Results of the Project “Cultural Diffusion of The Circassians of Russia and Turkey: Art Historical and Socio-Cultural Analysis”

Abstract

Three years of work under the Project “Cultural Diffusion of the Circassians of Russia and Turkey: Art Historical and Socio-Cultural Analysis” coincided with both difficult epidemiological situation in the world, and with known political and economical problems. Despite these hardships, the research team has managed to produce many research outputs, including an electronic Encyclopedia of Circassian artists, that has information about 162 Circassian artists and more than 500 illustrations with data, from Adyghea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, different cities of Russia and Turkey. In this paper the result of the project are summarised under the philosophical, cultural, culturological, and socio-cultural clusters. The research study concluded that the phenomenon of ethnic separation is a complex object of study both in theory and practice. In this regard, in our study we first focused on the substantiation of the concept of "ethnic art" and the idea of how the mechanisms of cultural penetration into the existing systems of a divided ethnic group work. In the case of the Circassians the desire for reunification is limited to cultural contacts, where the culture of the metropolis often acts as a donor for the diaspora majority of Turkey. An analysis of the functional ties between parts of a divided ethnic group shows that for the Circassians of the diaspora, contacts with fellow Caucasians are a breeding ground for preserving the language, familiarizing with professional culture, and promoting various types of art - musical, theatrical, choreographic. For the Circassians of the metropolis, the culture and folklore of the Circassians of the Diaspora is a resource for the renewal of artistic culture in all its forms and genres. The so-called "genetic memory" is triggered in both, reinforcing the ethnic identity, and allowing the subjects to feel a spiritual unity, a collective sense of security, a common past, a common history and mutual ancestors.