College: Clare College
Email: ai406@cam.ac.uk
Supervisor: Prof Catriona Kelly
About me:
I grew up in Moscow, where I completed my BA in History at the Higher School of Economics – Moscow. I pursued my MA in Medieval Studies at Université Sorbonne and the Higher School of Economics – Moscow. My BA final paper was dedicated to an illustrative cycle of the late 13th-century didactic Summa written in Old French, while the MA graduation thesis focused on the afterlife of the manuscript tradition in the 14th century. The exploration of the relationship between objects, images, and texts influenced my subsequent approach within heritage studies.
Following my graduation from Sorbonne, I co-launched a Russian-language media outlet called @vlesah, aimed at developing discourses on the heritages and cultures of Russian non-capital regions and publicising the work of heritage activists. Today, it has become a notable niche media outlet covering cultural topics, reaching an audience of approximately 15 thousand people.
After leaving Russia in February 2022 and encountering unforeseen challenges and questions, I decided to merge my journalistic and academic interests and dedicate my PhD thesis to the restoration movements in the late Soviet era.
Research:
This project investigates the social and cultural significance of tangible cultural heritage among local professionals and volunteers who engaged with Ancient Russian monuments primarily in the 1970s-1980s. During its peak, the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments had around 15 million members. Even though participation was only semi-voluntary, such a significant number indicates a profound interest in heritage within late Soviet Russian society. What made late Soviet Russians so enthusiastic about their country’s past?
While some scholars attribute this interest to expressions of nationalist sentiment as a reaction to the disillusionment of communistic ideology, it appears that those involved in heritage work experienced a spectrum of feelings, including Orthodox piety, Communist revivalism, and nostalgia for bygone eras.
Drawing upon a diverse array of sources such as blogs, interviews, periodicals, amateur newsreels, and diaries, my project, centred around case studies, aims to explore the concept of 'heritage experience' within late Soviet Russian society. This term encompasses both the perception of architectural and artistic heritage and its impact on personal and professional outlooks.
Scholarship/Prizes:
Cambridge International Scholarship (Cambridge Trust)
The Erasmus scholarship for studying in a Master's program in France
Endowment Fund Scholarship at the National Research University Higher School of Economics for studying abroad
The Oxford Russian Fund scholarship
Fellowships:
2022-2023 — associate researcher at Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa (GWZO) in Leipzig
2022 — predoctoral research fellow at Lotman-Institut für Russische Kultur at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Conference papers:
Participation at the roundtable ‘Looking at Soviet Architecture Today: Perspectives on Value’ at the conference ‘New Approaches to Heritage Development in Eastern Europe’, held on March 21-22, 2024, in Aachen
Other activities and roles:
In addition to my academic endeavours, I also serve voluntarily as the editor-in-chief of a Russian-speaking media platform dedicated to the heritages and cultures of Russian regions called @vlesah.
