Journal articles on the topic 'Modern 20th century Asia Exhibitions History'

- G.W.J. Drewes, Taufik Abdullah, Islam and society in Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian studies, Singapore, 1986, XII and 348 pp., Sharon Siddique (eds.) - Th. van den End, T.Valentino Sitoy, A history of Christianity in the Philippines. The initial encounter , Vol. I, Quezon City (Philippines): New day publishers, 1985. - R. Hagesteijn, David G. Marr, Southeast Asia in the 9th to 14th centuries, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian studies and the research school of Pacific studies of the Australian National University, 1986, 416 pp., A.C. Milner (eds.) - R. Hagesteijn, Constance M. Wilson, The Burma-Thai frontier over sixteen decades - Three descriptive documents, Ohio University monographs in international studies, Southeast Asia series No. 70, 1985,120 pp., Lucien M. Hanks (eds.) - Barbara Harrisson, John S. Guy, Oriental trade ceramics in South-east Asia, ninth to sixteenth century, Oxford University Press, Singapore, 1986. [Revised, updated version of an exhibition catalogue issued in Australia in 1980, in the enlarged format of the Oxford in Asia studies of ceramic series.] 161 pp. with figs. and maps, 197 catalogue ills., numerous thereof in colour, extensive bibliography, chronol. tables, glossary, index. - V.J.H. Houben, G.D. Larson, Prelude to revolution. Palaces and politics in Surakarta, 1912-1942. VKI 124, Dordrecht/Providence: Foris publications 1987. - Marijke J. Klokke, Stephanie Morgan, Aesthetic tradition and cultural transition in Java and Bali. University of Wisconsin, Center for Southeast Asian studies, Monograph 2, 1984., Laurie Jo Sears (eds.) - Liaw Yock Fang, Mohamad Jajuli, The undang-undang; A mid-eighteenth century law text, Center for South-East Asian studies, University of Kent at Canterbury, Occasional paper No. 6, 1986, VIII + 104 + 16 pp. - S.D.G. de Lima, A.B. Adam, The vernacular press and the emergence of modern Indonesian consciousness (1855-1913), unpublished Ph. D. thesis, School of Oriental and African studies, University of London, 1984, 366 pp. - J. Thomas Lindblad, K.M. Robinson, Stepchildren of progress; The political economy of development in an Indonesian mining town, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986, xv + 315 pp. - Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer, J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Indo-Javanese Metalwork, Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde, 1984, 218 pp. - H.M.J. Maier, V. Matheson, Perceptions of the Haj; Five Malay texts, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian studies (Research notes and discussions paper no. 46), 1984; 63 pp., A.C. Milner (eds.) - Wolfgang Marschall, Sandra A. Niessen, Motifs of life in Toba Batak texts and textiles, Verhandelingen KITLV 110. Dordrecht/Cinnaminson: Foris publications, 1985. VIII + 249 pp., 60 ills. - Peter Meel, Ben Scholtens, Opkomende arbeidersbeweging in Suriname. Doedel, Liesdek, De Sanders, De kom en de werklozenonrust 1931-1933, Nijmegen: Transculturele Uitgeverij Masusa, 1986, 224 pp. - Anke Niehof, Patrick Guinness, Harmony and hierarchy in a Javanese kampung, Asian Studies Association of Australia, Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1986, 191 pp. - C.H.M. Nooy-Palm, Toby Alice Volkman, Feasts of honor; Ritual and change in the Toraja Highlands, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, Illinois Studies in Anthropology no. 16, 1985, IX + 217 pp., 2 maps, black and white photographs. - Gert J. Oostindie, Jean Louis Poulalion, Le Surinam; Des origines à l’indépendance. La Chapelle Monligeon, s.n., 1986, 93 pp. - Harry A. Poeze, Bob Hering, The PKI’s aborted revolt: Some selected documents, Townsville: James Cook University of North Queensland. (Occasional Paper 17.) IV + 100 pp. - Harry A. Poeze, Biografisch woordenboek van het socialisme en de arbeidersbeweging in Nederland; Deel I, Amsterdam: Stichting tot Beheer van Materialen op het Gebied van de Sociale Geschiedenis IISG, 1986. XXIV + 184 pp. - S. Pompe, Philipus M. Hadjon, Perlindungan hukum bagi rakyat di Indonesia, Ph.D thesis Airlangga University, Surabaya: Airlangga University Press, 1985, xviii + 308 pp. - J.M.C. Pragt, Volker Moeller, Javanische bronzen, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin, 1985. Bilderheft 51. 62 pp., ill. - J.J. Ras, Friedrich Seltmann, Die Kalang. Eine Volksgruppe auf Java und ihre Stamm-Myth. Ein beitrag zur kulturgeschichte Javas, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH, 1987, 430 pp. - R. Roolvink, Russell Jones, Hikayat Sultan Ibrahim ibn Adham, Berkeley: Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, Monograph Series no. 57, 1985. ix, 332 pp. - R. Roolvink, Russell Jones, Hikayat Sultan Ibrahim, Dordrecht/Cinnaminson: Foris, KITLV, Bibliotheca Indonesica vol. 24, 1983. 75 pp. - Wim Rutgers, Harry Theirlynck, Van Maria tot Rosy: Over Antilliaanse literatuur, Antillen Working Papers 11, Caraïbische Afdeling, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Leiden, 1986, 107 pp. - C. Salmon, John R. Clammer, ‘Studies in Chinese folk religion in Singapore and Malaysia’, Contributions to Southeast Asian Ethnography no. 2, Singapore, August 1983, 178 pp. - C. Salmon, Ingo Wandelt, Wihara Kencana - Zur chinesischen Heilkunde in Jakarta, unter Mitarbeit bei der Feldforschung und Texttranskription von Hwie-Ing Harsono [The Wihara Kencana and Chinese Therapeutics in Jakarta, with the cooperation of Hwie-Ing Harsono for the fieldwork and text transcriptions], Kölner ethopgraphische Studien Bd. 10, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1985, 155 pp., 1 plate. - Mathieu Schoffeleers, 100 jaar fraters op de Nederlandse Antillen, Zutphen: De Walburg Pers, 1986, 191 pp. - Mathieu Schoffeleers, Jules de Palm, Kinderen van de fraters, Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1986, 199 pp. - Henk Schulte Nordholt, H. von Saher, Emanuel Rodenburg, of wat er op het eiland Bali geschiedde toen de eerste Nederlanders daar in 1597 voet aan wal zetten. De Walburg Pers, Zutphen, 1986, 104 pp., 13 ills. and map. - G.J. Schutte, W.Ph. Coolhaas, Generale missiven van Gouverneurs-Generaal en Raden aan Heren XVII der Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VIII: 1725-1729, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie 193, ‘s-Gravenhage, 1985, 275 pp. - H. Steinhauer, Jeff Siegel, Language contact in a plantation environment. A sociolinguistic history of Fiji, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, xiv + 305 pp. [Studies in the social and cultural foundations of language 5.] - H. Steinhauer, L.E. Visser, Sahu-Indonesian-English Dictionary and Sahu grammar sketch, Verhandelingen van het KITLV 126, Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1987, xiv + 258 pp., C.L. Voorhoeve (eds.) - Taufik Abdullah, H.A.J. Klooster, Indonesiërs schrijven hun geschiedenis: De ontwikkeling van de Indonesische geschiedbeoefening in theorie en praktijk, 1900-1980, Verhandelingen KITLV 113, Dordrecht/Cinnaminson: Foris Publications, 1985, Bibl., Index, 264 pp. - Maarten van der Wee, Jan Breman, Control of land and labour in colonial Java: A case study of agrarian crisis and reform in the region of Ceribon during the first decades of the 20th century, Verhandelingen of the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology, Leiden, No. 101, Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1983. xi + 159 pp.

The year 1998 marked the centennial of the birth of artist Ben Shahn (1898–1969). Coupled with the approach of the millennium, which many museums celebrated by surveying the cultural production of the 20th century, the centennial offered the perfect opportunity to mount a major exhibition of Shahn's work (the last comprehensive exhibition had taken place at the Jewish Museum in New York City in 1976). The moment was also propitious because a renewed interest in narrative, figurative art, and political art encouraged scholarly and popular appreciation of Ben Shahn, whose reputation within the history of American art had been eclipsed for many decades by the attention given to the abstract expressionists. The Jewish Museum responded in 1998 with Common Man, Mythic Vision: The Paintings of Ben Shahn, organized by the Museum's curator Susan Chevlowe, with abstract expressionism scholar Stephen Polcari (Figure 1). The exhibition traveled to the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania and closed at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1999.Smaller Shahn exhibitions then in the planning stages (although not scheduled to open during the centennial year) were to focus on selected aspects of Shahn's oeuvre: the Fogg Museum was to present his little-known New York City photographs of the 1930s in relationship to his paintings, and the Jersey City Museum intended to exhibit his career-launching series, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1931–32). Knowing this, Chevlowe smartly chose to focus on the later years of Shahn's career and on his lesser-known easel paintings of the post-World War II era. In so doing, Chevlowe challenged viewers to expand their understanding both of the artist and his place in 20th-century American art.

