Abstract: The article provides a review of the practice of designing art projects and exhibitions based on many years of Russian and foreign experience of the family creative team thaht included members of the Russian and German Unions of Architects and Artists Roman Firestein, Lyubov Zimonenko and Anna Zimonenko. The main sections of the article are richly illustrated and devoted to the description of the five major curator’s projects that played the most important role for the families of Firestein and Zimonenko. Those included the projects ‘Soviet Experience’, ‘Nostalgia for Russian Avant-Gardism and Constructivism’, ‘National Traditions’, ‘Family Album’ and ‘Architectural Graphics’. Being the participant of the creative process, the author of the article identifies and analyzes her own activity as a curator of art projects. The novelty and emotional style of the article reflect the author’s personal commitment to the described art practice and her devotion to developing creative family traditions and successful realization of her own ideas and concepts. The article will be of interest to art historians and culture experts as well as artists and specialists working in the sphere of art exhibitions.

Keywords: Art history, modern fine art, curator activity, art project, art exhibition, exhibition environment, spatial installation, historical-cultural contacts, Russia, Germany, Latvia, family creative traditions.

Abstract: The present article is devoted to Vadim Rabinovich. Vadim Rabinovich (was born in 1935 in Kiev and died in 2013 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian philosopher, cultural researcher, poet and author, literary expert and translator. He became an honored scientist of the Russian Federation in 2006 and was awarded the Galileo Model by International Academy of Sciences in Paris (1979), the Blue Ribbon of St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia (1988). Vadim Rabinovich graduated from D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (1959) and Maksim Gorky Literary Institute (1967). He also was the member of the Union of Writers (1979) and had a PH degree in chemistry, doctor of philosophy, professor, member of the Executive Committee at International PEN-Club and Russian PEN-Center. Vadim Rabinovich was the author of the books ‘Alchemy as the Phenomenon of Medieval Culture’ (1979), ‘Image of World in the Mirror of Alchemy: from Natural Elements and Atoms of the Ancient Times to Boyle Elements’ (1981), ‘Confession of a Booklover who Taught Letters but Consolidated Spirits’ (1991), ‘Human in Culture. Introduction to metaphorical Anthropology ’ (2008), ‘Imitaphores of Ravinovich or Heavenly Cutter’ (2010), ‘Poetological Studies’ (2012), ‘Alchemy’ (2012), ‘Noon of Middle Ages’ (2013) and collections of verses ‘A Violin in Every Tree’ (1978), ‘Purple Rook’ (1988), ‘Twenty One Plots for Zhaleyka, Echo and Jingle Bells’ (1995), ‘The Tit of the Eye’ (2008), ‘One Hundred Poems’ (2013). He was the editor-in-chief and one of the authors of selected works published by the Department of Languages of Culture at Russian Institute for Cultural Research. The series was called ‘Languages of Cultures ’ and there were three of them called ‘Interaction’ (2002), ‘Image – Concept – Image’ (2009), ‘In a House of NAI’ (2012. He was also the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the ‘Bersenevsky Collections’(2012).

Keywords: cultural research, Vadim Rabinovich, philosophy of culture, history of culture, metaphoric anthropology, languages of cultures, alchemistry, imitaphores, poetry, poems.

Abstract: In her book, “Family histories and the two eras”, N. Voshinnikova (М.: Новый Хроногроф, 2012. Серия «От первого лица») highlights the life of several generations of two families of a county town of Kineshma, basing her research on family archive materials. This article evaluates the book from the perspective of significance of its sources for mundane life research. The introduction of documents of this sort allows to present the everyday lives of the townsfolk as a social and cultural phenomenon more fully. It is important that the archive used by the writer belongs to the meshan environment of Kineshma. The pool of narrative sources that come from the townsfolk is limited, and each newly-discovered source allows for significant breakthroughs in social and cultural aspects of Russian town history. The archive documents not only allow us to draw a picture of the lives of the book’s author’s relatives, but also uncover alternative views on the numerous issues of native history on the brink of the two eras – the pre- Revolution era and the Soviet era (1880’s to 1950’s).

Keywords: culturology, Russian culture, history of culture, small town, townsfolk, the meshan class, the mundane, family archive, family history, intelligentsia.

