Solidarity in the Museum: Practices of Representation of Social Problems in Russian Institutions of Contemporary Art
Research Article
How to Cite
Petrova L.E. Solidarity in the Museum: Practices of Representation of Social Problems in Russian Institutions of Contemporary Art. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2023. Vol. 15. No. 4. P. 56-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2023.15.4.3 (in Russ.).
Abstract
In 2021, 95.5 million people visited Russian museums, and this is sufficient reason to consider the role of museums more than just the collection, storage and demonstration of heritage. Are museums a space of solidarity — do they represent social problems, do they articulate social interests, commonalities and differences of groups? It is especially important to apply this to the institutions of contemporary art in Russia, which over the past 30 years have found their audience and confirmed the reputation of independence, rejection of the canons, and problematization of everyday life. Using the example of two private metropolitan and one well-known state non-capital museum, the author analyzed the content of expositions for 2020-2021 using two methods. The theoretical framework of the study is social constructionism and post-structuralism. The purpose of the article is to characterize the forms and degree of criticality of artistic expression on the example of contemporary art institutions. The author's typology of models for the representation of social problems by museums is used — classical, critical and participatory. Based on empirical data on the expositions of three museums of contemporary art, a conclusion is made about the poorly realized potential of museums of contemporary art as an institution of solidarity — it has clearly not developed. The data demonstrate quantitative differentiation in the representation of critical statements at exhibitions of various institutions — from a third to a half of the exhibitions do not have a critical orientation, do not involve the viewer in the discussion of social problems. The initial nature of the study indicates the need to supplement the methodology with expert assessments, substantiate the measuring model for studying the sphere of culture in general and the museum in particular as an institution of solidarity.
Keywords:
solidarity, museum, contemporary art, articulation of interests, representation of social problems
References
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Postnaya Ye. (2016) Muzey istorii GULAGa kak otrazheniye travmaticheskogo opyta [GULAG History Museum as a Reflection of Traumatic Experience"]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 8. No. 12. P. 68—79. (In Russ.)
Rozhdestvenskaya Ye., Tartakovskaya I. (2011) Prostranstvo pamyati v “Afganskom” muzeye: popytki dogovorit'sya s proshlym [Memory Space in the “Afghan” the Museum Attempts to Negotiate with the Past]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 5. No. 6. P. 103—117.
Rudenko N.I. (2014) Infrastruktura, seti, peregovory: proizvodstvo traditsionnoy kul'tury v etnograficheskom muzeye [Infrastructure, Networks, Negotiations: the Production of Traditional Culture in the Ethnographic Museum]. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii [The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology]. Vol. 17. No. 3. P. 134—150. (In Russ.)
Shmeleva N.V. (2022) O kriteriyakh sovremennogo iskusstva: kulturologicheskiy podkhod [About Criteria of Modern Art: Cultural Approach]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Kulturologiya i iskusstvovedeniye [Tomsk State University Journal of Cultural Studies and Art History]. No. 45. P. 172—183. (In Russ.) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17223/22220836/45/16
Shubert K. (2016) Udel kuratora. Koncepciya muzeya ot Velikoj franczuzskoj revolyucii do nashix dnej [The Curator's Lot. The Concept of the Museum from the Great French Revolution to the Present Day]. Moscow: Garazh. (In Russ.)
Strelnikova A. (2014) Pamyatnik bez muzeya, muzey bez pamyatnika: neprostaya biografiya “Rabochego i kolkhoznitsy” [Monument, no Museum, no Monument: the Challenging Biography of the “Worker and Kolkhoznitsa”]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 6. No. 8. P. 52—58. (In Russ.)
Tartakovskaya I., Tarnovskaya Ye. (2014) “Odnoy pravdy net”: vizualizatsiya politiki pamyati v istoricheskom muzeye [“The One Truth”: Rendering of the Politics of Memory in the Historical Museum]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 6. No. 8. P. 59—72. (In Russ.)
Antonov A.Yu., Veryev A.A., Kostyukova T.A., Domanskiy V.A. (2017) Trehstadijnaya model ispolzovaniya oblaka tegov i koncept-kart v uchebnom processe dlya raboty s angloyazychnymi tekstami [Three-Stage Model of Using the Tags Cloud and Concept Maps in the Educational Process of Working with English Texts]. Yazyk i kultura [Language and Culture]. No. 40. P. 122—134. (In Russ.) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17223/19996195/40/10
Burlutskaya M.G., Kostina D.A., Kochukhova Ye.S. (2018) “Chto-to novoye i neobychnoye”: auditoriya sovremennogo iskusstva v krupnykh gorodakh Rossii [“Something New and Extraordinary”: Contemporary Art Audience in Major Russian Cities]. Moscow; Ekaterinburg: OOO “Fabrika komiksov”. (In Russ.)
Fedosova M.Ye., Gasymova A.M., Lyanenko A.G. (2022) Mediaobraz skulptury bolshaya glina № 4 kak protivostoyaniye sovremennogo iskusstva i obshchestvennogo mneniya [Media Image of Big Clay 4 as Confrontation of Modern Art and Public Awareness]. Universum: filologiya i iskusstvovedeniye [Universum: Philology and Art Criticism]. Vol. 96. No. 6. P. 7—12. (In Russ.) DOI: https://10.32743/UniPhil.2022.96.6.13908
Kenigsberg Ye.YA. (2020) Proyekt mezhregionalnogo razvitiya v oblasti sovremennogo iskusstva NEMOSKVA kak kontseptualnyy resursnyy tsentr sovremennogo iskusstva [The Project of Interregional Development in the Field of Contemporary art NEMOSKVA as a Conceptual Contemporary Art Resource Center]. Iskusstvo i kultura [Art and Culture]. Vol. 37. No. 1. P. 25—31. (In Russ.)
