museum in a market economy and forced competition. The study proposes a conditional typification: temporary and permanent exhibitions that directly passed through the physical spaces of a museum or exhibition hall, and projects implemented in a virtual environment. The analyzed precedents from both groups can also be divided into two thematic groups: the first group tells about important historical events and the role of museum staff in them; the second group deals with aspects of museum self-presentation and talks about the specifics of museum work, focusing on museum professions. The experience of domestic museum institutions is used as a research base. The author of the article notes that all these projects are carried out within the framework of the anthropologization of museum narratives and in the general cultural sense are associated with an anthropological turn.
Key words: metanarrative crisis, exposition, museum profession, anthropological turn.

Monument

 Gertzen A.G., Dushenko A.A., Ruev V.L. Rock Art near the Village of Krasny Mak in the Crimea: А New Discovery of Prehistoric Monument — 107 (Rus.)

Gertzen, Alexander Germanovich — Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of History, Head of the Department of the History of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages, the Tauride Academy of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University”, Russian Federation, Simferopol, gertsenag@yandex.ru;
Dushenko, Anton Anatolievich — Candidate of Historical Sciences, the Research Fellow, Scientific Research Center of History and Archaeology of Crimea, the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University”, Russian Federation, Simferopol, tnu.dushenko@mail.ru;
Ruev, Vladimir Leonidovich — Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, the Tauride Academy of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University”, Russian Federation, Simferopol, vl.ruev@gmail.com.

A remarkable archaeologist and researcher of rock art Abram Davidovich Stolyar made
a significant contribution to the study of the Stone Age of the Crimean peninsula. He rightly stated that the discovery of new rock carvings in the Crimea is still ahead and cannot be ruled out even at famous sites of archaeological heritage. The validity of this judgment was confirmed by the discovery in the mid-2000s of a complex of rock carvings on the western slope of Mount Kyzyk-Kulak-Kaya, located in the Second ridge of the Crimean Mountains south of the village of Krasny Mak in the Bakhchisarai district. The rock carvings are located on the western cliff of the mountain in one of the rock grottoes. There are three compositions on the rock surface, including anthropomorphic figures, images of animals and drawings of a symbolic nature. It is assumed that the storylines of the rock paintings reflect the migration of pastoralists, as well as the performance of a certain ritual by a shaman. Drawings of wheeled carts and
horsemen on horseback act as chrono-indicators of images on the Kyzyk-Kulak-Kaya — they could not have appeared earlier than the Bronze Age. Analogies of similar writings are also noted in the Southern Urals and in Khakassia.The publication analyzes the semantic similarities and differences with images from other Crimean archaeological sites — the sites of Tash-Air and Alim’s beam, on a stone box near the village of Dolinnoye, as well as with relief images on steles found near the villages of Kazanki and Bakhchi-Eli.
Key words: the Crimea, rock art, Kyzyk-Kulak-kaya, Tash-Air, Alimova Balka.

  Minasyan R.S. Two Knives from Black Metal with a Gold Overlay Décor from
the Arzan-2 Mound — 123 (Rus.)

Minasyan, Raphael Sergeevitch — Candidate of Science in History, the Leading Research Fellow, the State Hermitage, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, minasyan1940@yandex.ru

This article examines the problem of the appearance of ferrous metal products in Western Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The settled population of the Caucasus, Greek cities and nomads of the Eastern European steppes already had iron knives and weapons by the 7th century BC. They were made using special methods of blacksmithing technique. Recently, there has been an assumption that rare black metal products found in the graves of Asian steppes` nomads are made of iron. They indicate the beginning of the Iron Age among the nomads already in the VIII–VII centuries BC. It is usually believed that in ancient times iron objects were made only by forging, but this is a misconception. Akinak, klevets and, obviously, two knives with a gold overlay décor from the Arzan-2 and a number of other black metal Siberian finds were made not by forging, but by casting. This is indicated by the trassological signs, shape and design features of these objects. However, in ancient times, things made of iron and steel were not cast anywhere. In the Near East, the Caucasus and Europe, ferrous metal
products were made only by blacksmithing method. And in Ancient China, the Iron Age began with the development of iron foundry production. Nomads continued to use bronze weapons as early as the third century BC. It is necessary to determine how the cast-iron weapons got to the nomads and find out who made them and where. Early iron forged and cast iron items could get to the nomads through contacts with the population who had already mastered the processing of ferrous metal.
Key words: Western Siberia, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, China, ferrous metallurgy, wrought iron, Kecast iron, cast iron and iron objects, bronze and iron weapon, the problems of the appearance of ferrous metallurgy among the nomads.

 Pavlova A.N., Popov V.A. The Trinity Church in Yaransk City: Аn Attempt of Reconstruction — 135 (Rus.)

Pavlova, Angelika Nikolaevna — Doctor of Science in History, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of History and Psychology, the Volga State Technological University, Russian Federation, Yoshkar-Ola, PavlovaAN@volgatech.net;
Popov, Vadim Alekseevitch — Senior Lecturer, the Volga State Technological University,
Russian Federation, Yoshkar-Ola, popov_vadim65@mail.ru.

