Museum as a dialogue space for the sociocultural project “St. Nicholas. Yaroslavl heritage”

Abstract

The article considers the extensive practical experience in implementing the sociocultural project dedicated to the identification, presentation, actualization and popularization of the tangible and intangible historical and cultural heritage associated with the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Yaroslavl region. The project “St. Nicholas. Yaroslavl Heritage” has been carried out since 2016 with the support of the Yaroslavl Historical Museum, Yaroslavl Art Museum and Moscow Kremlin Museums which have been constant partners of P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University in the implementation of socially significant initiatives for many years. The modern museum has become an active participant in public life making its visitors focus on urgent issues. The implementation of sociocultural projects within the museum space has allowed not only to present the conducted academic research in an attractive format accessible to the target audience, but also to use all possible mechanisms to achieve socially significant goals and objectives set during the project. The activity of museum specialists and the academic community, architects, journalists and historic preservation activists, on studying the heritage connected with the name of St. Nicholashas covered a wide range of theoretical issues in the field of protection of historical and cultural monuments, and also made it possible to implement a number of practical measures to preserve the St. Nicholas heritage within the Yaroslavl region. The appeal to acute and topical issues of the existence of monuments has contributed to the growth of public and government interest in the fate of unique objects of religious architecture, fine art and urban toponymy. This has allowed for the interaction of various parties, participants in the sociocultural project, and also has made it possible to create a special dialogue and communication space on the basis of the Yaroslavl Historical Museum.