Study of the culture of the Russian population of South of Western Siberia by the staff of the Research Institute of Art Industry in the 1950s–1970s

Abstract

In this paper, the contribution of the staff of the Research Institute of Art Industry to the study of Russian long-term resident population on the territory of the Altai Krai, which up to 1990 included Gorno-Altai Autonomous Region, is presented and analyzed. The analysis is conducted on the basis of studying the collection of the field materials by identifying all expeditions which took place, their routes, participants, and results of the field research. The main sources of the research were represented by the archival funds of the institute, which appeared to be fragmentary. The main part of the materials was deposited to the Russian National Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Arts. For the subject of this paper, the reports on scientific topics and field trips are of the most interest; an extensive body of visual sources (sketches and photographs) have been used as well, whose superior quality was achieved through participation of professional staff artists and photographers in their production. The population of the Altai Krai (modern Altai Krai and the Altai Republic) were embraced in the field work in the 1950s — 4 expeditions (1951, 1954, 1955, and 1956) and one in 1979. The initial interest was in the culture of the Turkic-speaking population and Turkic traditions of rug weaving and ornamentation. The later expeditions were conducted by two groups — on the study of Turkic and Russian populations. The main objects of the research were architecture, house construction and decoration, weaving, homeware and household appliances and other items which preserved the traces of the long-term residence culture. The revelation for the researchers from the institute was the abundant presence of wooden house carving, both as fragments and as whole complexes. The objects and pieces of art recorded by the researchers are the unique sources which had already disappeared by the 1970s. Part of the collections kept in the Russian National Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Arts has primary field materials. These sources were partially published in the works of art historians, but their great ethnographical potential is not yet exhausted.

Keywords

• research institute of art industry
• altai krai
• field expeditions
• field work methods
• russian long term residents
• the south of western siberia
• 1950s–1970s.