Solidarity in the Museum: Practices of Representation of Social Problems in Russian Institutions of Contemporary Art

Abstract

In 2021, 95.5 million people visited Russian museums, and this is sufficient reason to consider the role of museums more than just the collection, storage and demonstration of heritage. Are museums a space of solidarity — do they represent social problems, do they articulate social interests, commonalities and differences of groups? It is especially important to apply this to the institutions of contemporary art in Russia, which over the past 30 years have found their audience and confirmed the reputation of independence, rejection of the canons, and problematization of everyday life. Using the example of two private metropolitan and one well-known state non-capital museum, the author analyzed the content of expositions for 2020-2021 using two methods. The theoretical framework of the study is social constructionism and post-structuralism. The purpose of the article is to characterize the forms and degree of criticality of artistic expression on the example of contemporary art institutions. The author's typology of models for the representation of social problems by museums is used — classical, critical and participatory. Based on empirical data on the expositions of three museums of contemporary art, a conclusion is made about the poorly realized potential of museums of contemporary art as an institution of solidarity — it has clearly not developed. The data demonstrate quantitative differentiation in the representation of critical statements at exhibitions of various institutions — from a third to a half of the exhibitions do not have a critical orientation, do not involve the viewer in the discussion of social problems. The initial nature of the study indicates the need to supplement the methodology with expert assessments, substantiate the measuring model for studying the sphere of culture in general and the museum in particular as an institution of solidarity.