Russia

Yu Gu

Russia Introduction The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favor of a centralized semi-authoritarian state in which the leadership seeks to legitimize its rule through managed national elections, populist appeals by former President PUTIN, and continued economic growth. The area of Russia is 17 million sq. km which is the largest country in the world in terms of area and is about 1.8 times the size of the United States. The capital of Russia is Moscow and the population is about 138 million in July, 2011. 15-20% of population are Russian Orthodox, 10-15% are Muslim and other 2%are Christian. Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy.

There are two main forms of children and youth education in the arts in Russia. The formal one is the "aesthetic formation" within the general education system, which is regulated by state standards and programmes, relatively even and free of charge. The informal or additional education can be chosen according to the interests and ability of a student; it is mostly fee paying and varied as regards institutions and contents. The state informal educational settings, such as Children Arts, Ballet or Music Schools, function as both focal points of general artistic development and the first, compulsory phase of professionalisation in visual arts, music and ballet. The high esteem in which Russian arts education is held abroad is illustrated by the percentage (20%) of foreign students studying music. The access to initial education in music, fine arts, theatre and choreography was named within the political priorities, yet the issue of charging needs to be adjusted. Today, children's educational establishments are opening their doors to adults. An accomplished artist  Ilya Yefimovich Repin (Russian: Илья́ Ефи́мович Ре́пин, Ukrainian: Ілля Юхимович Рєпін, (5 August [O.S. 24 July] 1844, Chuguyev, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire – September 29, 1930, Kuokkala, Viipuri Province, Finland) was a leading Russian painter and sculptor of the Peredvizhniki artistic school. An important part of his work is dedicated to his native country, Ukraine. His realistic works often expressed great psychological depth and exposed the tensions within the existing social order. Beginning in the late 1920s, detailed works on him were published in the Soviet Union, where a Repin cult developed about a decade later, and where he was held up as a model "progressive" and "realist" to be imitated by "Socialist Realist" artists in the USSR.  Repin first saw barge-haulers in 1868, on the River Neva just outside St. Petersburg. He was struck by the sight of these broken figures, harnessed together, in such stark contrast to the general public who were outdoors and at their leisure. After two trips to the Volga, and having made the direct acquaintance of many haulers, Repin began this work. He chose to paint it on a monumental scale, seeking not solely to provoke compassion, but on the contrary, to emphasis the spiritual and physical power of this diverse group of workers, set against the background of a broad Volga landscape on a searing hot summer’s day. For Repin each of his characters was a living, breathing, sentient entity with his own destiny, personality and inner being. The Volga Barge Haulersshows the manner in which human beings were often used as pack animals in tsarist Russia. Peasants would do the work of animals when animals were not available, or even when they were. The Volga Barge Haulers exemplifies this aspect of peasant life. A group of worn men in ragged clothing attempt to drag a barge ashore, thick straps cutting into their chests, their bodies leaning forward against the strain. The foremost barge hauler seems resigned to his fate, and his neighbor looks directly at the viewer almost accusingly. The barge haulers depicted in this painting are men, but women would do this work if necessary. Whether hauling barges or plowing fields, peasant life was the roughest of the rough; The Volga Barge Haulers is a testament to this aspect of peasant existence. A successful arts organization PRO ARTE:   The PRO ARTE Foundation is a non-governmental organization founded in 1999 to promote contemporary culture in the fields of visual art, music and dance. It is located in the Peter and Paul Fortress, St Petersburg, Russia. The Foundation organizes a wide variety of educational programs (lectures, seminars, round tables), events (concerts and exhibitions), and grant competitions for Russian artists and cultural institutions. Many programs are realized in cooperation with the leading cultural institutions of St Petersburg: The State Hermitage Museum, The State Russian Museum, St Petersburg Philharmony and others. The PRO ARTE Foundation is supported by the Cultural Committee of the Government of St Petersburg, European Comission and Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation.

CONTEMPORARY ART PROGRAM The program allows participants to understand aesthetical potential of new forms of art such as object, installation, performance, action, video art, net art, computer art as well as to shape their personal attitude towards them and gain basic skills of dealing with new media (digital photography, video art, computer resources and others) that can be used for creating a piece of art work. The program is designed for young people under age of 30 with artistic education or those currently involved in the field of contemporary art. School arts programs <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">As I mentioned at the beginning, "There are two main forms of children and youth education in the arts in Russia. The formal one is the "aesthetic formation" within the general education system, which is regulated by state standards and programmes, relatively even and free of charge. The informal or additional education can be chosen according to the interests and ability of a student; it is mostly fee paying and varied as regards institutions and contents." An example of arts integrating with regular curriculum is given below.

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Program “Image and thought”: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Program is designed for implementation in common school and fits the state educational standards. The program describes the organisation activities for children where they are supposed to explore and discuss artworks. The special characteristic of this program is that teacher is not supposed to "teach" art: translation of "ready-composed" knowledge on the life of and creation background of great masters, history of artworks and technology of creation etc. The focus is being made on inner personal changes which occur to the children in the process of interaction with art. Realizing with the Saint-Petersburg State Academy after-graduate pedagogical education. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%;">Conclusion <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The arts education in Russia has something in common with that in my home country, China. We also have two main forms of children and youth education in the arts-formal and informal. From my own schooling experience, the arts have been integrated in regular curriculum. It is true that art was not considered as a main subject in the school, but I still had some fun and learned something from art classes at that time. Although the study load had increased dramatically in middle school and high school, we still had art as part of school curriculum. The different thing is that teachers are not supposed to "teach" art, instead, they pay more attention to "inner personal changes which occur to the children in the process of interaction with art". This is also the thing surprised me during the research and I really admire this method of teaching. Chinese teachers focus more on the translation of "readay-composed" knowledge, they always encourage us to learn from past artworks and then let us get start to create our own works after we understand the basic knowledge and skills of a specific form of art. It is very interesting to learn about the art education in different countries and in different culture.

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