Abstract: This article is dedicated to specificity of using mannequins in the museum exhibitions. Emphasis is made on the nuances of selection and preparation of a museum mannequin from the perspective of anthropology, and primarily such aspects as anthropological correspondence and symbolic component that allow turning the mannequin from a technical element into a constituent part of exhibition, which would translate the elements of intangible cultural heritage. The goal this research consists in the analysis of potential risks associated with neglecting the specificity of mannequin as a constituent part of museum exhibition. Field materials acquired from modern exhibitions in Russian and foreign museums served as the source material for this work. The main research methods became he case study and comparative analysis. It is concluded that the choice of mannequins for exhibitions should be conducted with consideration of actual anthropometry of the historical and cultural groups; if the mannequin is not impersonalized, its phenotype should be close to its ethnic group. If the listed above is impossible, the best option lies in deanthropologization of the mannequin; otherwise, they devalue the artistic level of exhibition and worth of the originals. Static mannequins with evident anthropomorphic features are perceived rather negatively, especially in a direct visual contact. Mannequins are capable of retranslating multiple body techniques as the elements of intangible cultural heritage, and this aspect should not be neglected. Mannequins can also be used in exhibition scenography.

Abstract: During the recent years the topic of racism became somewhat topical for the Russian Federation, which calls for analyzing this phenomenon in historical retrospective. This article attempts to trace the representation of racism as a phenomenon, basing in the visiotypes of Soviet caricature of 1950s-1980s.
The analysis of a visual narrative chiefly involves the three major groups of questions: a) the topic of racism and colonialism being examined from the then-popular "their morals" ideological prism; b) source-established racial and ethnic clichés for the representatives of foreign countries; c) racial and ethnic clichés established for Soviet citizens. The illustrations of the "Krokodil" magazine serve as the main source, along with other works by the leaders of Soviet caricature of this period. The methodology of this research is the decomposition of the visual narrative and the comparative analysis of visual sources. The main conclusion of this article is that, despite the formal opposition to racism on the government level, Soviet caricature went on cultivating racist prejudice regarding the nations of the world, including the USSR, sometimes following the instrumental tasks of authorities, and sometimes continuing the traditions of visualizing non-European peoples.
 

Abstract: Museums are widely considered to be a conflict-free space, but the modern social and cultural context and fundamental changes in museum functionality lead to the necessity of managing conflicts in exhibition space by museum institutions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the means and methods of representing various conflicts in the museum space basing on field materials from European museums. The majority of methods described in the article are aimed at achieving three main goals: to impact the visitor's consciousness, imprinting the destructive potential of the conflict, to model their role in the conflict and to simulate the feelings that derive from it, in order to get objective information on all participants and context of conflict. During the work on the study, the author employed the following methods of humanitarian research: the comparative and analytical method, the method of involved observation and the idiographic method. In domestic museology and conflictology, this subject was seldom raised. As practice shows, the conflict today is not a threat to museum, but, on the contrary, it has the potential of becoming the basis of the museum narrative. Everything can be used for an objective reflection of the conflict and leaving emotional impact on visitors - from architecture of the museum building and exposition structure, to the design of showcases and audio effects.

Abstract: The object of this research is the portrayal of ethnic conflicts in Soviet caricature. The subject of this work is the national policies and inter-ethnic relations during late USSR. Based on the illustrations of leading satirical magazine of the USSR the authors show that caricature was used as a tool of national policies, and attempt to examine the mechanism of this work in the 1980-1991s. The source material are the illustrations of one of the leading Soviet magazines that existed since 1922 - the "Krokodil" satirical magazine that reached 6.5 million circulations. Due to its potential, "Krokodil" not only allowed to successfully form ethnic stereotypes in the minds of Soviet citizens, many of which exist today, it also set the tone for Soviet satire as a whole. Based on content analysis and visual comparative research of iconographic scenes the article traces the dynamics of the "national issue" becoming relevant in Soviet satirical discourse during the period of study. The understatement of ethnic problems by "Krokodil" created the illusion of the "national issue" being resolved. However if during earlier decades the images with ethnic content constituted a narrative of harmony, late 80s demonstrate a different trend. The visual humour and satire were used to stop and prevent ethnic conflicts in Soviet Union, but on a limited scale and with a considerable delay.