RSUH hosted the exhibition of "Soviet icons" that represented icons rescued in the Nizhny Novgorod region during the expeditions organized by the Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times. The exhibition marked the beginning of a large-scale project for the study, preservation and restoration of unique objects of cultural and historical heritage.
The event was opened by Dr. Dmitry Antonov, Director of the Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times, the curator of the exhibition. He spoke about the development of the project, its cultural relevance and prospects. Dr. Doronin, co-author of the project, a researcher at the Laboratory of Theoretical Folklore Studies spoke about the expeditions themselves.
In 2021, the Center conducted several expeditions, delivering to Moscow about 100 handmade icons. In the fall and winter of last year, more than half of the artifacts were restored at RSUH. The exhibition collected and presented about 60 exhibits. They are icons of various makes, materials and artistic styles, which were created by rural and urban masters in the 1920s-1990s. The exposition shows the evolution of the development of the folk icon in the 20th century, as well as six different traditions: four local, one of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the monastic and the prison-originated one.
To date, the Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times is the only academic structure in Russia that studies, restores and exhibits Soviet folk icons. In the coming years, this topic will become a major research area, entailing new expeditions and leading to a creation of documentaries and historical films, publications, exhibition activities in Moscow and other cities, a setup of permanent exhibitions and educational activities in the regions of Russia. The project is aimed at preserving the rapidly disappearing historical and material heritage of our country.
Since the late 1990s, in most regions of Russia, rural and urban masters have ceased to create icons due to the mass sale of printed icons and the revival of traditional icon painting. A unique phenomenon - a folk Orthodox icon of the Soviet era - came under the threat of destruction.
“We plan to actively develop the project at RSUH in the coming years, in cooperation with many partners,” said Dr. Antonov. — The icons that you can see at the exhibition have had an amazing fate. They trace a unique memory of the history of the country, of social ties, of technologies that developed in the era of persecution and commodity shortages, of the material religiosity of the era of the USSR. Such icons were born along with the Soviet state and disappeared with it. This is an important yet unexplored cultural layer, closely associated with the dramatic history of the 20th century.”
Dr. Kirill Vakh, Director of the "Indrik" publishing house, presented the monograph "Icons of the Soviet era: faces of tradition" written by Dmitry Antonov and Dmitry Doronin. The new book was discussed at a meeting with the authors on February 17 in “At the Centaur”.
As part of the event, a film screening was also held, where two films were premiered. They were dedicated to the history of "Soviet icons", the project of their salvation, restoration and study, which is being developed at RSUH.
In addition to the faculty members of the Center, the event was attended by the students of the Faculty of Cultural Studies who participated in expeditions and restoration work: Sofya Tyunina, Anastasia Zavyalova, Artyom Kudozov, Maria El-Faki. One of the films shown at the event was made by a 4th year student Vladislav Ladygin.
