МУЗЕЇ ЯК ФАКТОР ЗБЕРЕЖЕННЯ ТА ПОПУЛЯРІЗАЦІЇ ІСТОРИКОКУЛЬТУРНОЇ СПАДЩИНИ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ МЕНШИН В УКРАЇНІ (НА ПРИКЛАДІ СІЛ ПІВДЕННОЇ БЕССАРАБІЇ)
MUSEUMS AS A FACTOR OF PRESERVING AND POPULARIZATION OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF NATIONAL MINORITIES IN UKRAINE (BY THE EXAMPLE OF SOUTHERN BESSARABIA VILLAGES)

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the museums of villages of Odesa region, in particular Southern Bessarabia, and the characteristics of their main museum expositions and collections. The relevance of the study is to determine the role of museums in preserving the historical and cultural heritage of national minorities in Ukraine. The author states that local intellectuals, namely, educators contributed significantly in the development of museums. The conditions in which the first museums in the villages of Izmail region appeared and developed in the 40-60s of the twentieth century are defined. Considering museums as places of memory, the author highlights the processes of their formation in the villages of Horodne, Krasnoarmiiske, Bolhrad, Suvorove, Krynychne. Their role in the construction and dissemination of the Soviet version of the past of Southern Bessarabia is recognized. The author specifies that in the course of increasing ideological pressure the expositions of the museums were updated as well as mass political information with the population was intensified. Both activities were the instruments of Soviet cultural policy. The ideological component of museums’ activities was followed in the themes of exhibitions, lectures, and other events which allowed the authorities to use museums as a means of propaganda. According to archival data, it was allowed to display simultaneously the exhibitions of the history and culture of national minorities of the region alongside with propaganda exhibitions. The paper states that the first folk museums appeared in the Bulgarian villages of Odesa region in the 1950s and 1960s, earlier than in the villages of other ethnic groups living in this region. During studying the current state of museums the author has visited some of them in the villages of Southern Bessarabia and got acquainted with their exhibits. The research proved that the most informative and plentiful in exhibits are the historical and ethnographic museum of the village of Chervonoarmiyske (inhabited by Gagauzes and Bulgarians), the historical and regional museum of the village of Horodne (Bulgarians), the folk ethnographic museum of the village of Zorya (Bulgarians) and the folk ethnographic museum of the village of Vynogradivka (Gagauzes). The 2 mini-museums are in Karakurt village, where several nationalities live such as Albanians, Moldovans, Gagauzes, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, representatives of the Roma nationality, etc. The leading role of museums in the preservation and promotion of the historical and cultural heritage of the region is determined. The main problems of the museum field nowadays are highlighted. The author concludes that museums in the villages of Southern Bessarabia continue to play an extremely important role not only in preserving historical memory, but also in consolidating national minorities in Ukraine and defining their national identity. The national minorities in Ukraine have become full-fledged citizens, occupied worthy niches in society, and managed to preserve their national identity, culture and traditions by taking care of museums and creating new cultural institutions. Their unity and hard work has advanced this process.

• Details
• Contents