Kiseleva A.E., Muromskaya A.V. (2020) Cancel culture i institut reputatsii v Rossii [Cancel Culture and Reputation Institution in Russia]. Molodoy uchenyy [Young Scientist]. Vol. 338. No. 48. P. 585—588. (In Russ.)
Krauss R., Foster H., Bois Y.-A., Buchloh B. (2019) Iskusstvo s 1900 goda: modernizm, antimodernizm, postmodernizm [Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism]. Moscow: Ad Marginem. (In Russ.)
Maksimova A.S. (2019) Razvitiye podkhodov k izucheniyu muzeyev v sotsial'nykh i gumanitarnykh naukakh [Development of Approaches to Studying Museums in Social Sciences and Humanities]. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii [The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology]. Vol. 22. No. 2. P. 118—146. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2019.22.2.5
Malik Yu.S. (2022) Iskusstvo v kontekste sovremennykh teoriy sotsial'nogo: kriticheskiy analiz [Art in the Context of Modern Theories of the Social: a Critical Analysis]. Vestnik Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Filosofiya [Scientific Journal. Proceedings of Voronezh State University. Series: Philosophy]. Vol. 43. No. 1. P. 89—94. (In Russ.)
Mu Yu. (2022) Reprezentatsiya obraza Kitaya v russkoyazychnykh blogakh o sovremennom iskusstve [Representation of the Image of China in Russian-Language Blogs about Contemporary Art]. Kazanskaya nauka [Kazan Science]. Vol. 43. No. 1. P. 89—94. (In Russ.)
Petrova L.Ye., Burlutskaya M.G. (2020) Auditoriya sovremennogo iskusstva v krupnykh gorodakh Rossii: yadro, periferiya i perspektiva [The Audience of Contemporary Art in Major Russian Cities: Core, Periphery and Perspective Audience]. Mir Rossii. Sotsiologiya. Etnologiya [Universe of Russia. Sociology. Ethnology]. Vol. 29. No. 4. P. 171—203. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/1811-038X-2020-29-4-171-203
Petrova L.Е. (2021) Novaya muzeynaya etika: kto vybirayet ekologiyu kak prioritet organizatsionnogo razvitiya? [New Museum Ethics: Who Chooses Ecology as a Priority of Organizational Development?]. Kultura i ekologiya — osnovy ustoychivogo razvitiya Rossii. Bezal'ternativnost' zelenoy strategii [Culture and Ecology — the Basis of Sustainable Development in Russia. No Alternative to a Green Strategy]. Yekaterinburg: Uralskiy federalnyy universitet imeni pervogo Prezidenta Rossii B.N. Yeltsina. P. 151—158. (In Russ.)
Postnaya Ye. (2016) Muzey istorii GULAGa kak otrazheniye travmaticheskogo opyta [GULAG History Museum as a Reflection of Traumatic Experience"]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 8. No. 12. P. 68—79. (In Russ.)
Rozhdestvenskaya Ye., Tartakovskaya I. (2011) Prostranstvo pamyati v “Afganskom” muzeye: popytki dogovorit'sya s proshlym [Memory Space in the “Afghan” the Museum Attempts to Negotiate with the Past]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 5. No. 6. P. 103—117.
Rudenko N.I. (2014) Infrastruktura, seti, peregovory: proizvodstvo traditsionnoy kul'tury v etnograficheskom muzeye [Infrastructure, Networks, Negotiations: the Production of Traditional Culture in the Ethnographic Museum]. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii [The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology]. Vol. 17. No. 3. P. 134—150. (In Russ.)
Shmeleva N.V. (2022) O kriteriyakh sovremennogo iskusstva: kulturologicheskiy podkhod [About Criteria of Modern Art: Cultural Approach]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Kulturologiya i iskusstvovedeniye [Tomsk State University Journal of Cultural Studies and Art History]. No. 45. P. 172—183. (In Russ.) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17223/22220836/45/16
Shubert K. (2016) Udel kuratora. Koncepciya muzeya ot Velikoj franczuzskoj revolyucii do nashix dnej [The Curator's Lot. The Concept of the Museum from the Great French Revolution to the Present Day]. Moscow: Garazh. (In Russ.)
Strelnikova A. (2014) Pamyatnik bez muzeya, muzey bez pamyatnika: neprostaya biografiya “Rabochego i kolkhoznitsy” [Monument, no Museum, no Monument: the Challenging Biography of the “Worker and Kolkhoznitsa”]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 6. No. 8. P. 52—58. (In Russ.)
Tartakovskaya I., Tarnovskaya Ye. (2014) “Odnoy pravdy net”: vizualizatsiya politiki pamyati v istoricheskom muzeye [“The One Truth”: Rendering of the Politics of Memory in the Historical Museum]. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya. [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation.]. Vol. 6. No. 8. P. 59—72. (In Russ.)
Article
Received: 08.11.2022
Accepted: 29.12.2023
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APA
Petrova, L. E. (2023). Solidarity in the Museum: Practices of Representation of Social Problems in Russian Institutions of Contemporary Art. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 15(4), 56-74. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2023.15.4.3
Section
Field work research
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