Modern cultural centers bear little resemblance to the establishments of the club plan of the times of the USSR, when more than thirteen million people participated in amateur performances alone. In addition, houses and palaces of culture existed at the expense of the state, visiting any studios and circles, any kind of amateur art was free, unlike what is happening now. Most often, neither educational nor leisure tasks are faced by the institutions of the club plan of the Russian Federation.
Terminology
What is a cultural center in the understanding of modern man? Most often, this term is used when they want to designate an organization or certain buildings where the various values of the surrounding society are concentrated, multiplied and promoted, most often from the field of art or culture. It can be a public art association or a private initiative, butmost often, cultural centers are run by the state.
Use of the term
This term is used in practice when it is necessary to indicate which category an object belongs to. This refers either to a large multifunctional complex that can simultaneously cover several areas of culture or arts, that is, institutions and objects with a narrow specialization cannot be called this term. When the traditional cultural function of an institution is one, it is not a center. For example: library, museum, theater, concert hall and so on.
In the second case, they talk about an institution of a cultural plan, which has a confessional, national, social orientation. For example, the Russian Cultural Center in the state of Monaco, which was founded not so long ago, through a library, a children's school, language courses and a Russian club, not only supports the native cultural environment among the Russian-speaking people of nearby territories, but also acquaints the indigenous people of Monaco with the diversity of Russian realities.
Variety of shapes
It turns out that the boundaries in which this term is used are quite blurred. On the one hand, it is close to the traditional form of the institution, which is represented by the People's Club, the Palace or the House of Culture. On the other hand, these are such types of public organizations as national associations or art centers.
This can be exhibition galleries, libraries and concert halls, if all kinds of educational and educational work are carried out there, that is, if thesegeneral organizations where culture and science cooperate.
Characteristics
However, one important feature of a cultural institution must be present without fail, regardless of its type - this is a non-profit basis of activity. As well as promoting a culture of a multilateral and complex nature. If they say about the city, for example, that St. Petersburg is an important industrial, transport and cultural center, then this does not mean a separate institution.
You can also say about the distinctive feature of a certain area, that is, the same term, only in "urban planning" use. For example, there is a place in the city where all theaters, concert halls, libraries, stadiums and even a zoo are concentrated. Maybe it happened historically, but it is likely that this is the intention of the "fathers of the city".
It must be admitted that many modern cities are built according to this principle: infrastructure - kindergartens, schools, hospitals, squares and parks in remote microdistricts are present, and cultural buildings are moved outside them. This area, where they are concentrated, can be called the cultural center of the city. And this will be the next value.
Community Council
In 2008, the Ministry of Culture developed planning options for cultural centers in order to optimally correlate their occupancy and costs. A schedule has also been drawn up for the creation of such institutions in small towns of the country. In Moscow, a Public Council was created in the amount of fiftypeople, among whom were journalists, architects, museum workers, writers, artists. The rich experience of the Soviet era was discussed, when cultural institutions were present even in the smallest villages and were extremely functional.
Each had a variety of children's clubs and studios, choirs, folk theaters, interest clubs, various mass events, amateur art shows were periodically held. In the construction of cultural centers, this experience had to be taken into account. In 2015, about fifty of these institutions should have opened.
Club or House of Culture
In the USSR, every House or Palace of Culture was necessarily the center of educational and cultural work. The classification of such institutions was as follows: territorial clubs and houses of culture under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture; departmental - under the control of the trade union of an enterprise, educational institution, institution, and so on; clubs for the intelligentsia: Teacher's House, Writer's House, Architect's House, Artist's House and others; House of culture of a separate state farm or collective farm; House of officers; House of Folk Art; Palace for pioneers and schoolchildren.
Club institutions of other countries
The countries of the former USSR and the Warsaw Pact, like the Russian Federation, are now moving away from the names of the Soviet era. Houses of culture are now called magnificently: the Palace of Congresses, the Concert Hall or the cultural center. However, in many places the old names remain due to tradition. In addition to the socialist countries, similar institutions (and not according toname, but in essence) exist in many capitalist countries for a long time and function successfully.
