This article analyzes the phenomenon of “participatory art” widely used today in different contemporary art-practices around the world. In the last decade of the twentieth century, the collapse of the Soviet bloc led to the loss of the socialism as an alternative model of social development, the establishment of the hegemony of neo-liberalism, and the emergence of the “end of history” concept. Altogether these factors created a demand of a social turn in the art and led to the widespread dissemination of the “socially-engaged art”. This kind of art sought to mend these gaps in existing social connections and provoke social change. This article offers a detailed examination of two approaches to the “socially-engaged art”: the French theorist Nicolas Bourriaud’s concept of “relational aesthetics” and the American researcher Claire Bishop’s notion of “participatory art”. The final part of the article gives a critical second thought to the both of the abovementioned approaches to the “socially-engaged art” in relation to the phenomenon of art-activism, which became widely known around the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In conclusion, the post-participatory art is advancing as an alternative model, which better accounts for these most recent artistic practices.

The article describes the early conceptions of experience in the aesthetics of the German philosopher Walter Benjamin.These conceptions are found in such texts as “Experience”,“Rainbow: the Dialogue about Imagination”, “Child’sView of Color”, “Doctrine of the Similar”, and “Task of theTranslator”. The concept of experience plays a central rolein the late Benjamin’s philosophy. His theory of reductionof the Erfahrung to the Erlebnis is widely known. However,the origins of the philosopher’s experience theory remainlargely unknown. There are three concepts of experiencein the early Benjamin: 1) the theory of spiritual experience(1910s); 2) the color-oriented experience theory (1910s);3) the language-oriented experience theory (1920s). Theearly researches of Benjamin not only shaped his theoryof reduction of experience, but also determined a numberof theses in his late aesthetics. Later, in the 20s-30s, in the“Arcades”, the essay about Baudelaire and the essay aboutreproduction, Benjamin worked out the theory of perception,which integrated his both early theories of experience:the language-oriented theory and the color-oriented theory.

The article is dedicated to the development aspects of the national film industry and system of film distribution in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. It analyzes the specifics of the Yakut national cinematography, based on the rich cultural heritage of the Land of Olonkho. The author lays emphasis on the state regional cultural policy aimed at the creation of conditions for development of the national film and festival movement, training of the skilled specialists in Yakutia. The article includes the comparative analysis of the parameters of state financing of the industry on the Federal level and budgets of the industry in other national regions of the Russian Federation, such as Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and others. It defines the priorities for the sustainable future development of national film industry of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic as a large regional segment of film industry of the Russian Federation.

The article presents the results of study of the assessment stereotypes of the prestige of professions in the field of culture in a region and the opportunities for their correction for the development of cultural human resources by the example of the Tambov Region. The author focuses on the comparison of viewpoints of the three different respondent groups: managers of cultural institutions in the region, staff members of the institutions, and the region’s people. The survey’s results display the social groups with positive assessment of the cultural professions’ prestige and the basic economical and socio-political factors which affect the assessment. It was discovered that regional distinctions in perception of the cultural professions’ prestige are mainly caused by the region’s general socio-economic situation and the respective financial-economic support of the industry, and by a symbolic demonstration of interest in this fi eld by the regional authorities as well.

The relevance of the problem is determined by the immanent dynamics of the eternal and the transient (the archetype and new cultural forms emerging in the art of cinema), the value of archetype as a universal code of the Russian popular culture. Novelty of the research is determined by the correlation of the child’s archetype with the classic Russian/Soviet animation (by the directors: Yu. Norstein, A. Petrov, G. Bardin) and with the new TVprojects of the popular culture (“Smeshariki”, 2007). The binary phenomenon is considered: the Russian cinematography and the child (as an image, metaphor, archetype). The material for the study is chosen according to the results of the interviews, obtained by the authors of the article, with the leading fi gures of the Russian culture and the socio-cultural research which demonstrates the level of recognition of cartoons as a signifi cant cultural experience (200 of the respondents, almost 90%). The authors emphasize the prevalence of the child’s archetype in the modern culture and propose a cultural-semantic and socio-psychological explanation of the archetype’s significance in the Russian animation.

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of the new trends that characterize the development of art in the twenty-first century in the context of globalization and crisis. It analyzes the current challenges posed by the current Macromedia with respect to the elite segment of the modern art (classical and modern musical theater, visual arts). As a response to the increasing multidirectional competition, the elite art actively adapts and assimilates innovative forms and methods of the modern managerial business technologies: co-production, rent and leasing. Specifi c examples from the practical experience of musical theaters and visual arts of the USA, Europe, and Russia demonstrate the positive impact of these technologies. Co-production, rent and leasing ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of development of the modern art.