The building of the Troitsky Cathedral that exists today in the city of Yaransk is the successor of a older temple built at the end of the 17th century. The tent-roofed bell tower remaining from the previous church is magnificent, the church building itself could have an unusual architecture. This assumption is supported by the legend among local historians about the connection between the construction of the Trinity Church and the fact that the exiled Vasily Romanov, the uncle of the future Tsar Mikhail Fedorovitch, was in Yaransk. Unfortunately, detailed images of the lost temple have not been preserved. The authors are trying to reconstruct the appearance of the Trinity Church, involving, among other sources, the image of a certain stone temple on the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, located in the Assumption Cathedral in Yaransk. It is hypothesized that, despite the subject relating to the event of the 16th century in Kazan — the acquisition of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, — the background
for this plot could have been one of the 19th century landscapes of Yaransk surrounding the icon painter. The article also analyzes such factors as the manner in which the drawings are executed and the features of the interiors and clothing of the characters depicted on them. The authors admit a large share of the likelihood that the icon was painted in Yaransk, and the local Trinity Church was chosen as the prototype of the temple depicted on the icon.
Key words: Yaransk, Trinity Church, tent bell tower, Kazan Icon of the Mother of God,
iconostasis, miniatures.

Heritage

 Ananiev V.G., Bukharin M.D. Towards the History of the S.A. Vengerov’s Archive in 1920s — 146 (Rus.)

Ananiev, Vitaly Gennadievitch — Doctor of Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Saint-
Petersburg State University, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, v.ananev@spbu.ru;
Bukharin, Mikhail Dmitrievitch — Doctor of Science in History, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Chief Researcher, the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation, Moscow, michabucha@gmail.com.

The archival collection of Professor S.A. Vengerov was one of the most important sources for the development of a number of branches of humanitarian knowledge in the USSR, including Slavic studies. However, through almost the entire pre-war period the systematic use of the Vengerov archive in the interests of science was not possible, the problem of its preservation was the key-point. Not all the documents on the history of the Vengerov archive during the period after the death of his collector were brought into scientific circulation. In this publication, 18 documents from the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg and Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences are introduced. They demonstrate the modus vivendi of the largest archival collection on the history of Russian literature. As these documents show, the idea of creation of a separate research institute based on the Vengerov archive at Petrograd (Leningrad) University was rejected. During the period of relative institutional stabilization
of scientific life in the pre-war USSR, it was decided to transfer the archival collection
to the Institute of Russian Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences (“Pushkin House”). A separate problem, which the Soviet science had to face, was preservation of the archive of S.A. Vengerov as a whole, undivided unit.
Key words: archive, S.A. Vengerov, heritage, Slavic studies.

  Gerasimova E.I., Petunin M.S., Bazolin K.V. Hammer and Sickle — Decoration of the Spire of the North River Terminal in Moscow: Study and Restoration — 159 (Rus.)

Gerasimova, Ekaterina Igorevna — Candidate of Science in Geology and Mineralogy, Senior Research Fellow, the Vernadsky State Geological Museum of RAS, Russian Federation, Moscow, ekgera@gmail.com;
Petunin, Maxim Sergeevitch — First Deputy General Director of ArtStroyTechnology
LLC, Russian Federation, Moscow, info@isirgi.ru;
Bazolin, Konstantin Valerievitch — Director of Lazurit-D LLC, Russian Federation, Moscow, kvbazolin@gmail.com.

A unique architectural monument — the building of the North River Terminal was opened in 1937 and became the key and largest construction on the Moscow Canal. The station was created according to the project of architect A.M. Rukhlyadev and was previously called “the new Stalin water gate of Moscow” or “the port of the five seas”. For the first time in the more than eighty-year history of the monument, in 2018–2020, a full range of restoration works was carried out here, including the diagnosis of gems from the heraldic emblems of Hammer and Sickle in the main symbol of the North River Terminal — a golden star (more than 4 m high). During the work, each stone of the inlay was examined and its mineral nature determined. A total of 731 stones were identified (691 of them — quartz, 29 — topaz, 8 samples — beryl and 3 — faceted glass) and their origin was established. Most of the stones have a diamond type of cut of round or oval shape, all topazes are cut with an emerald type of cut. There are also unusual shapes with a fancy cut, and one cabochon was also found. During the restoration
work, it was determined that the emblems were made at the Obukhov plant in Leningrad, and the star was made at the Molotov Moscow state metal refining plant, the stones were cut in the Urals, and they were installed in the emblems in Leningrad.
Key words: gems, precious stones, North River Terminal, hammer and sickle, golden star.

 Voskresenskaya A.E. The 16th Century St. Arseny Konevsky’ Shrine Cover as Historical Source, Monument, Place of Memory — 170 (Rus.)

Voskresenskaya, Anna Ernstovna — M.A. in Museology, Director, Konevitsa Nativity
Monastery Museum, Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg, konevitsa.museo@gmail.com

The article is devoted to the cover on the shrine of St. Arseny Konevsky, which was donated in 1551 to the Konevitsa monastery founded by him. The cover is considered as a place of memory of the monastic brethren according to the concept developed by Pierre Nora. The role of the cover in forming the identity of the Konevitsa brethren is analyzed. The text embroidered on the cover suggests that a century after his death (in the 15th century) St. Arseny Konevsky was already revered as a saint. Since a significant part of the historical sources of the Konevitsa monastery has been lost, the cover is the only material evidence of this position. Thus, it was preserved not only as a historical monument, but also as an evidence of the veneration of St. Arseny Konevsky. The article gives versions about the cover possible place of creation and traces its fate. There is no mention of it until the 19th century, but it is obvious that the fate of the cover was closely connected with that of the relics of St. Arseny Konevsky, as well as other items associated with the founder of the Konevitsa monastery. Thus, the early history
of the cover is reconstructed by analogy. The fate of the object in the XIX–XX centuries is investigated by written sources (both published and archival), as well as by photographic data. At present the cover is preserved in the RIISA museum (Kuopio, Finland) being among the oldest exhibits along with other items from the Konevitsa monastery. A replica of the shroud is on display in the Konevitsa Monastery Museum.
Key words: Konevitsa, Konevitsa monastery, st. Arseny Konevsky, monastery museum, cover, canonization, relics, shrine.

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