Museum “Rifle and Guitar” in the service of school education

Abstract

Below is an article by Mikhail Mikhailov, the ideological inspirer, author and head of the school military-historical and literary-musical museum “Rifle and Guitar”, solemnly opened on November 25, 2022, at school No 1515 in Moscow. We have taken the liberty of writing this short preliminary text to warn the reader that the published material does not fully meet the formal requirements for academic work, but at the same time it is a valuable source demonstrating new directions in the development of school museums — the largest group of museums in Russia. The fact is that the Museum “Rifle and Guitar” is significantly different from many other military-historical or literary institutions of this kind: the author naturally positions the museum of military bard song as an organic representative of both of these profiles. In addition, a specific function lies in the fact that the creative cultural heritage born in the Soviet-Afghan war (1979–1989), which is little talked about in society, is being transformed into a museum filed. However, the author perfectly illustrates the phenomenon that served as an incentive for the creation of the museum: the bard song of “Afghan” deservedly became one of the main instruments of “people’s memory” about the “last war of the great power”, and its authors, performers, publishers and curators are among the creators and frequent museum guests. Thus, we can talk about a special, ecological mission that the museum carries: the intangible objects of the historical and cultural environment are preserved and actualized with the help of its direct bearers, not only issues related to school education and upbringing are resolved, but also the urgent social problems of the society’s reconciliation with an “unpopular” war.