Russkaya Starina

249-261

Authors: Evgeny F. Krinko

The national museums of the North Caucasus Republics are active participants of the socio-cultural and historical-memorial processes in the region. Before the revolution of 1917, materials about the highlanders of the North Caucasus were presented in the ethnographic collections of local museums mainly. The formation of national autonomies was accompanied by significant changes in museology. New regional museums and expositions became an important evidence of the right of peoples of the North Caucasus for the conservation and use of their cultural heritage. Later on, the formation of museums was more than once influenced by the various political and ideological factors. The national museums of the North Caucasus republics play a significant role in the preservation, study, and representation of the regional historical and cultural heritage. The materiality and authenticity, the qualities of museum artifacts, give a special credibility to concepts that are put on the basis of the exposition. As a result, museums are transformed not only into the subjects but also to the means of the historical and cultural policy.

275-281

Authors: Oleg A. Grom

The article deals with the reflection of the historical and ethnographic diversity in the museum collections and expositions of the Rostov Region. The author studied the history of the largest region’s museums funds formation. The Cossack subject remains a prevailing topic of museum exposition, however recently in some museums the transition from the Cossack-centric narratives towards the display of the region’s ethnic diversity was mentioned.

290-296

Authors: Ksenia R. Mukhametshina

The absence of the shared position about the significance of the Caucasian War becomes the reason for the continuing research discussion on the museum exhibitions devoted to this historical period. The author comes to the conclusion that contemporary conditions of the museum life determine the main ideas of the exhibitions. The events in their focus are presented in a way that prevents any negative reaction of the concerned visitors. In other words, while organizing the new exhibition, museums should take into account many factors with the current historical memory of the population of the region as the main point. The article characterizes the temporary and permanent exhibitions about the Caucasian War in the Southern Russian museums. Also, the author analyzes several events organized there to the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War.

305-312

Authors: Maxim V. Mededev

This article characterizes the exhibition on the history of the Mius-front. The author lists the artifacts relating to this topic in the Matveyev-Kurgan museum of local history, the Museum of Military and Labor Glory in the village Bolshekrepinskaya, Military History Museum of the Southern Military District, the Museum of Mius Regional History in Kuibyshevo village, Taganrog Museum of Local Lore and History. Plans to create a museum complex at the memorial of Sambek heights are discussed. The information on memorials located along to the Mius-front line is discussed. The author briefly describes the activities of search squads and military-historical re-enactors in the southwest area of the Rostov Region. The conclusion is that the preservation of historical memory in the form of museum exhibitions, memorials, military-historical reconstruction has an important educational, educational and educational function.

322-337

Authors: Tatyana E. Grevtsova

The article discusses the history of research on the Don Cossack wedding ritual and transformation of researchers’ views on this fragment of traditional culture since the end of the 18th century up to the beginning of the 21st century. In different periods, understanding of the ceremonies accompanying a marriage in Don Region depended on personal and scientific beliefs of researchers emphasizing some parts of ritual and on a political situation of the 1930–1970s. Today, the most perspective line of the research of the Don Cossack wedding ceremony is an ethnolinguistic one, which allows reconstructing the Cossack notions of marriage using different sources (linguistic, ethnographic, folklore, historical).