One Century Ago or How the Year 1917 Became a Revolution

Abstract

The article presents the Paris exhibition “And 1917 becomes the Revolution…”. This art space of visual history is organized by the Library of Modern International Documentation (BDIC), primarily on the basis of its own unique funds and archives. The exposition gives an exceptional opportunity to plunge into the events of these several months that have turned the political, economic and social life of millions of people around the world. Materials for the exhibition were also give by the Suvarine Library of the Institute of Social History (Nanterre), the Simon Petlura Ukrainian Library (Paris), the library of the National University of Oriental Languages and Civilizations, the Higher School of Social Sciences, the Minotaur Gallery of Modern Art. The State Public Historical Library (Moscow), the State Archive of Film and Photo Documents (RGAKFD) and the State Historical Museum of the Southern Ural (Chelyabinsk) acted as project partners on the Russian side. The exhibition is divided into two sections. The first is devoted to the main actors of war and revolution and consists of three blocks: “Rapid Revolution”, “Armed Revolution”, “The Collapse of the Empire and the Aspirations of People”. The second one — to eyewitnesses of those fateful days, propaganda, the history of celebrations of October anniversaries and includes two sections: “Russian revolutions, a view from France. Certificates, documents, participation”, “Memory and images of the revolution”. The scientific committee for the preparation of the exhibition was made up of the most prominent French specialists.