Конкурс «Центры культуры Пермского края» как инструмент политики идентичности на локальном уровне

Abstract

Introduction: cultural policy is related to issues of identity and takes the central place among the instruments of identity policy. The possibilities of socio-cultural design based on local identity lead to tangible changes in the socio-economic development of local communities. Objectives: to determine the markers of the local identity in the winners’ projects of the “Cultural centers of Perm region” competition and, on this basis, to identify promising directions for the use of identity resources in the cultural policy of municipalities. Methods: cross-temporal comparative analysis and discourse analysis of the projects – winners of “Cultural centers of Perm region” competition in 2007–2022. Results: the territory specialness discourse components are defined in the projects – winners of “Cultural centers of Perm region” competition. Four directions of characteristics for local identity in design practices are identified: (1) emphasizing the specifics of the place (geographical, historical, socio-economic, etc.), which manifests itself in an active construction of a territory’s ambitions (capital, centre, etc.); (2) the use of cultural heroes of the place – famous countrymen, historical figures associated with the territory; (3) defining the symbols of the territory, their monumentalization (the appearance of new monuments or art objects that materialize the symbolic capital of the territory); (4) the use of historical narratives and mythologems of the place. It is shown that monumentalization (the appearance of new iconic places in the territories due to the installation of new monuments and the creation of art objects) is the most popular direction of broadcasting local identity in the design practices of municipalities in the field of culture. At the same time, the use of cultural heroes is least reflected in the projects of the winners. Conclusions: the local identity meanings were used by all the winners of “Cultural centers of Perm region” competition. At the same time, the solution of the image problem associated with the creation of new infrastructure facilities and the formulation of local ambitions prevails over the tasks of community cohesion. A promising direction for project activities based on local identity is to strengthen work on the local heroic pantheon in the territories of the region. The selected directions can be considered as potential resource niches, filling which conditions for the consolidation of territorial communities within the framework of certain identification systems are created.