The Crimean Peninsula has combined within its borders more than 130 ethnic groups with their specific cultural traditions. For historical reasons, the process of formation of the Crimean culture passed through the contact of different ethnic groups, assimilation of their traditions, and, as a result, their mixing. This fact enabled the development of the unique Crimean identity and creation of the cultural heritage which stands on the crossroad of cultures. This raises the following question: is it possible to keep the cultures in their original forms? On the one hand, the contact of cultures is a unique phenomenon, on the other - it comes more difficult to highlight and protect the places which must be put in the list of cultural heritage. The article deals with the above mentioned problems and presents a comprehensive study of the problem of the cultural heritage protection in the present world. The basic point is that without past there is no future. The research deals with the specifics of protection of the Material Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Crimea. It is the author’s opinion that the special attention should be given to the problem of depoliticization of the cultural heritage protection in the Republic of Crimea. These problems are really important in terms of the specific acts of the international society, caused by the integration of the Crimea to the Russian Federation, and the necessity of support of the vanishing nationalities, such as the Karaites and the Krymchaks, whose cultures are considered to be unique on the Crimean Peninsula.

Through the analysis of the association reactions of Russian and Japanese native speakers, the intensity of hospitality in the Russian and Japanese linguocultures is examined in the article. There are considered similarities and differences of perceiving the image of guest by the Russians and Japanese. The article demonstrates that the content of the semanteme “Guest” is not identical in the Russian and Japanese languages. In the conditions of active contacts between representatives of different cultures in our supersonic age, the comparative research of linguistic consciousness is an important contribution to the development of mutual understanding between representatives of different linguocultures, Russian and Japanese in this case. The dynamics of change of the image of guest in the Russian linguoculture is of great interest. It has been experiencing noticeable perturbations throughout the recent decades. The application of psycholinguistic methods to achieve the mentioned aims is an uncommon and quite new phenomenon for comparing the Russian and Japanese linguocultures. The research has shown that in the Japanese linguoculture it is mainly women who extend hospitality, which refl ects the traditional patriarchal practice of the Japanese society. Another conclusion is that the present-day Russians, who do not display any difference regarding the image of guest according to their gender factor, have become less hospitable as compared to the beginning of 1990s.

The article is dedicated to the research of the Sun worship practiced by the Bai people, who live in the Yunnan Province in the south-west of China. Various forms of the Sun Cult taking place nowadays within the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture are examined. The author presents the texts of the Bai myths and legends associated with the solar deity Tai Yang Shen and describes the traditions of worshipping the Sun as a source of life, a protector of agriculture and a divine patron of Bai villages. The article also analyses the iconography of the solar deity in the Yunnan Province’s temple sculpture and folk woodprints zhima. The origin of diverse Tai Yang Shen’s iconographic types is traced back through the study of the local legends and Chinese art. Special attention is paid to the solar symbols that appear in the Yunnan zhimas. Key words: solar deity, Tai Yang Shen, solar symbols, legend, folk beliefs, mythology, folk art zhima, image of fire sphere.

The article considers the work of the contemporary painter Vyacheslav Sergeyevich Torbokov, who keeps the realistic line in the Altai art, at the origins of which stood Grigory Ivanovich Gurkin (1870-1937). The fine arts of Altai are really important, because they considerably determine the direction of the region’s artistic culture. The article presents the periodization of V.S. Torbokov’s works. The author observes major areas of the artist’s activity (landscapes, still lives, portraits), his themes (landscape series, portraits of artists, etc.), his ideas (two kinds of time: the cyclical time of human life and nature, eternity; the origins of creativity: self-expression and adherence to tradition; people and nature). It is noted that in the works of V.S. Torbokov the national ideal of beauty (natural and human) is embodied most completely.

Pensioner practice of the Russian artists, who lived or studied abroad in different periods of their lives, is a subject of heightened attention of art historians. The study of this important periods of the artists’ professional career enables to reproduce their creative contacts, to trace the process of formation of their worldview and creative method, and, consequently, to assess the degree of infl uence of other countries on the national culture. This theme is important today because of the particular attention of modern specialists to the international cultural relations and the results of the integration process in the sphere of art. At the beginning of the 19th century, the foreign practice for the Academy of Arts graduates became regular. The geographic area and travel route for those trips were chosen considering the training program focused on ancient samples. Therefore, the main place for this probation was Italy, and especially Rome, where the rising artists studied the classical architecture and the art works of the Renaissance masters. Unlike Rome, Naples did not form a colony of Russian artists. However, this city entwined the fates of the artists of different genres and directions, attracted by the romance of common people’s life by the sea, idyllic landscapes and archaeological sites. Under the infl uence of the romantic atmosphere of the city, the artists created the works that became masterpieces of the Russian art. The article reviews the Neapolitan period of creativity of the Russian architects and artists of the fi rst half of the 19th century. Particular attention is given to Alexander Bryullov (1798-1877), for whom the stay in this city became crucial. The text contains references to modern periodicals and archival documents of that period.

