Ethnographic Activities of the Museum Institutions of Eastern Podillia in the 1920s – 1930s (Exemplified by the Museums in Vinnytsia and Mohyliv-Podilskyi)

The activities and contribution of museums in Vinnytsia and Mohyliv-Podilskyi to the development of ethnographic research during the 1920s – 1930s are considered in the article. This period has turned out to be quite rich and fruitful for Ukrainian ethnology, but finished tragically. The number of institutions and researchers engaged in collecting, accumulating and studying ethnographic material has increased with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and the proclamation of the policy of «indigenization» in the 1920s. There was no special support for this process from the authorities, so everything was carried out on the enthusiasm and zeal of scientists and all those who were interested in ethnographic work. And despite material and financial difficulties, a huge amount of work has been done, which was crowned with both a significant source base and scientific works and research. Also the museums in Vinnytsia and Mohyliv-Podilskyi, those have made a significant contribution to the development of ethnography on the territories of Eastern Podillia, stood out in this. These institutions have collected a rich source base on the material and spiritual culture of Ukrainians on the territories of Vinnytsia Region. The collected material has formed the basis of the expositions of the museums studied in this article, and become the basis for research and studies, which was actively shared with the scientific institutions of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, which in turn collected such materials from the entire territory of the Ukrainian SSR. Such cooperation has a positive impact on the development of ethnography in the 1920s, because thanks to this, a significant part of the materials has been preserved to this day and is located in the Archival Scientific Funds of Manuscripts and Audio-Recordings of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which today continues the research traditions of ethnological institutions of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. However, the policy of the Bolsheviks concerning Ukrainian culture and science in the 1920s has been only a temporary concession, until they strengthened their position on Ukrainian lands, establishing the puppet Ukrainian SSR. Despite this, the acquisitions in the ethnographic field are quite voluminous, valuable and have provided rich material on Ukrainian ethnography, in particular of Eastern Podillia. The museums of Vinnytsia Region have played an important role in this process. They have collected a significant ethnographic material, quite often contrary to the policy of the Soviet authorities. The purpose of the article is to trace the formation of the ethnographic museology of the Eastern Podillia during the 1920s – 1930s. To trace the conditions of work of the museums in Vinnytsia and Mohyliv-Podilskyi, their scientific tasks and problems of that time after the archival sources. The relevance consists in the description of exactly the ethnographic aspects of the museological activities, history of the formation of the source base of the regional ethnological studies. The scientific institutions of that time have managed to achieve significant results even in the conditions of the absence of proper support from the state, ideological pressure and repressions. It is important to analyze the cooperation of museums with academic scientific institutions, in particular with the All-Ukrainian Ethnographic Commission. Its traditions of research are continued by M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The source base for the research includes the materials preserved at the Archival Scientific Funds of Manuscripts and Audio-Recordings of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Central State Archives of Higher Authorities, the State Archives of Vinnytsia Region. The research methods used in the work are analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison and chronological one. The scientific novelty of the article consists in publishing new archival documents, testifying little-known pages of the cooperation of museums in the 1920s and 1930s with central scientific institutions, the Ethnographic Commission, the All-Ukrainian Ethnographic Society relate to the conditions of their functioning at that time

Enthusiasm · Ethnography · Proclamation · Ukrainian · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones · Scientific Research and Studies

• Publication Activity of Young Scientists of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

  Open Access•Kateryna Bekh•Folk art and ethnology•2026

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