Research on local history and the museum as a tool to preserve heritage in a region with a broken economy: On the example of the Mama village in the Irkutsk region

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of museums and the modern development of local history work in one of the northernmost districts of the Irkutsk region. The article briefly describes the circumstances of the foundation of a mica mining enterprise on the banks of the Vitim and Mama rivers in the late 1920s as well as the history of production being stopped and the degradation of settlements in the post-Perestroika period. In 1965, a mineralogical museum was established in the Mama village. In 2003, it was converted into a local history museum. In recent decades, the functions of the modern museum have changed, but this has manifested itself in the work of a local history museum of the Mama village only in the form of concentrated pedagogical activities. Important functions for studying the heritage of the Soviet time, documenting the modern life of the district, working with society, in particular, with an older audience, were gradually taken over by a group of enthusiasts who founded the voluntary Mamskoe Historical and Local History Association (MICRO) in 2008. Over the past twelve years, the Association has organized about twenty museum and street exhibitions, published a number of monographs, stories about the residents of Mama, and published two photo albums. Photos have been published as well as archival documents, and oral histories of local elders, many of whom are descendants of repressed peasant families forcibly resettled here in the early 1930s. Participation in district and regional conferences on local history helps to influence the social situation and supports the proper level of cultural life of the region. The article touches on such modern museological concepts as “social inclusion”, “intangible cultural heritage” and “participatory practices”. The authors hope that in the future, experts will be able to discuss the possibilities of developing the tourism sector in this area.