A presentation of the book “Icons of the Soviet Era: Faces of Tradition” dedicated to the cultural heritage of the bygone era of Soviet icons, was held at the RSUH bookstore “At the Centaur”.
The authors of the book are Dmitry Antonov, Director of the Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times of RSUH, and Dmitry Doronin, a researcher at the Laboratory of Theoretical Folklore Studies of the RANEPA.
The album will show a wide range of readers unique images, the cultural and historical value of which has so far been not realized by either their owners or researchers.
Dr. Antonov told the participants of the event about the expeditions when the icons were found.
Soviet icons were associated with local crafts and craft traditions. Throughout their history, they have been at the center of complex social interactions, playing an important role in domestic and rural spaces. These images vividly embody the historical memory of the Russian regions. With their disappearance, many unique technologies and cultural contexts, which are reflected in their complex assemblage, would have left without a trace.
At the presentation, the authors noted that the icons had been collected during two research expeditions in 2021 and represent several local traditions of the southwest of the Nizhny Novgorod region.
