Adults and Children in Museums of Soviet Everyday Life

10.33876/2311-0546/2022-3/7-34

Abstract

The topic of childhood has an important place in contemporary museums of late-Soviet everyday life (1950–1980s). It can be seen in the message a museum conveys (both in what is shown and what is said) and in its perception by visitors. The topic of the Soviet in a museum nearly always includes the “children”’s component, and sometimes is virtually reduced to it. This paper examines the forms, contexts, and effects of such an “alliance”. The paper is based on the field material obtained in Kolomna, Moscow region, and in some other Russian cities in 2019–2021, and on the data from tourist and museum websites and social network accounts. Analyzing the selected cases, the author observes that the notion of childhood serves as an important frame for the nostalgic perception of the Soviet past for the older generation, and also demonstrates the mechanisms that fulfil this function. Children’s perception of expositions varies between two main models — reconstruction (based on the exoticization of the Soviet) and recycling (involving the reuse of Soviet practices and values). The article points out the lack of data concerning actual children’s museum experience and provides the research context for the topic: current trends,
discussions and useful theoretical concepts.