This article provides a summary of the main discursive practices (linguistic, religious, legal, scientific, artistic, etc.) in which the phenomenon of madness appears. The author analyzes the semantic field of the conceptual sphere of madness, its historical comprehension. This subject needs a deep culturological research. The term “madness” is considered as a polydiscursive notion, used in various areas of social life and research practice (including the linguistic, philosophical, literary, medical, psychological, theological and other aspects). The article presents a review of major cultural and philosophical concepts which formed the basis for the scientific theory of madness (Freudianism, Freudo-Marxism, structuralism, psychoanalysis, schizoanalysis). This theory mainly set the direction of the creative quest in the contemporary art. The emphasis in this article is put on the postmodern discourse’s leading role in the interpretation of the madness phenomenon and on the role of the culturological approach in studying and understanding of this phenomenon in the current cultural context. The crucial role of literature in development of this subject is undeniable. However, the author proposes to use the modern cinematograph for the main empiric material, because it provides the most expressive representation of the motive of madness in all its aspects.

The article is devoted to the study of a number of dynamic processes in the field of artistic education. More specifically, there is an analogy drawn between the artistic and pedagogical quest in the academic education of the second half of the 19th century and the “thaw” period of the 20th century. The author treats the topical issue of the inevitable alternation of artists and teachers generations according to the tendencies of time. In personal workshops of the Russian Academy of Arts, the study of teaching methods is made as an analysis of historical and cultural characteristics of art development, viewed from the perspective of stylistic tendencies in teaching. Some clearly localized phenomena in art and pedagogy are of particular interest, such as the “Itinerants” and “Sixtiers” Academies, examined in comparison. The novelty of the article is in that the figurative and stylistic features of the artistic pedagogical practices of the 1960s have been compared with the similar processes in the late 19th century. The article accentuates the influence of artists’ creative system on formation of their students’ artistic style. There are defined the concepts of normative and authorial approaches to teaching.

The article introduces the thoughts of the author, who was the presenter of the ceremony dedicated to a considerable event in the cultural and scientific life of the country - the publication of the seven-volume edition of the selected works of the philosopher and culturologist Moisey Samoilovich Kagan. The author analyzes the contribution of M.S. Kagan in the development of national cultural sciences, reveals the thematic and methodological orientation of his works which form an informative core of each of the published volumes, and highly praises the researcher’s importance for the development of aesthetics, art history, philosophy (and philosophy of culture, in particular), as well as the history of culture and culturology. Given in the article, the ideas and opinions of the participants of the presentation are of particular interest. Among the participants, there are the well-known researchers acquainted with M.S. Kagan: V.M. Mezhuev, I.V. Kondakov, N.A. Khrenov, O.N. Astafi eva, I.M. Bykhovskaya, M.M. Shibaeva, A.B. Roife and others, who emphasize the importance for the humanities of the publication of M.S. Kagan’s selected works. The participants of the presentation highlight the role of this Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Honorary Professor of the Saint Petersburg State University, M.S. Kagan, who would become 95 years old on the 18th May 2016, in the formation of one of the Russian research cultural schools, successfully developing in our days.

The article is devoted to the creation of one of the most considerable organizations of unofficial art which arose on the initiative of the government officials. The genesis of organizational structures of unofficial art in the context of unofficial artistic life’s dynamics (residential exhibitions, underground galleries) and of political environment (international agreements signed by the USSR within the framework of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1975) has never been considered as a separate issue. At the cusp of the 1960-s-1970-s, the concept of “New Moscow School” was formed, the School included certain unofficial artists of several generations, different in their creative directions; later most of them became members of the Pictorial Section at the Moscow Joint Committee of Graphic Artists (MOKHG). They participated in foreign and Moscow exhibitions of nonconformist art (Buldosernaya, Izmaylovsky, “Beekeeping”, “Recreation Center”). The activation of the underground art life coincided with certain political events, which resulted in foundation of the Pictorial Section.

Created in the 1930s, the musical theater has become an important organic component of the Kazakh culture. The opera is of high-priority in this theatre; it has repeatedly become the subject of study for scientists. However, the historical way of the Kazakh ballet should not be ignored either. In the context of its historical functioning, this genre has not yet attracted the attention of musicologists. The article defi nes the main trends of development of the Kazakh ballet. It includes both published works of balletologists and choreographers (L.P. Sarynovа, G.T. Zhumaseitovа, D.T. Abirov, B.G. Ayukhanov) and unpublished material from the archives of Kazakhstan and Russia. This study comes to conclusion that the absence of a widespread dance culture in Kazakhstan has impacted on the genre’s development, and, though the choreographers’ search has been really various, the national ballet is still in permanent crisis. Despite the success of the premiere performances, none of the ballets has ever stayed in the theater’s repertoire. The most signifi cant dance scenes created by the national choreography for the theater are those in the operas “Kyz-Zhibek” (E.G. Brusilovskiy), “Birzhan and Sara” (M.T. Tulebaev) and “Abay” (A.K. Zhubanov and L.A. Khamidi), highly appreciated by critics during the First and Second Ten-Day Festivals of the Kazakh Art and Literature in Moscow.