College: Clare College
Email: ai406@cam.ac.uk
Supervisor: Prof Catriona Kelly
About me:
I grew up in Moscow, where I completed a BA in History at the Higher School of Economics. I then pursued an MA in Medieval Studies at both Université Sorbonne and the Higher School of Economics. My BA thesis focused on the illustrative cycle of a late 13th-century didactic Old French Summa, while my MA thesis examined the afterlife of this visual tradition in the 14th century. This exploration of the relationships between texts, images, and objects significantly influenced my approach to heritage studies.
After graduating from Sorbonne, I co-founded a Russian-language media platform, @vlesah, which covers the heritages and cultures of Russia’s non-capital regions and highlights the work of heritage activists. Since leaving Russia in 2022, I have shifted my focus from medieval to Soviet studies, dedicating my PhD thesis to the social and cultural history of restoration in late Soviet Russia.
Research:
My project investigates the social and cultural significance of tangible cultural heritage among professionals and volunteers engaged with Ancient Russian monuments, primarily during the 1970s-1980s. At its height, the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments had approximately 15 million members. While participation was only semi-voluntary, such a large membership suggests a profound interest in heritage within late Soviet society. What drove this enthusiasm for the past among late Soviet Russians?
Some scholars attribute this interest to nationalist sentiment, emerging as a response to disillusionment with communist ideology. However, it appears that those involved in heritage work experienced a broader range of motivations and emotions—encounters with the eternal, religious piety, civic patriotism, and nostalgia for bygone eras, among others.
Focusing on the heritage of Solovki and Veliky Novgorod, my project explores the concept of "heritage experience" within late Soviet society, drawing upon a wide array of sources, including blogs, interviews, periodicals, amateur photographs and newsreels, and diaries.
My research is supported by the Cambridge International Scholarship (Cambridge Trust).
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:
• Presented the paper "The Social Foundations of the 'Retrospective' Turn in Late Soviet Russia: Why Did Moscow Physicists Restore the Solovetsky Monastery?" at the conference "Troubled Society: Structural Failures and Problems of Social Choice," held on October 3-4, 2024, in St. Petersburg.
• Participated in 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 work, I am the editor-in-chief of a Russian-language media platform called @vlesah, dedicated to the heritages and cultures of Russia's regions.
