A MODERN MUSEUM AS A SPACE OF MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATION: A REVIEW OF CASES OF RUSSIA AND THE UK

Abstract

Author considers the issue of transforming the communicative strategy of the modern museum as a promising center for multicultural communication. multicultural communication is understood as a process of interaction between immigrants and the host society. In addition, the inconsistency and ambiguity of understanding the content and consequences of increased immigration, as well as the changes that occur with cultural institutions, also make this story relevant. The author of the article focuses on how a cultural institution such as a museum responds to the challenge of complicated intercultural and multicultural communications in the modern world. The methodological basis for the study is the concept of the «post-museum» and the achievements of the Leyster school of museology in the studies of the communicative and inclusive activities of modern museums. The article presents the author's classification of the levels of work of museums with immigrants and their multicultural communication. The first level is exhibiting and representing the cultural heritage of immigration communities, the second level is attracting immigrants to co-authorship, and the third one is the implementation of comprehensive inclusive work with all ethnic and cultural groups.The highlighted levels are confirmed by real examples and cases from the experience of Russian and British museums, information about which is available on their official websites. In the course of the study, the main conclusions were made. Firstly, to date, there has been a shift in the functional structure of the museum from its custody functions to communication, and the process of interacting with visitors has begun to build on the principle of participation. Secondly, the museum, as a social institution that collects and presents objects of cultural heritage and historical artifacts, works, first of all, with the phenomena of «cultural memory» and «identity», not only representing the latter, but also constructing it through the exposition and museum activity. And thirdly, it is this circumstance that allows museums to become an effective platform for building a multicultural dialogue and processes of social inclusion.