Avant-garde heritage of the regions: Use and development prospects in a museum context (on the example of the museums of Saratov and Smolensk)

Abstract

In the wake of the growing interest in the history of the Russian avant-garde, leading Russian museums become initiators, organizers and partners of large-scale exhibition projects dedicated to both individual personalities of the avant-garde era and iconic cultural institutions. In this regard, it is also important to understand how the museum community in Russia reacts to the given trend of turning to the heritage of the avant-garde era, and how regional museums are involved in this process. The artistic avant-garde was never limited to capitals, new trends penetrated all cities of the country, one way or another leaving a mark on the appearance of the city, its history and, of course, in museum collections. This is why researchers need to see the fullest possible picture of how regions are using their avant-garde heritage. The article is devoted to the study of the experience of using the avant-garde heritage in Russian regions on the example of the Saratov State Art Museum named after A.N.Radishchev and the Art Gallery of the Smolensk State Museum-Reserve. Based on sources of museum origin, electronic catalogs of museums, texts by regional authors, Internet sources (in particular, the State Catalog of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation, and the Constructivist Project portal), as well as local news sources the article reviews the avant-garde collections of these museums, considers cultural and educational activity of urban cultural institutions and independent curatorial projects on this topic. An important part of this study is the assessment of the development prospects in the actualization of the avant-garde heritage of the regions, as well as the role of independent cultural institutions of cities in the actualization and use of the avant-garde heritage of these regions.