The article discusses the forms of republicanism that existed in the territory of Uzbekistan in different historical times and eras. The author, based on the research of historians, orientalists and memoirs of travelers, believes that the first republic emerged in the territory of Uzbekistan in the 14th century in Samarkand. The founders of the first republic were Sarbadars. The second republic — Tashkent “aristocratic” land-holding (18th century) — was founded by Yunus Khoja after a long internecine war. The Tashkent “aristocratic” republic did not last long: about 25 years. The third republic (Turkestan autonomy) was brought into being in 1917 by “bourgeois” representatives of the local elite. Turkestan autonomy lasted 72 days and was destroyed by the Bolsheviks. The fourth republic was the Uzbek SSR (1917–1991). The Uzbek SSR was considered a socialist republic. Its essence was manifested in the union of workers, intelligentsia and farmers. The fifth republic is a democratic post-Soviet Uzbekistan. The author, on the basis of the Soviet historiography, shows that during the 20th century, intellectuals tried to find forms of republicanism in the history of Uzbekistan. In the Soviet historiography of the 1940s, attempts were made to invent “republican” traditions in Soviet Central Asia. According to the author, these attempts continue to this day. The author believes that the political science of Uzbekistan does not study the problem of republicanism in Central Asia.

As a part of the geographical knowledge introduced by Matteo Ricci from the West into China at the beginning of the 17th century, the concept of “Asia” had undergone a cool reception for over three hundred years and did not become a common idea of world geography until the early 20th century when it was publicized by textbooks and other mass media. As the author points out, Asia is not merely a geographical concept, but also refers to history, culture, and politics. Although early Western missionaries and Chinese scholar-officials like Wei Yuan endowed Asia with a positive meaning as the origin of world civilization, from the mid-19th century on, Chinese intellectuals, out of a sense of crisis caused by the European invasion of Asia, tended to describe Asia as a backward continent subjugated by the white people. In the 1910s, against the background of Japan’s annexation of Korea, Asia was divided into two opposing parts, “the country invading other countries” (Japan) and “the countries being invaded by other countries” (India, Korea, and China). Along with the occupation of other Asian countries by Japan in the name of “the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere” in the 1930s and 1940s, the concept of Asia also lost its charm among Chinese nationals.

Dennis died on the 6th May after a serious illness that bothered him for several years. He leaves behind his wife Yasmin, his daughter Melani, his son Deen and many friends all over the world. He was a universal man: architect, scholar, critic, writer, teacher, bookseller, cook and walking encyclopedia. He collaborated with architects like Santiago de Calatrava. His books Modern Architecture and Expression (1966) and 20th century architecture - a visual history (1972) became classics. He made exhibitions, was the editor of the magazine World Architecture, he was professor at the Open University and for the development of docomomo he was of vital importance.

In China, as in many other modern and contemporary states, the past is often used to inform public opinions and legitimate the political regime. This article examines two examples of archaeological exhibitions in China: at the National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆) in Beijing and the Liaoning Provincial Museum (辽宁省博物馆) in Shenyang. It discusses the development and change over time in the content of these archaeological exhibitions, the way they were organized and presented to the public, and the explanations that accompanied the prehistoric artefacts. I argue that the way the past, and in particular the distant, prehistoric and proto-historic past, is presented in Chinese museums reveals a process of entrenchment of the standardized narrative of Chinese history, with a powerful sense of connection and continuity between the past, no matter how distant, and the present. I also argue that although the general outline of the historical trajectory of the ‘Chinese civilization’ is universally accepted, small variations in the way it is presented and the different emphases of the two exhibitions can inform us about various ways of constructing local and national identities in China during the 20th century and up to the current time.

There is no doubt, interpretation of religious values by social and political elites in the modern social history has significantly influenced the development of political structure at national, regional and global level. At least, the phenomena has appeared since the period of Muhammad in the seventh century around Arabic peninsula, the rise of Islamic empires in the western Asia from the seventh to twelfth century, Spain under the Moslem and Christian powers, Turk during the Ottoman Empire from fifteenth to nineteenth century, Europe nations in the period of Crusaders from eleventh to fourteenth century, American independence war more than two hundred years ago. And in some cases, religious values were used effectively to mobilize local people against the western governments in Asia and Africa in the last century. Local political entities in South East Asia also experienced the same political development. Jihad concept fuelled and promoted social and political movements of Imam Diponegoro in Java, Sultan Hasanuddin in Makassar, Panglima Polem in Aceh, and Moro independence movement in Philippine. By using document analysis, depth interviews, and field observation, this study documents historical evidences that Haji Hayyun played a significant role politically and socially in Tolitoli, Sulawesi Tengah in the early twentieth century. Although tragically ended, as a figure he successfully used religious sentiment to get support from his followers against the Dutch government in Tolitoli.

The significance of Iš kelionės po Europą ir Aziją (1914), the guidebook by Julija Pranaitytė, a Lithuanian intellectual from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, depended not just on the fact that the author was the first Lithuanian female traveller to comprehensively document the experiences of a modern tourist in the early 20th century, but that the book itself was the first guidebook to the Russian Empire to be published in Lithuanian. The guidebook is an attempt by member of the intelligentsia with strong Catholic views to provide practical information about a modernizing and increasingly mobile world. Thus, the intended target of Pranaitytė book is twofold. Firstly, it is more mobile yet still poorly educated working-class reader who is being constantly warned about possible threads of being fooled or cheated. The reader could find advice in guidebook about things worth having while travelling, how to communicate, and what to expect. The guidebook also provides historical information about places visited, cultural insights, similarities and differences to Western society in such a way the book could be interesting and useful for middle-calls traveler as well. There is also a more general problem relating to the author’s approach to the guidebook: what representations of different cultures and nations did early 20th-century Lithuanians share, and what did these representations mean in the religious, imperial and international contexts of the time? As is often the case in travel literature, history is presented here selectively, taking into account the dominant cultural monologue. It has a clear purpose in Pranaitytė’s guidebook: to spread a vision of the moral and religious superiority of Western and Christian culture. However, having in mind that growing number of workers and middle class were engage in Lithuanian national movement at the beginning of 20th century, this prejudges becomes paradoxical because Empire’s religious and cultural values are shown as cultural foundation for discovering new parts of late Russian Empire.

AbstractWhile in the Ottoman Empire reconciling disputing parties insharīʿacourts occurred without the direct involvement of state officials, in modern Central Asia functionaries appointed by the ruler’s chancellery acted as mediators and mediation procedures were consistent with the state’s intervention in the resolution of a conflict. This ended with Russian colonization. Conflict resolution was left to thesharīʿacourts; mediation continued to be important but state appointees were no longer officially involved in bringing it about. The Russian colonial and Soviet administrations made the community responsible for seeking amicable settlements. Only afterwards did they realize how easy this made it for local groups to circumvent the state’s supervision.

Sanitary reforms in China began in parts of the country where European influence was strong. The British colony of Hong Kong was at the forefront of sanitary reforms, where the population naturally had to adapt to the difficult conditions of the climate, the burden of infectious diseases and constant overcrowding. By the early 1880s, the colony's growing Chinese population and disorderly housing development raised serious concerns among the European community that the presence of the Chinese posed a tangible threat to the health and well-being of Europeans in this part of East Asia. This sentiment prompted a series of sanitary reforms, catalyzed by the reports of colonial engineer Osbert Chadwick, a staunch advocate of sanitation and equal access to modern sanitary infrastructure. His reports of 1882 and 1902 set the course of sanitary reform in Hong Kong for the long term. They were also a response to the Hong Kong Chinese community's request for universal access to adequate methods of rainwater and domestic sewage disposal, as well as access to a more equitable water supply. Like all fast-growing global cities, Hong Kong's continued development was impossible without an extensive sanitation transformation program. It was advocated not only by the most far-sighted members of the colonial administration, but also by much of the colony's Chinese population.

