In Search of a Cultural Code project from Saint Petersburg to be launched in Kazan this summer
At the moment, the concept is being formed and the team is being assembled
“Expansion of the geographical, historical, aesthetic space” — this is how Kazan local historian and historian Anatoly Yeldashev commented on the spread of the project In Search of a Cultural Code. It has been implemented in Saint Petersburg for a year now, and now new territories are planned — Moscow and Kazan. And, according to Realnoe Vremya experts, in the capital of Tatarstan “there is something to be surprised about.” Read more about it in the report.
The project In Search of a Cultural Code will be extended to Kazan and Moscow
In Kazan, it is planned to implement the project In Search of a Cultural Code, which has been actively carried out in Saint Petersburg for a year. It is aimed at schoolchildren studying the culture and traditions of their hometown, the author and head of the Youth Historical Forum Heroes of the Fatherland Vladislav Kurbatov told RIA Novosti in an interview:
“In Search of the Cultural Code, we have been implementing for a year in Saint Petersburg. It is dedicated to studying the culture, history, and traditions of the city. Schoolchildren meet with famous Saint Petersburg residents and historians, visit interesting places. For example, they were in the Presidential Library and inside the Palace Bridge — they watched how the mechanisms that raise the bridge work. Young people get acquainted not only with the history and culture of a certain place, but also with the people who work there.”
The plans include expanding the project to Kazan and Moscow. According to Kurbatov, it can be implemented anywhere, since it is “accessible and understandable.” He emphasized that the number of participants is growing every month.
“We are planning to expand to Kazan, where we held an off-site session in November 2024. We are working on it, I think we will launch it this year. The most important thing is to have volunteers who are ready to organize excursions, because there are no problems with speakers and attractions: all cities are rich in architecture and professionals. These are engineers, historians, economists, lawyers — all those who form the cultural code of a place,” he said.
The project will be launched in the summer
As the curator of the project in Saint Petersburg Tatyana Lyashchenko told Realnoe Vremya, In Search of the Cultural Code is planned to be launched in Kazan this summer. At the moment, the concept is being formed and the team is being assembled. She also shared how the programme is being implemented in the Northern capital.
“The project has proven itself well in Saint Petersburg. There are already more than 60 participants. Over the two seasons, the children visited new and interesting places, were able to look at history from the inside and communicate with those people who carefully preserve it for posterity. Now the plans include the implementation of a project in honour of the 80th anniversary of the Victory and visiting places associated with the history of Leningrad during the siege and the war years,” she noted.
According to Lyaschenko, in Saint Petersburg, recruitment of participants takes place every six months. As an application, schoolchildren answer questions about the history of their hometown and write an essay on the importance of studying local history, and also record a video about their favourite place.
“Then begins visiting historical places of the city and meeting with famous Petersburgers. Over the course of six months, we travel through eras and get acquainted with important dates in the history of the city. Then comes the most creative moment — the participants share their impressions in a final essay on the topic My cultural code of Saint Petersburg. Reading it, we understand the significance of each organized and held event, — added the interlocutor of Realnoe Vremya.
Lyashchenko is sure: the project organizers' team must work with burning eyes.
Studying history is really necessary, especially studying your region, your small homeland. Modern youth requires new interesting and interactive methods for presenting material. Since the project is organized by a group of young people for their own audience, this first of all gives the opportunity to understand for yourself whether you like this format or not. We are looking for really interesting and iconic places, studying excursion options and constantly collecting feedback from participants. The project gives you the opportunity to look at your favourite city from a new side, learn its history and meet interesting people,” she summed up.
“There are absolutely no problems in implementing the project for Kazan”
It does not seem difficult to implement the project in Kazan, historian and local historian Anatoly Yeldashev expressed confidence in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya. In his opinion, the city has all the opportunities for this:
As for the route, Yeldashev suggested dedicating it to the 80th anniversary of the Victory. You can start your journey from the city centre, along Gorky and Dzerzhinsky streets.
“In Kazan, 65 evacuation hospitals functioned from the first weeks of the war — more than 300 thousand soldiers were treated there. You can make up the following route: KAI (hospital), the Kazan Chemical Technological Insistute’s industrial school (hospital), then Radiopribor, you can stop by the Arsk Cemetery where more than three and a half thousand soldiers are buried. You can also show the grave of Joseph Stalin's son, Vasily. Then we pass by the Compressor Plant (built in 1947). Then we run into the Said Galiyev Palace of Culture. They have a small museum complex. You can also look into the Socialist City: Gorbunov Design Bureau; the house where Korolyov lived; Kurchatov's secret laboratory,” the historian suggested.
If we put aside the 80th anniversary of the Victory, the main points of the city are obviously the Kremlin, the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the Old Tatar Settlement. In addition, the program can also include the back streets of the city, “which fall outside the main routes”: for example, the streets Pervaya Gora, Vtoraya Gora, Tretya Gora (now Ulyanov-Lenin, Volkova and Kalinina) and Fedoseyevskaya.
“The importance of the project lies in expanding horizons. The significance of the project is the expansion of the geographical, historical, aesthetic space. You live in this city, you are, for example, on Mayakovsky Street — and who is Mayakovsky? Moreover, Kazan is the gateway between the East and the West: a connection through the history of the Volga Bulgaria, the Kazan Khanate,” the local historian summed up.
“The project has an educational, not an educational aspect”
Director of the International School of Kazan Niyaz Gafiyatullin was enthusiastic about the project. However, the question of implementing the idea is acute, he expressed his opinion in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya:
At the same time, Gafiyatullin offered his own vision of the project's implementation: excursions can be held during history lessons of the native land.
“Nevertheless, Kazan is a city with a rich history. There is something to study here, something to be surprised at, something to be proud of. Once we had a teacher who also led excursions. When we traveled around the city together, she told us so many things! ‘Here, a hundred years ago, this happened, and on this street, such and such lived’... I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about the city. Of course, this is very interesting and important,” shared the teacher.
The speaker suggested the Old Tatar Settlement as a must-see: many significant events and people of the city are associated with this place.
“In general, I see more of an educational aspect in the project than an educational one. It is clear that you will not find these topics on the Unified State Exam. The project is about love for your hometown, about history. Personally, this has always inspired me. The main thing is that it is not implemented for show,” expressed hope Gafiyatullin.