Abstract: This article is some kind of analytical memoirs about a child’s theatrical teacher Alexandra Kudasheva- Tinikova (1894–1971), the heiress and the follower of traditions of the great Russian theatrical culture at the beginning of XX century. She taught many famous actors of the second half of XX – beginning of XIX century. Analyzing life and experience of Alexandra Kudasheva-Tinikova, the author of the article, a historian and a philosopher, tries to understand the phenomenon of theatre as an essential part of human life and culture.

Keywords: cultural studies, oral history, Alexandra Kudasheva- Tinikova, psychological realism, convention, philosophy, pedagogy, theatre, communication, inside.

Abstract: The author of the article discusses the origin and role and art in a society, creators and consumers of art works and relations. Based on the author, art cannot exist without a society. The basis for perception of art is emotions. Diversity of people (their cultural level, social status, individual development and traditions) and art create contradictions in their relations, too. It is also absolutely normal to have different perceptions of artwork as art and profanation. Business and art have very little to do with the art level of the latter. One should also distinguish true art from fake crafts.

Keywords: art history, cultural research, art, creativity, thoughts, emotion, perception, artists, business, perception.

Abstract: The article contains a comparative analysis of the author’s personal impressions of her numerious visits to Armenia since 1963 until September of 2011. The author is a geographer who studies the geography of culture so special attenion is paied at this particular aspect of lfe of the republic and its capital Erevan. Over the past 20 years Armenia has been leading an independent life and overcoming all the difficulties of geopolitical isolation under the conditions of destruction of many traditional bonds. The author describes these changes and recalls peculiarities of everyday and social life of the capital back in old Soviet times. Special attention is paied at impressions of the new architecture of Erevan and new features of everyday life.

Keywords: cultural studies, Armenia, Erevan, Erubini, architecture, Tamanian, Matenadaran, university, Garni, Gerard.

Abstract: In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research the author of the article shares his own impressions of the fi rst after the war 20th anniversary of the Institute. Back in those times it was called the Institute of Local Studies and Museum Work and then it changed its name into Institute of Museum Studies and Institute of Culture. The author of the article, Galkina, knew many of those who worked for the Institute: she spent a lot of time there when visiting her mother, Pavla Ivanova Galkina, who had worked at the Institute as the deputy of the director for many years. The article describes Pavla Galkina’s life and activity, changes in the fi elds of work of the Institute, change of the general paradigm since 1947 up to 1973 and expansion of scientists goals and tasks of the Institute.

Keywords: cultural studies, local studies, museum studies, museum, Russian Institute for Cultural Research, archive, workers, meeting, foraging, exposition.

Abstract: The article is devoted to a great theatre expert, circus and variety show historian Yu. D. Dmitriev. The article describes the main ‘milestones’ of his life path and shows Dmitriev’s contribution to the art science as well as uniqueness of his talent for research and pedagogy.

Keywords: art history, theatre history, circus history, variety show history, synthesis of arts, art critics, art practices, Russian Academy of Theatre Arts, State Institute of Art Studies, ‘Circus and Variety Show’ journal.

Abstract: The article devoted to creative work by Oleg Udaev (Gleb Tsvel) shows that practically in every work by Oleg Udaev we can fi nd examples of his thorough attention to the gaps between material matters, phenomena and circumstances which were often reconciled by the author at their contrasting points according to Lomonosov’s principle of ‘reconciliation of contraries’ and actualized by Russian nerds, and then — imagists, OBERIU, and various Dadaists and surrealists in the 20th century. Perhaps, our young hero read some of them, although it is more possible that he felt the need in crossing borders, in reconciliations, in getting a hold of words and dreams even in the air around him. The reality was defi nitely too small for him. It just narrowed the space which was much wider than dictations and copy-books.

Keywords: Russian avant-garde in literature, poet, Oleg Udaev — Gleb Tsvel, author and reader, writings (poems or texts), accentuation of texts, overcoming a negative experience by destructing this experience, ‘atonal’ lyrics, tragedy-drama-comic spaces.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the problems of functioning of cinematograph in modern conditions as an industry and a form of creativity. Special attention is paid at transformations in cinema technologies related to the expansion of the 3D (Natural Vision) technology. The author analyzes the reasons of the motion-picture process splitting into ‘mainstream’ and ‘art house’ and influence of the economic crisis on Russian cinema.

Keywords: cultural studies, motion-picture process, main stream, art house, Natural Vision (3D), Internet, digital technologies, copyright, subculture, movie festival.