This article is focused on several themes connected with the history of photography, political exile in Imperial Russia, exploration and representations of Siberia in the late 19th–early 20th centuries. Photography became an essential tool in numerous geographic, topographic and ethnographic expeditions to Siberia in the late 19th century; well-known scientists started to master photography or were accompanied by professional photographers in their expeditions, including ones organized by the Russian Imperial Geographic Society, which resulted in the photographic records, reports, publications and exhibitions. Photography was rapidly spreading across Asian Russia and by the end of the 19th century there was a photo studio (or several ones) in almost every Siberian town. Political exiles were often among Siberian photographers, making photography their new profession, business, a way of getting a social status in the local society, and a means of surviving financially as well as intellectually and emotionally. They contributed significantly to the museum’s collections by photographing indigenous people in Siberia and even traveling to Mongolia and China, displaying “types” as a part of anthropological research in Asia and presenting “views” of the Russian empire’s borderlands. The visual representation of Siberia corresponded with general perceptions of an exotic East, populated by “primitive” peoples devoid of civilization, a trope reinforced by numerous photographs and depictions of Siberia as an untamed natural world, later transformed and modernized by the railroads construction.

I had the opportunity to participate in the 9th Forum on East Asia and Contemporary Japanese-Language Literature, an international conference which was held on October 16 and 17, 2021. Unfortunately, as in the previous year, the conference had to be held online due to COVID-19. However, it provided an invaluable opportunity for me to deepen my thinking about “glocal” culture, which was the subject of the conference. When focusing on the region of East Asia, it should be noted that “glocalism” is not unique to this global age but was also observed during the modern period. From the 19th to the 20th century, East Asia was affected by imperialism, colonialism, modernization, and westernization, the confluence of which created a complex cultural topography that gave rise to diverse “glocal” cultures. These were primarily related to the movement around the region of various writers and the translations, adaptations, and distribution of their work across borders and regions. I was able to explore the complex history of “glocal” culture in East Asia through the numerous presentations at the conference, including the main symposium “Glocal Culture in Modern and Contemporary Asia：Identity, Literature, and History.” As the COVID-19 crisis is gradually abating, I look forward to a time when the conference will be held offline, and am eager to share further fruitful discussions with participants in the future.

This article reports the results of a collaborative effort to estimate agricultural productivities in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank. We focus on 30 Natural Geographic Areas (NGAs) distributed over 10 major world regions (Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Eurasia, North America, South America, and Oceania). The conceptual framework that we use to obtain these estimates combines the influences of the production technologies (and how they change with time), climate change, and effects of artificial selection into a Relative Yield Coefficient, indicating how agricultural productivity changed over time in each NGA between the Neolithic and the 20th century. We then use estimates of historical yield in each NGA to translate the Relative Yield Coefficient into an Estimated Yield (tonnes per hectare per year) trajectory. We tested the proposed methodology in two ways. For eight NGAs, in which we had more than one historical yield estimate, we used the earliest estimate to anchor the trajectory and compared the ensuing trajectory to the remaining estimates. We also compared the end points of the estimated NGA trajectories to the earliest (the 1960s decade) FAO data on crop productivities in the modern countries encompassing Seshat NGAs. We discuss the benefits of this methodology over previous efforts to estimate agricultural productivities in world history.

Are considered scientific heritage of the historian, lawyer and orientalist, professor of the Irkutsk university S. V. Shostakovich. Its role in reconstruction of the higher legal education in Eastern Siberia is noted. The main attention is paid to the analysis of historical and legal questions in research of antique Greece, the countries of the Middle East, Central Asia and China during modern and latest times. It is noted that S. V. Shostakovich made a scientific contribution in studying the legal dependent population and patriarchal family in Ancient Greece, problems of the feudal monarchy in Persia of the end XVIII – the first half of the 19th centuries, international law, a problem of exterritoriality of foreigners in China of the beginning of the 20th century, international legal position of the state Tannu-Tuva in the 20th of the 20th century. It one of the first considered also political and legal views of the prominent Russian diplomat A. S. Griboyedov. The conclusion is drawn that S. V. Shostakovich carried on scientific traditions of a historical and legal perspective of the Irkutsk legal school of the 1920th, made an original contribution to studying problems of history of state and law, a political and legal thought.

The purpose of this article is to present sculpture parks at the modern stage of development, from the last third of the 20th century to our day. The relevance of this purpose is due to the relevance of these parks, which meets, firstly, on the challenges of culture, reproducing itself in the synthesis of landscape and monumental-decorative arts; secondly, on the demands of the population in artistically interpreted natural spaces; thirdly, on the life-building claims of modern art, which is looking for optimal ways of self-presentation. The representation of the sculpture parks is implied their systematization, which, in the course of the factual and visual material analysis, exhibits the most typical trends of formal and informative diversity and takes the form of a typology. To start building a typology, it was necessary to draw up a rather broad and spacious representative sample of objects and to select reference criteria in the trends of the manifold. Thus, a representative sample was made up of 90 Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America brightest objects, and following criteria were put forward: environmental involvement, authorship, the nature of specific forms and links between them. Typology showed that approximately two thirds of the sculpture parks are a product of the natural environment and one third of the architectural environment. In the natural environment, in authentic natural spaces, these are co-author full (independent and contextual) and special (by place, material, style, theme) formats, as well as mono-author formats. In an architectural environment, in integrated or interpreted natural spaces, these are, first of all, city formats that can be both co-authors and mono-authors: destinations, stops, transit zones. The implementation of the typology was facilitated by the attraction of a new material for the national art history. In the scientific circulation were introduced information about objects that were not mentioned before and unknown artists. Accounting for this information, along with known realities, allowed us to reach a higher understanding level of sculpture parks as a modern hypostasis of artistic synthesis.

The Old Belgrade Fairground complex is the large area in the center of Belgrade that is completely isolated from other parts of Belgrade: it is one of the most devastated city areas, populated by poor inhabitants, often by those from the marginal groups, burdened with tragic history and it represents one of hardest problems for planners to solve. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava River between two bridges and downtown New Belgrade. Opposite to it, the Sava Amphitheatre slopes down the Belgrade Ridge towards the river. The complex was built in the thirties of the 20th century across the River Sava in the area that was an unpopulated swamp - Belgrade was situated on the right Sava bank. It was meant to be modern extension of oriental city, which could represent the western tendencies of the young state (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and its capital. Modern and monumental complex of exhibition and commercial pavilions was built, and started its life with national and international fairs and exhibitions. World War 2 changed its destiny: German occupation forces transformed the complex into the concentration camp, where thousands of people were tortured and killed. After the war, new republican government, both communist and antifascist, had double frustration regarding this space: it?s tragic (during the War) and "capitalist" (before the War) past, so complex that was absolutely ignored in the period of the postwar renewal, and the result is described at the beginning of this text. This paper discusses the possibility to conciliate historical roles of the complex, and to realize it?s potentials in the modern world. Facts of the complex?s history are presented in the first part of the paper. Further on, these facts are analyzed in the context of contemporary city development of Belgrade in particular but globally, too.. Finally, some guidelines for crossing the gap between this area and the rest of the city are presented in the third part of the paper.

The development of digital culture has made significant changes in the field of culture and information, in particular in the field of library activities. Digitization of library collections forms a digital resource of knowledge, which requires reflection and identification of its potential, strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of the digital resource include a multiple increase in the availability of the book collections and a qualitative change in the opportunity of their research. The problematic aspects of digitalization include the issue of reliability of the digital sources and authenticity of a book unit translated into digital format. One of the verification solutions to this issue may be creating a digital information block accompanying a digital book to collect, accumulate and preserve information about the paper book unit and the history of its existence.Due to the development of digital technologies, a paper book ceases to be the only medium of information. From an information document, it turns into an object of culture with a memory value, historical and artistic features. The translation of the book into the category of a cultural object brings together the position of libraries and museums as medium socio-communicative institutions that act as a platform for the presentation of their collections, one of the most optimal forms of which are exhibitions. The article considers the issues of representativeness of book exhibits and book exhibitions in the conditions of development of the digital environment and digital technologies. There is examined the representativeness of book exhibitions using the example of thematic and artistic-mythological exposition methods.The article considers the activities of the Museum of Painting Culture (MZHK) and the Higher Art and Technical Workshops (VKHUTEMAS) and their experimental searches of the first third of the 20th century in the field of creating new museum exposition forms and exhibition formats. The author draws parallels between universal methods of working with an art object developed by MZHK and VKHUTEMAS and working with book exhibits when creating an exhibition today. The article briefly outlines the tasks solved by the curatorial and design group to strengthen the representative function of an exhibit-book. There are analyzed modern forms of real and virtual exhibitions, their interrelation and mutual influence, formats of interaction. The article notes the importance of exhibitions for the self-presentation of cultural institutions in the digital space.

