Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the article is devoted to the study of museum practices as an ethno-resource of the Republic of Karelia. The collected materials are used to analyze museum concepts and areas of activity, which are considered from the perspective of the theory of the four sphere culture. Karelian museums are classified according to the concept of ‘museums as contact zone’ and ‘eco-museums’, and attention is paid to common problems and fundamental differences between museums.
Objective: to identify the directions of concepts and expositions of museums of the Karelian Arctic in the aspect of the four spheres of culture: ecological, material, normative, and spiritual.
Research materials: electronic resources of the Belomorsk Local History Museum, the Local History Museum “Pomorje” of the Kemsky Municipal District and the ethnocultural center “KALEVALATALO”, the author’s field materials collected in the Republic of Karelia in autumn 2023.
Results and novelty of the research: the article is the first to consider ethnographic expositions of museums in the Karelian Arctic from the position of the theory of the four sphere culture. The forms of presentation of ecological, material, normative and spiritual spheres of culture are analyzed. With the variety of forms of presentation of object and material collections, the common features are the specificity of artistic support of thematic compositions, including by supplementing the object series with photo-illustrative material. For the first time attention is paid to the museums under consideration from
the point of view of the concept of ‘museums as contact zone’ and ‘eco-museums’, as well as the significance of non-visual museum communication between the visitor and the exhibits. For the staff of the museums under study, tactility as part of the concept first of all enlivens the museum itself and then works with visitors.
Key words: Arctic, Karelia, museum, ethnocultural heritage, ethnographic exposition, Pomors, Northern Karelians
For citation: Komova E. A. Museum and ethnic culture in the Karelian Arctic // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2024; 14 (4/59): 760–773.