There are a lot of houses of culture in Latin America (they are called so - Centro cultural), in Spain. Folk art and social activities in Germany are extremely developed, for example, concerts, performances, festivals, exhibitions are held in the House of Culture of the Peoples of the World in Berlin, and all these mass events are prepared with the support of the government, but on a voluntary basis. In France and Canada, the institutions of the club plan are called houses of culture (Maison de la Culture), and their activities are absolutely similar to the clubs of our country of the Soviet era. There are twelve such houses of culture in Montreal alone.
Arkaim
Cultural centers have always existed throughout Russia, and new ones are currently being created: parks with natural and landscape themes, as well as historical and archaeological ones. There are many places in the country where such distant times are studied, which even folklore no longer remembers.
Centers where culture and science interact are becoming very popular, for example, such a plan is the city of Arkaim (Chelyabinsk region), where two seemingly unremarkable hills were discovered, which archaeologists are interested in. This discovery was sensational.
At first, representatives of various esoteric groups flocked there, then the study of the area came under the wing of the state, and a reserve was formed. By the way, he is not alone there: "Country of Cities" of the Southern Uralshas twenty-four such places where the cultural center is the city.
Interesting move
The experimental site, from which the reserve began to be equipped, gradually revealed a number of ancient dwellings of the seventeenth century BC. First, the reconstruction touched one of them, and they did it without modern tools, using only those made exactly like the Bronze Age samples found during excavations.
Thus was born the cultural and historical center, called the Museum of ancient industries. Tourists can not only watch the buildings of the age of the pyramids, but also take part both in experiments and in the construction itself, in the reconstruction of dwellings. Only here there are more than four hundred of the most interesting archaeological sites, you can join the culture of different eras.
Tatar settlement
Cultural institutions have many types: libraries, museums, theatres, houses of culture and palaces. And there are complex, syncretic plans, such as the NOCC on the outskirts of Stavropol. It was based on the historical monument "Tatar Settlement", the local history museum and the local university. Cultural centers have united so that scientific work, security and museum (exposition) work is combined with cultural, entertainment and educational activities on the territory of this archaeological paleolandscape park.
This is a very complex, one might say - a multi-layered monument that operated in four historical periods: Khazar, Sarmatian, Scythian and Koban. Cultur althe centers of Russia almost nowhere have such well-preserved fortifications, places of worship, with systems of roads, burial grounds and many more objects, through which you can trace different aspects of the life of our very distant ancestors - from the eighth century BC. These are the ruins of ancient walls, strewn with centuries-old shards of jugs and pots, the ashes of fires and hearths that went out hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
Prospects
The preservation and use of the archaeological heritage, as a rule, takes place through the creation of such complexes on the basis of open-air museums that will combine scientific, educational and many entertainment activities, so many cultural centers of historical cultural direction.
In small towns, any community of local historians with the support of the local administration can become the basis for their functioning. Even a house of culture can become a starting point for creating a center for studying the historical heritage of the region. The road will be mastered by the walking one, therefore it is necessary to help enthusiasts who begin this path in every possible way. Almost all successful enterprises start small, here we can recall the museum of technology of Vadim Zadorozhny, located in the Moscow region. Cultural institutions should enjoy the full support of the state.
Problems of development of small towns
The government is interested in creating new educational and entertainment facilities in the form of historical and cultural centers in smallcities of Russia. Back in 2013, the government's materials included wording indicating the goals for such work.
The cultural centers of Russia are located very unevenly. Most of their concentrations are in big cities. Therefore, there is a disproportion in the quantity, quality and variety of cultural services that citizens receive in the country. The cultural centers of Moscow or St. Petersburg cannot be compared in these parameters with the services offered to residents of remote small settlements. And everyone, without exception, needs to create new opportunities for creativity, self-realization, physical development, spiritual enrichment.
Many dozens of different nationalities live on the territory of Russia, and cultural centers can contribute to a full-fledged cultural exchange between neighboring nationalities. The quality of life with the good work of the unifying multifunctional centers will contribute to improving the quality of life of the population, regardless of place of residence. Also, this path will help develop the infrastructure of a village or city, and even create new jobs. The outflow of population from small towns will be prevented.