The article discusses the actualization of the problem of Islamic statehood after the official abolition of the Caliphate by the Parliament and the Government of Turkey in 1924. From that time on the institution of the Caliphate was no longer a part of the political reality in the Muslim world. However, it has become an arena of the movement for the revival of the traditional Islamic form of government and a platform for debates regarding the ways and prospects of restoring the Caliphate within the framework of new political realities. The search for a more pragmatic understanding of the problems of the Caliphate was followed by the shaping of the idea for debunking of its historical role as the foundation of the Muslim community. The authors of the article examine the concepts, logic and argumentation of the Egyptian theologian Ali Abd al-Raziq (1888—1966), who questioned the legitimacy of the Caliphate as a political phenomenon and criticized it from a theological and legal point of view. The analysis of the source material confirms that calls for the replacement of the Caliphate with other political models of government were not positively received in the post-Ottoman space of the Middle East and North Africa. The article also explores the foundations and practical actions of the Caliphate movement which emerged among Muslims in South Asia. The article focuses on the views and visions of the Caliphate’s future of two Muslim thinkers – Abul Kalam Azad (1888—1958) and Abul Ala Maududi (1903—1979). As advocates of Caliphatism, both intellectuals represented different approaches to the future development of the Muslim community in South Asia: the idea of coexistence of Muslims with other religious communities within the borders of a single secular state and the idea of Islamic fundamentalism based on the construction of a world Caliphate. Attempts to rethink the concept of the Caliphate continue in the modern Muslim world, which, however, is not ready to give an unambiguous answer to the question of the possibility of developing its societies in line with European civilization.

The author is Professor of History of Modern Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, received his M.Sc in architecture and town-planning in Belgrade and at the Athens Center of Ekistics, Athens, Greece, and his Ph. D at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade. He is the author of many books including Computer Atlas of Belgrade (Belgrade, 1976, second edition in Serbian and English as Research into the Urban Structure of Belgrade, Belgrade, 2002), Lessons of the Past (Belgrade, 1985), four volumes on the history of modern architecture in the world 1750 to present, Serbian 20th Century Architecture: From Historicisim to Second Modernism (Belgrade, 2003), and numerous articles published in scientific and professional journals. He has had one-man exhibitions of his experimental town-planning projects in Ljubljana (1977), Zagreb(1978), Belgrade (1978), Paris (1981), Dublin (1981), and at the Gallery of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London (1986). He has lectured at New York University, the Institute of Fine Arts (New York), Princeton University, Columbia University (New York), Ohio State University (Columbus), Athens Center of Ekistics, University of Cambridge (UK), and the Royal Institute of British Architects. The text that follows was one of several interviews of Dr Perovió with selected participants in the Delos Symposia (international meetings on boardship organized by the Athens Center of Ekistics, 1963-1972) first published in the journal Sinteza (Ljubljana) and later in a separate book entitled Dialogues with the Delians in both Serbian and English, Ljublijana, 1978.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed an age of expedition frenzy that had spread east as the Western explorers diverted their interest in Central Asia across the continent to Chinese Xinjiang, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia. To facilitate the planning and logistics of their expedition activities, Western explorers selected specific cities situated on the Chinese northern and western frontiers that were geographically suited to their needs and interests, as well as to serve as their temporary basecamps throughout the expedition period. Kalgan, the name by which the city of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province is most known to Westerners, is a city with close to 2,000 years of history as a frontier trade zone since the Eastern Han Dynasty, emerged from these expedition activities as an embodiment of full-fledged urban modernity in the early 20th century. Railroads, postal services, telegram lines, banking systems, and customs were all established as necessary infrastructures, turning this historical frontier city into a practical “pivot” from which the expedition operations were managed, relayed, and communicated with the explorers’ respective home nations. Through photos, writings, and other types of housekeeping documents (i.e., cheques, telegrams, and balance sheets), this paper aims to examine the cultural memory of Kalgan against the modern Western expedition activities that had directly, or indirectly, stimulated the modernization of a frontier city, one that had historically been a gateway city where the Chinese heartland meets the outside world.

It is a well-established historical fact that Africa and India have cultivated continuous connections for thousands of years. Exchanges of commodities produced on each side of the Indian Ocean in specific political, administrative, and geographic spaces have constituted the guiding thread of these relations. In the modern and contemporary periods, these relations have been shaped through European colonial establishments and their legacies in both sides. Past policies of forced migration and resettlement for economic exploitation of the British colonies in Africa, especially East and Southern Africa, became determinants of the Africa-India relations. The anti-colonial and decolonization struggles in Asia in general and specifically in India and Africa throughout the 20th century created opportunities for a new Africa-India cooperation. In these new relations, formal education, especially higher education, have been playing a prominent role. The thrust of this paper is to analyze the important role of higher education in a South-South cooperation framework between India and Africa as a continent or individual countries. The fluctuating or declining patterns of the number of African students pursuing their education in India in the past decade or so are analyzed.

In this paper, we show the importance of including the large corpus of scholarly, popular and media texts describing the experience of 20th-century Russian and Soviet Indologists in bachelor’s Asian studies programmes. We explain the significance of the practical work of Soviet Asian scholars on developing and implementing international communication strategies and practices and show that this work is topical and relevant for modern tertiary education. We emphasize the extensive experience accumulated by Russian Indologists in developing scenarios and models of interaction between Russia and Asian countries that take regional particularities into account. We examine the work of the Russian Indologist, scholar, journalist, publicist and professor Leonid Mitrokhin (1934-2002), winner of the Nehru Award (1985), who worked for over a decade in India and devoted his entire life to studying South and Central Asia. We analyse Leonid Mitrokhin’s key communicative practices, whose results are reflected in his monographs, popular books and articles. The results of our linguocultural study confirm the effectiveness of the implementation of friendly communication strategies in Indo-Soviet relations in the 1960s and 1970s. The case study of Leonid Mitrokhin’s work shows the broad range of professional competencies of Soviet Indologists, who had in-depth knowledge of the political and sociocultural makeup of South Asia, the systemic connections between individual social, economic and political groups and institutes, and the ethnopsychological, ethnocultural and religious particularities of interethnic communication. The knowledge and skills of Soviet Indologists allowed them to make accurate forecasts of the development of the political and economic situation in South Asia and neighbouring regions, promote communication, make expert assessments in key areas of interaction between the USSR and countries in the region, elaborate effective communication strategies, and shape a positive image of their country in the international arena. The study of the communication experience of Soviet Indologists shall help contemporary students to learn the methodology of area studies, develop their strategic thinking, expand their study and research interests, improve their knowledge of the region’s history and interregional relations, and learn the basics of foreign impact strategies and the practice of foreign propaganda in Asia.

This article attempts to investigate the development of Bohdan Khavarivskyi as a philologist, teacher, archivist, local historian, artist, personality, public-political and cultural-educational figure in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. This significant list of his interests testifies to this person's uniqueness, comprehensiveness, and talent. Based on the analysis of archival materials, it was found that the formation of B. Khavarivskyi took place in the traditions of family upbringing, his parents and teachers who encouraged him to draw, write poems, recite, and sing was an example to follow in childhood. Bohdan-Roman was a comprehensively gifted individual who could realize his talents later in life. His activities were traced during his studies at the philological faculty of Chernivtsi State University. He attended the literary studio named after Stepan Budny, designed and edited its handwritten newspapers "Sunny Clarinets" and "Vesely Ostap," and gave speeches at scientific conferences. Acquaintance with famous Ukrainian science and culture figures from Chernivtsi contributed to his formation as a mature personality with an active life position and deep national convictions. It has been proven that the beginnings of his pedagogical work were connected to his teaching activities in a rural school in the Ternopil region. Over time, Bohdan Khavarivskyi worked as an educator in the dormitory of Ternopil Technical School № 2. Also, as a teacher at Ternopil Special Vocational Technical School № 3. It was found that the center of the future writer's organization, a professional center of artists, free from the restrictions of the standards of socialist realism, was formed in this educational institution. Subsequently, he was a senior researcher at the Ternopil Regional State Archives, a teacher at the Ternopil State Pedagogical Institute, the head of the public education department of the Ternopil Regional Executive Committee, the director of the State Archives of the Ternopil Region. It is known that he thoroughly mastered the subjects he taught. He practiced original modern forms and teaching methods, involved pupils and students in Ukrainian and world cultural achievements, and worked in close contact with the Ternopil Art Gallery, the Ternopil Museum of Local History, and the creative organizations of the city. He organized fine art weeks and involved artists from Ternopil and Lviv in exhibitions of paintings and graphics.

The purpose of the article is to examine the history of bilateral relations until the beginning of the 21st century, thanks to the available information and based on an analysis of the actions of Moscow and Ankara, to assess the prospects for the transition to Russian-Turkish relations in the next few years. The modern world order, which arose at the end of the 20th century due to the collapse of the Yalta-Potsdam system and called «polycentricity», is an urgent problem in the scientific community (i.e, among analysts, scientists and experts). The foreign policy of this or that country has a significant impact on the development of geopolitical processes. As you know, Russia and Turkey play a key role in the international arena. This is evidenced by the holding of meetings of the Presidents and Foreign Ministers to resolve the conflict in Syria, the achievement of mutual understanding by Moscow and Ankara through the implementation of joint energy projects, the participation of the two countries in ensuring security in Central Asia and the Caucasus. At the same time, the prospects for Russian-Turkish cooperation are in the focus of attention of orientalists and Turkologists, and the presence of numerous publications makes it possible to determine their points of view on this issue.

The paper is dedicated to outlining the main specific features of the spread and reception of Russian language in Hungary, with attention paid to the chronological perspective and the current situation. The text aims at revealing the factors, institutional and personal agents that fuel the interest to studying and teaching Russian in the atmosphere of Hungary. Russian history, culture, literature, traditions, and, consequently, the Russian language have always been of interest in Hungary. The Hungarian national culture developed in parallel with the rise of enthusiasm toward Russia — and in 1849 the Department of Slavic Philology was introduced at the University of Pest. Russian was popularized and spread in Hungary by textbooks and translations of famous oeuvres of Russian writers. The turn of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th marked the growing interest of students to Russian, with the First World War, the October revolution in Russia and the subsequent Russian exodus intensifying mundane interactions. The Second World War, its outcomes and the split of Europe into two zones showed the clout that the Russian language acquired. In 1949, Russian became the only compulsory foreign language at school; Russian was introduced in higher educational institutions on a broader basis, including pedagogical institutes which were training Russian teachers for middle schools. After 1989, Hungary, like other Central and Eastern European countries, saw a sharp decline in the number of Russian language learners due to geopolitical reasons. The current stage of the spread of the Russian language in Hungary is characterized by positive changes: strengthening of economic relations between the countries, expansion of cultural and educational ties that is gradually leading to an increase in emphasis on the Russian language. In particular, it is owed to the liberalization of book industry and publishing of new Russian textbooks, digital promotion via Internet, construction of the Baksi nuclear power plant, and numerous exhibitions and festivals. What can be concluded is that cultural bonds connecting the Hungarians and the Russian language have a long path dependency relative to the post-1917 diaspora, the period of socialism and favourable relations with the USSR. Their effect is maintained by modern funds and associations. Economic ties that have foundation in both historical industrial cooperation and modern projects also foster attention to maintaining closer cultural interactions — and, thus, to studying Russian.

This article is devoted to the unusual history of the creation of the National Museum of Damascus. Nowadays this is the largest repository of literary texts and artifacts of the ancient civilization of Western Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, so as the Art culture values of the Middle East from the Byzantine time and Arab Middle Ages to periods of Modern age and 20th – 21st centuries. The idea of founding in Syria the National Art & Culture History Museum has started up in the process of organizing the Arab Academy of Sciences in Damascus (1918); it was partly inspired by the reports of the 17th – early 20th centuries travelers on ruins and artifacts which met and found on their ways. The Museum was founded at 1919 and located, and all the Academy, in the medieval madrasah. As a result of the operose archaeological excavations of ancient and medieval sites all over the country, found by chance or pointed towards by written sources, started in the 1920s – 1930s, a small collection has grown into a huge foundation of exhibits from different epochs. During 1936-1950, 1963, 1974 and 2004 for Museum a special building had been built: with halls for expositions and exhibitions, premises for storing funds, a library, a lecture hall and a park. Статья посвящена необычной истории создания Национального музея Дамаска, ныне — крупнейшего в Сирии хранилища памятников древнейших цивилизаций Передней Азии и Восточного Средиземноморья и художественных культур Ближнего Востока периодов византийского и арабского Средневековья, Нового времени и XX–XXI веков. Идея основания сирийского художественно-исторического музея возникла в процессе организации в Дамаске Арабской академии наук (1918 г.) и отчасти была подготовлена сообщениями путешественников XVII – начала XX века о встреченных на их пути руинах и найденных артефактах. Музей был размещен в 1919 году вместе с академией в средневековом медресе. В результате начатых в 1920–1930-х годах археологических раскопок древних и средневековых объектов, найденных случайно или подсказанных письменными источниками, маленькая коллекция выросла в огромное собрание экспонатов. В 1936–1950, 1963, 1974 и 2004 годах было построено специальное здание с парком, залами для постоянной экспозиции и временных выставок, помещениями для хранения фондов, библиотекой, лекторием.

AbstractThe existing commercial contact between India and Africa since prehistoric times grew substantially since the rise of Islam in the 7th century, leaped to its climax during the middle ages and continued until the second half of the 20th century. This commercial relationship involved the trade in humans from Africa to Asia. Many African war captives were sold as slaves in India to serve as domestics and infantries among the aristocracy of rising Islamic kingdoms while some emigrated by free will and settled in India engaging in various occupations. Descendants of African slaves and immigrants, who are locally known as Siddis, presently live in various geographical pockets of India forming their own ethnic enclaves amidst their host societies. The main Siddi communities in India are located in Gujarat, Hyderabad, Karnataka, in the Bombay region and along the western coast, including Goa. The Siddis of Hyderabad, like the other Siddi communities are changing fast, yielding to modern demands and trends. National and global pressures strongly militate against their tradition and change in their identity has been inevitable. As a result of their intermarriage with other ethnic communities and adoption of either Indian or Arab identities, today's Siddis have little resemblance to their predecessors. This study shows that the Siddis are moving in divergent directions of assimilation. Many Moslem Siddis are assimilating into the Yemeni Arab community of Hyderabad while Christian Siddis identify themselves with the Indian Christian population. Moslem and Christian Siddis are accused by each other as being pro-Pakistan Islamic radicals and 'Hindu nationalism' adherents respectively. The Siddis, although historically constituted a single ethnic community, are in the process of a significant identity change by joining two ideologically differing groups.

This article attempts to assess the role of migration processes in the urban development of Athens over an extended period of time – since 1834, when the city became the capital of an independent Greek state, up to this day. The history of modern Athens, which in less than a century has turned from a small regional center into one of the ten largest urban agglomerations in the European Union, is a peculiar case of Mediterranean-type spontaneous urbanization with all its drawbacks, such as illegal construction, excessively high population density and infrastructural problems. At the turn of the 20th century Athens faced a new challenge – the mass inflow of immigrants from the former Yugoslavian countries and Albania, and after Greece entered the Schengen zone – from the countries of North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. During the 2015 migration crisis, Greece became the main gateway for hundreds of thousands of refugees and economic migrants to the European Union. These trends have had a direct impact on the economy and social environment of the Greek capital, reinforcing challenges such as an increase in the number of low-income residents, ethnic segregation by regions and suburbanization – relocation of indigenous people from a dilapidated center to safer and more comfortable suburbs and satellite towns.The need for a transition to more responsible urban planning became apparent in the 1980s, when the first (to be legislated) master plan was adopted, which determined the development strategy for the manufacturing sector, transport system, land use and housing market policies. A serious incentive for the implementation of infrastructure projects – partially funded by EU structural funds – was the holding of the 2004 Olympic Games. In 2014, against the backdrop of a debt crisis and economic recession, the city administration adopted Athens Resilience Strategy for 2030, which takes into account such chronic problems as infrastructure degradation, irregular migration, as well as poor management at the regional and prefectural levels. Presently, due to the lack of necessary financial resources, a decisive role in improving the urban environment is assigned to the private sector. Thus, municipal authorities contribute to the gentrification of the central regions of Athens, which have got unfulfilled tourism and investment potential, providing significant tax benefits and incentives for doing business.

The article reviews the options for using the definition of “socio-cultural practices” in the Russian scientific literature. For the first time, it is intended to identify relevant historical content for research, communication, and commemorative practices currently implemented in the Siberian region. For a representative analysis of the historiography and empirical source, there is a socio-cultural approach and mnemosine – the science of public memory. The article presents the outcomes of study and public broadcasting of socio-cultural practices related to the incorporation of new territories of North Asia into the Russian state in the late 18th − 19th century, the growth of civil society in the early 20th century, the development of scientific, historical and cultural heritage in the 2nd half of the 20th − early 21st century. It highlights modern communication practices, which are based on information technologies (electronic archives), designed for the development of scientific heritage, historical information available to the general population. Special attention is drawn to the analysis of multi-level commemorative practices, the historical content of which is associated with the Great Patriotic War (World War II) and presented through Internet resources and publications, in particular, the magazine “Historical Courier”. From a civil-patriotic point of view the article shows the contribution of Siberian scientists toward the victory and post-war development of the country. It also considers the communicative and educational and leisure practices of local history museums (the Museum “Zaeltsovka”, the Museum of Science and Technology of the SB RAS) related to military-historical topics. The authors come to the conclusion that to response to the great challenges of our time, it is necessary to develop a system of socio-cultural practices based on the historical content and shape an active civil position of the population of Russia, and, in particular, the inhabitants of the Siberian region. Further study of the entire range of socio-cultural practices is relevant and promising for developing a model of commemoration, structuring and adaptation of historical past for effective use in working with the population and educating young people.

Humans have a long history of moving wildlife that over time has resulted in unprecedented biotic homogenization. It is, as a result, often unclear whether certain taxa are native to a region or naturalized, and how the history of human involvement in species dispersal has shaped present-day biodiversity. Although currently an eastern Palaearctic galliform, the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) was known to occur in the western Mediterranean from at least the time of Pliny the Elder, if not earlier. During Medieval times and the Renaissance, the black francolin was a courtly gamebird prized not only for its flavor, but also its curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. There is uncertainty, however, whether this important gamebird was native or introduced to the region and, if the latter, what the source of introduction into the western Mediterranean was. Here we combine historical documentation with a DNA investigation of modern birds and archival (13th–20th century) specimens from across the species’ current and historically documented range. Our study proves the black francolin was nonnative to the western Mediterranean, and we document its introduction from the east via several trade routes, some reaching as far as South Asia. This finding provides insight into the reach and scope of long-distance trade routes that serviced the demand of European aristocracy for exotic species as symbols of wealth and prestige, and helps to demonstrate the lasting impact of human-mediated long-distance species dispersal on current day biodiversity.

İsmet İnönü had one of the longest public careers of any statesman of the 20th century, serving as soldier, diplomat, revolutionary, prime minister, president, and party leader in a career that spanned eight decades, from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 to his retirement from politics, at age 88, a year before his death in 1973. Moreover, for most of his career, İnönü was at the very center of the events and decisions that shaped the Turkish Republic and its involvement in regional and global affairs. But as Metin Heper points out in his eloquent study of İnönü's career, this is a “neglected statesman.” One of the major lacunae of Western studies of modern Turkish history has been an English-language biography of İ smet İnönü. Heper's study is not a biography as such, but it has three main goals: to cover İnönü's entire career; to explore how his self-education and personality shaped his views on the state and democracy, and thus his policies; and to present a picture of İnönü free of the deification or vilification that marks much of the existing scholarship (p. ix).

When studying history, in order to understand our present situation and how human structures have changed over time, it is necessary to delve into granular details. Historical economic studies looking at the period spanning the early modern era to the current day tend to focus on macroeconomics. However, a majority of people were not supported by the welfare state but rather inhabited small communities where necessities were conducted on a local level, and there is a lack of research on the exact nature of these public goods. Professor Masayuki Tanimoto, University of Tokyo, Japan, is collaborating with a large, interdisciplinary team of economic historians to understand how everyday life has been sustained in the centuries since the 1600s, with a particular focus on the 20th century. Tanimoto is employing a comparative historical approach, which involves comparing the historical facts and data within a common recognition framework, in the same level for the same period in order to identify differences, similarities and universal logic. The team's current research project is comparing Japan and Germany (Prussia pre-unification). The idea is that Japan will be used as a benchmark and will be compared with China and Europe with a view to relativising the previously Eurocentric cognitive framework by comparisons with the differing development process of Asia.

The study of the situation in Europe and other countries in the context of demographic evolution, the forecast of economic development has shown that the population, structural migration and economies are closely correlated. The population and economy in the EU in the near future will undergo dramatic changes. In some developed, industrialized countries, the population grows slowly or stagnates, while in economically poor economies, birth rates are accelerating, and as healthcare increases, it will lead to a demographic explosion. In recent years, the EU population has grown by 507 million, with a projected increase of 5% by 2050, reaching a maximum of 526 million, after which it will decrease to 523 million in 2060 yr. In about half of the EU countries, despite the population growth trend, the total population will diminish. This trend refers to Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovakia. In total, decline of population in Eastern European countries is linked to a number of factors. First is the reduction of the socio-economic level of the population, increasing labor migration to countries with advanced living standards. In these countries, as a rule, the standard of living, social and medical assistance, social protection is reduced. At the same time, world community is going through a difficult time. A deep and prolonged recession that followed the global financial crisis has changed with the slow recovery of employment. Never in the history of mankind, the growth rate of the world population was not as large as in the second half of the 20th and early 21st century. Between 1960 and 1999, the population of the planet doubled (from 3 to 6 billion people), and in 2007 - 6.6 billion people. Although the average annual growth rate of the world's population declined from 2.2% in the early 1960s to 1.5% in the early 2000's absolute annual growth increased from 53 million to 80 million people. Demographic changes from traditional (high fertility - high mortality - low natural growth) to the modern reproductive population (low fertility - low mortality - low population growth) ended in developed countries in the first decade of the 20th century, and most of the transition economies - in middle of last century. At the same time, in the 1950s and 1960s, the demographic transition began in several countries and regions of the rest of the world and begin to the end only in Latin America, East Asia and Southeast Asia and continuing in East Asia, Africa Sub-Saharan Africa from the Sahara to the Middle East. Rapid population growth compared with the indicators of socio-economic development in these regions leads to aggravation of problems related to employment, poverty, food, land, low education and health risks. Keywords: workforce, aging population, birth rate, living standards and life expectancy, inflation, unemployment and technical and scientific progress

The article examines the figure of Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin, whose 150th birthday anniversary was celebrated in April 2020. With all the discrepancy of public opinion on Lenin, this political figure is part of world history: Lenin became one of the most considerable historical persons of the 20th century and had a rather strong impact on the historical process. The author sees the aim of comprehending the Russian Revolution in (1) the abolition of the unnecessary mythologization of its leader, which not only hinders the understanding of his personality, the situation and events of that time, but also will constantly produce a rejection reaction that will continue to create the irreconcilable groups of “admirers” and “haters”; (2) an adequate scientific analysis that will evaluate the political leader logically, not emotionally, in the conditions of historical realities. In the author’s opinion, the problem of the attitude to Lenin eventually becomes the problem of the discontinuity of perception of own history in Russia and in the countries of the former Russian Empire and USSR. It is the problem of political culture and culture of society in general. The problem of attitude to Lenin in many respects is the problem of transferring modern realities and “post factum” evaluations to another historical environment. From scientific positions and public evaluation, it is necessary to understand that Lenin objectively became the most successful politician of the contemporary history. Few historical figures can be compared with him in terms of the impact on world history. It is due to Lenin that the Russian Revolution became what it became: the third great revolution in the world, an equal to the Great French Revolution in importance and scale. The Russian Revolution became a new model of imitation, replacing the French predecessor, gave a different way of modernization, more imposing for the revolutionaries of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Lenin is strongly distinguished against the background of all leaders of the previous revolutions in terms of morals, justice and goals. The leader’s sacralization, his subsequent ousting (due to his inconsistency with myths people themselves created), or initially negative attitude to a head of the state are features of an undeveloped political culture which will change with the maturing of society.

The article considers the activities of Ivan Kraft, the governor of Yakutsk Oblast, on the incorporation of North-East Siberia into the single economic, administrative and sociocultural space of the Russian Empire. The aim of the study is to analyze Kraft's contribution to the construction and arrangement of the Amur-Yakutsk Highway at the beginning of the 20th century. To reach this aim, the authors broadly use archival sources that have not been previously published and introduced into academic discourse. The topic has theoretical and applied relevance. It has not been sufficiently studied in the historiography of North-East Siberia and is the subject of scholarly and political discussions. The key method in the study is an interdisciplinary approach to the research problem, which is at the intersection of history and economics. The authors used content analysis for a quantitative and qualitative study of these sources based on the principle of historicism and consistency. The authors determined that, in connection with the design of the Amur Railway, the Amur-Yakutsk Highway received the status of a strategic infrastructure object in the macroregion. The authors note that Kraft was the initiator of the construction of the route from Yakutsk to the Amur. The governor conducted a number of scientific and engineering surveys of the most convenient route and made applications for financing the construction of the highway. Kraft made a strategic decision to attract private companies with large capital for the construction. The Upper Amur Gold Mining Company and the Heirs of A. I. Gromova company helped build highway sections with a total length of more than 500 km, equip stations, establish telegraph communications, and construct river crossings. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the framework of modernization measures, Kraft considered Yakutsk Oblast as a mining region. This became the basis for raising the question of Yakutia's access to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The close cooperation of the government, in the person of Kraft, with large enterprises of the region was the basis for the project of constructing a railway line to Yakutsk. In conclusion, the authors note that the processes of incorporation of the Asian borderlands of Russia into the economic, administrative and sociocultural space of the state that Governor of Yakutsk Oblast Ivan Kraft began at the beginning of the 20th century were reflected in the modern policy of the Russian Federation. The Amur-Yakutsk Mainline was put into operation in 2015. At present, the problem of building a bridge across the Lena in the Yakutsk area is still relevant. In 2019, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed orders to begin the construction of the bridge. This will create an international transit corridor between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Purpose of the study: This article is a brief history of development of water sanitation systems in European countries. One of the aims is educating people about importance of water treatment in today’s world. Methodology: Bellow article briefly discuss some history of drinking water supply and municipal wastewater sanitation, i.e., construction of historical water engineering system like water wells, first flush toilets, indoor plumbing and simple pressurized showers, sewage farms and irrigation, in China, ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Asia minor, India, by Mayans in America and in Australia. Main Findings: By the 1840s the luxury of indoor plumbing, which mixes human waste with water and flushes it away, eliminated the need for cesspools. As Britain was the first country to industrialize, it was also the first to experience the consequences of major urbanization and outbreaks of diseases like typhoid and cholera from contaminated water and was the first to construct a modern sewerage system. Most cities in the Western world added more expensive systems for sewage treatment in the early 20th century, after scientists at the University of Manchester Ardern and Lockett discovered the sewage treatment process of activated sludge in 1912. Implications of the study: More than 100 years have been passed since the activated sludge process was explored, since the time when the mankind started to realize how important is the water sanitation in diseases prevention. However, the water treatment technology is permanently improving and enriched with new innovative solutions, the basic principle from the year 1912 i.e., activated sludge process remains as the main process of all conventional wastewater treatment plants.

Abstract Wayang Kulit performance, the art of shadow puppetry, has long embodied and conveyed political and secular voice throughout South and Southeast Asia, significant for the maintenance of cultural heritage. Throughout Malaysia’s modern history, Wayang as a dominant medium of education has mediated shifts in language ideologies and socialization, to the extent where changes to the Wayang correlate highly with changes to the Malay language. In the 1980s, the Malaysian government sought to attack and hence curtail Wayang performance, and to obscure its lineage, claiming that the Wayang defiles Islam and Malaysia as an Islamic state. The government sought to discontinue the Wayang, or at least to alter it significantly, and to persecute its adherents. With its attempts to mobilize the economy through neoliberal politics and the adoption of new non-poetic language registers, the Malaysian government altered Malaysian vernacular, cultural practices, and ideologies. Yet, little scholarly work, particularly through an Anthropological lens, has discussed the correlations and influences to these shifts. This paper addresses the significance of Wayang Kulit to the Malay language, that is, its contiguity with standardized language and vernacular, its semiotic complexities during performance and in larger society, and its junctures with Malaysian politics. The study unearths changes in the Wayang, its stylizations, symbolisms and performativities, in the latter 20th century, where these changes have aligned with cultural and language shifts, yet which the government has legitimated as pro Islamic and neoliberal. The data set includes a multi year ethnography of the Wayang, and a corpus of discussions, documentations, and scripts of Wayang performances and narratives.

Visiting New York's Chinatown, it is surprising to find there a memorial statue of the legendary anti-opium hero, Lin Zexu, instead of the more usual statue of the father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen. Perhaps Lin deserves his place in New York's Chinatown: it is generally believed the history of Chinese migration into the New World was a chapter of humiliation, resulting from the evil opium and the opium trade. Until very recently, the conventional wisdom has been that it was the opium trade that ended the house of Qing, and that opium had turned China into a nation of hopeless addicts, smoking themselves to death while their civilization descended into chaos (a view challenged by Dikötter, Laaman and Zhou in Narcotic Culture: A History of Drugs in China).In her book The Troublesome Legacy of Commissoner Lin, Joyce Madancy argues that, like opium, Lin Zexu was turned into a potent symbol of nascent Chinese nationalism (p. 5). Like opium, the legacy of Lin continued well into the 20th century. In his native Fujian, for instance, Lin “came to represent the vitality of elite activism and the complex links between provincial, national, and international interests. Lin Zexu's character and mission embodied the themes and motivations of Fujian's late Qing opium reformers – the righteousness of opium reform, pride in country and province, and a none-too-subtle slap at foreign imperialist greed.” Accordingly, during the late Qing/early Republican anti-opium campaign in Fujian, “reformist elites, and officials presided over the apotheosis of Lin Zexu, whose image loomed, literally and figuratively, over their efforts and shaped the rhetoric and tone of suppression” (p. 5).

The purpose of the article is to define the place of Novomoskovsk in the international economic relations of Ukraine in the 1950s – 1980s, and main participants of these relations at the city level, directions, content and features. Research methods: historical-chronological, historical-genetic, comparative, descriptive. Main results. the article reveals the importance of Novomoskovsk, Dnipropetrovsk region, one of the small cities in the development of international economic relations of Ukraine as a part of the USSR. It is defined that the main factor that determined the place of Novomoskovsk in the international economic relations is the Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant activity. The role of the plant in these relations consisted of the production for export, business trips abroad, their admission to study and exchange experiences. The USSR, Ukraine in particular with its powerful industrial complex, played an important role in the reconstruction, formation, and development of the metallurgical industry in the countries of “people’s democracy” in Europe, Asia, countries whose governments were loyal to the USSR. The Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant and its employees contributed to the construction and operation of the first metallurgical complexes in Bulgaria and China. Since 1963, the enterprise has been one of the leaders in Ukraine and the USSR in the production of large diameter pipes for main gas and oil pipelines, which has strengthened its presence in the execution of export orders. The relations of the plant were not limited to the countries of the socialist camp, but also included countries with market economies. These relations were particularly influenced by political and ideological factors, as shown by the example of the USSR’s relations with West Germany, France and Japan. The Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant served as a base for holding international UN seminars on the training of metallurgical specialists, and its employees participated in international exhibitions, presenting the plant’s products. The course of the Cold War and international crises led to the appearance of a peculiar phenomenon of the Soviet era – the inclusion of production in propaganda campaigns, which were joined by groups of enterprises. From the side of the pipe plant, these were rallies in support (of Algeria, Cuba, Vietnam, etc.) and commitments on additional working days, increased production rates, early deadlines for implementation of plans, and the deduction of products in favor of support facilities. The importance of industrial relations for the development of the non-productive sphere is emphasized: contacts with foreigners in the city during business trips served as a window to the world, contributed to the expansion of worldview. In addition, with the help of people’s diplomacy there were formed trustworthy relationships between nations and people, which promoted the positive international image of the USSR in the best way possible. Practical significance: the results of the research can be used to form the theme of scientific research on regional, Ukrainian, world history of the second half of the 20th century implied into the practice of teaching relevant disciplines in higher education institutes, used to create / update museum exhibitions in Novomoskovsk. Scientific novelty: a significant part of published and unpublished sources on the topic of international economic relations of Novomoskovsk is generalized and processed for the first time, some of the sources are introduced into scientific circulation firstly and are interpreted considering the latest research on the history of the Cold War. Type of article: research.

The Dance Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne traces the history of dance in Australia from the late nineteenth century to today. The collection encompasses the work of many of Australia's major dance companies and individual performers whilst spanning a range of genres, from contemporary dance and ballet, to theatrical, modern, folk and social dance styles. The Dance Collection is part of the broader Australian Performing Arts Collection, which covers the five key areas of circus, dance, opera, music and theatre. In my overview of Arts Centre Melbourne's (ACM) Dance Collection, I will outline how the collection has grown and highlight the strengths and weaknesses associated with different methods of collecting. I will also identify major gaps in the archive and how we aim to fill these gaps and create a well-balanced and dynamic view of Australian dance history. Material relating to international touring artists and companies including Lola Montez, Adeline Genée, Anna Pavlova and the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo provide an understanding of how early trends in dance performance have influenced our own traditions. Scrapbooks, photographs and items of costume provide glimpses into performances of some of the world's most famous dance performers and productions. As many of these scrapbooks were compiled by enthusiastic and appreciative audience members, they also record the emerging audience for dance, which placed Australia firmly on the touring schedule of many international performers in the early decades of the 20th century. The personal stories and early ambitions that led to the formation of our national companies are captured in collections relating to the history of the Borovansky Ballet, Ballet Guild, Bodenwieser Ballet, and the National Theatre Ballet. Costume and design are a predominant strength of these collections. Through them, we discover and appreciate the colour, texture and creative industry behind pivotal works that were among the first to explore Australian narratives through dance. These collections also tell stories of migration and reveal the diverse cultural roots that have helped shape the training of Australian dancers, choreographers and designers in both classical and contemporary dance styles. The development of an Australian repertoire and the role this has played in the growth of our dance culture is particularly well documented in collections assembled collaboratively with companies such as The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, and Chunky Move. These companies are at the forefront of dance in Australia and as they evolve and mature under respective artistic directors, we work closely with them to capture each era and the body of work that best illustrates their output through costumes, designs, photographs, programmes, posters and flyers. The stories that link these large, professional companies to a thriving local, contemporary dance community of small to medium professional artists here in Melbourne will also be told. In order to develop a well-balanced and dynamic view of Australian dance history, we are building the archive through meaningful collecting relationships with contemporary choreographers, dancers, designers, costume makers and audiences. I will conclude my overview with a discussion of the challenges of active collecting with limited physical storage and digital space and the difficulties we face when making this archive accessible through exhibitions and online in a dynamic, immersive and theatrical way.

Logical reason for research. Modern performance on wind instruments, in particular on the trumpet, is characterized by a powerful development. It is an object of listening interest and composing, and today it has a fairly large repertoire of both transpositions and original works in many instrumental compositions (from solo to various ensembles and orchestras) in different styles and genres. This situation in music practice requires theoretical understanding and generalization, however, we can state that at the moment, music science highlights the performance on the wind instruments without any system, mostly from the methodological viewpoint. Innovation. The article under consideration deals with the organological aspect of studying the specificity of the performance on the trumpet, which combines a number of historical and practical questions and allows them to be answered in connection with the requests of both music science and music practice (from the peculiarities of the sound production on various instruments of the trumpet family at different times (from the historical origins of trumpet performance to the present) to the technical and artistic tasks faced by the trumpet performer, as well as by the composers who create both transpositions of time-tested music for trumpet and original trumpet pieces that take into account technical, timbre, artistic and expressive capabilities of this instrument). Objectives. The purpose of research is to reveal connection between the historical-organological and practical specificity of the performance on the trumpet in the past and at present. Methods. The main methods of the research are historical and organological. Results and Discussion. Trumpet as a musical instrument is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. Its earliest prototypes are revealed in archaeological studies of the historical past of humanity. The prototypes of embouchure instruments are horn, bone, and tusk pipes with conical bore, mostly curved, which are ancestors of the horn family; instruments with straight cylindrical pipes formed a family of trumpet. The art of playing wind instruments was a significant development in ancient Egypt, where the state placed musical art at the service of rulers and worship. Musicians in those days accompanied festive events and rituals; what is more, wind and percussion instruments became the basis for the creation of military orchestras. A straight metal trumpet appeared in Europe in the Middle Ages. In the countries of Central Asia, Iran, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan copper brass instruments were played. China’s music and performing culture employed bronze trumpets of various sizes. In the 14th-15th centuries the evolution of metal instruments underwent qualitative changes. Forms of curved trumpets were born. In addition to this, trumpets were split into low and high ones; later, middle-register instruments appeared. The so-called natural trumpets, used then, were very close in sound to the modern trumpet. In Europe there were masters who made metal instruments; eminent experts in this field, the Heinlein Schmidt family, the Nagel family, English masters Dudley, U. Bullem worked in Nuremberg from the 15th and up to the 19th century. The emergence of a slide trumpet, a trumpet with a sliding crook, is connected with the attempts to improve the instrument for the sound production of more chromatic sounds (we must distinguish the achievements of Anton Weidinger). An important step in the evolution of the chromatic trumpet was the use of horn invention (croooks). In the mid-nineteenth century, having improved the inventory system with a valve mechanism, the trumpet finally gained its place in the orchestra as a chromatic instrument. At the present time, a trumpet with a piston valve mechanism (in jazz, variety, modern music) has become very popular. At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, trumpets of different structures, such as in C, in D, in Es, in F, were constructed; the designs of these trumpets are almost indistinguishable from the design of the modern trumpet. The piccolo trumpet was designed for a solo performance of ancient music (clarinet style); to amplify the low sounds, the alt trumpet in F and the bass trumpet became popular. Compared to fixed-mode instruments, the trumpet is a semifixed-pitch instrument. Therefore, a skilled performer is able to adjust the pitch within a certain area and correct defects in the setting of separate modeless sounds. The "planned" inaccuracy of the trumpet intonation is related to the use of a third valve. To correct the intonation associated with this, the trumpet has a device for extending an additional pipe of the third valve. There is no precise theoretical prediction of the given problem, so the correction of modeless sounds requires from the performer well-developed musical ear and knowledge of the specific features of their instrument. Conclusions. The summarized results of the presented article indicate that the organological aspect of the research in the field of performance on wind instruments, in particular, on the trumpet, is important and illustrative. It is an indispensable link that binds the theoretical and practical vectors of the study of trumpet art as a single set of knowledge; helps to identify the connection between the historical, organological and practical aspects of the performance on the trumpet, both past and present; promotes awareness of the specificity of playing a particular instrument, especially, understanding and assimilation of the design features of the trumpet in all its historical variants, and the corresponding principles of sound production with technical-acoustic and artistic effects; outlines the theoretical, scientific and methodological tasks for performers and composers whose work is related to the art of playing the trumpet. These are the directions in which further avenues for researching music related to the performance on the trumpet of different times, styles and genres can be seen.

Social innovations are activities aiming at implementation of social objectives, including mainly the improvement of life of individuals and social groups, together with public policy and management objectives. The essay indicates and discusses the most important contemporary problems, solving of which requires social innovations. Social innovations precondition the progress of civilisation. The world needs not only new technologies, but also new solutions of social and institutional nature that would be conducive to achieving social goals. Social innovations are experimental social actions of organisational and institutional nature that aim at improving the quality of life of individuals, communities, nations, companies, circles, or social groups. Their experimental nature stems from the fact of introducing unique and one-time solutions on a large scale, the end results of which are often difficult to be fully predicted. For example, it was difficult to believe that opening new labour markets for foreigners in the countries of the European Union, which can be treated as a social innovation aiming at development of the international labour market, will result in the rapid development of the low-cost airlines, the offer of which will be available to a larger group of recipients. In other words, social innovations differ from economic innovations, as they are not about implementation of new types of production or gaining new markets, but about satisfying new needs, which are not provided by the market. Therefore, the most important distinction consists in that social innovations are concerned with improving the well-being of individuals and communities by additional employment, or increased consumption, as well as participation in solving the problems of individuals and social groups [CSTP, 2011]. In general, social innovations are activities aiming at implementation of social objectives, including mainly the improvement of life of individuals and social groups together with the objectives of public policy and management [Kowalczyk, Sobiecki, 2017]. Their implementation requires global, national, and individual actions. This requires joint operations, both at the scale of the entire globe, as well as in particular interest groups. Why are social innovations a key point for the progress of civilisation? This is the effect of the clear domination of economic aspects and discrimination of social aspects of this progress. Until the 19th century, the economy was a part of a social structure. As described by K. Polanyi, it was submerged in social relations [Polanyi, 2010, p. 56]. In traditional societies, the economic system was in fact derived from the organisation of the society itself. The economy, consisting of small and dispersed craft businesses, was a part of the social, family, and neighbourhood structure. In the 20th century the situation reversed – the economy started to be the force shaping social structures, positions of individual groups, areas of wealth and poverty. The economy and the market mechanism have become independent from the world of politics and society. Today, the corporations control our lives. They decide what we eat, what we watch, what we wear, where we work and what we do [Bakan, 2006, p. 13]. The corporations started this spectacular “march to rule the world” in the late 19th century. After about a hundred years, at the end of the 20th century, the state under the pressure of corporations and globalisation, started a gradual, but systematic withdrawal from the economy, market and many other functions traditionally belonging to it. As a result, at the end of the last century, a corporation has become a dominant institution in the world. A characteristic feature of this condition is that it gives a complete priority to the interests of corporations. They make decisions of often adverse consequences for the entire social groups, regions, or local communities. They lead to social tensions, political breakdowns, and most often to repeated market turbulences. Thus, a substantial minority (corporations) obtain inconceivable benefits at the expense of the vast majority, that is broad professional and social groups. The lack of relative balance between the economy and society is a barrier to the progress of civilisation. A growing global concern is the problem of migration. The present crisis, left unresolved, in the long term will return multiplied. Today, there are about 500 million people living in Europe, 1.5 billion in Africa and the Middle East, but in 2100, the population of Europe will be about 400 million and of the Middle East and Africa approximately 4.5 billion. Solving this problem, mainly through social and political innovations, can take place only by a joint operation of highly developed and developing countries. Is it an easy task? It’s very difficult. Unfortunately, today, the world is going in the opposite direction. Instead of pursuing the community, empathic thinking, it aims towards nationalism and chauvinism. An example might be a part of the inaugural address of President Donald Trump, who said that the right of all nations is to put their own interests first. Of course, the United States of America will think about their own interests. As we go in the opposite direction, those who deal with global issues say – nothing will change, unless there is some great crisis, a major disaster that would cause that the great of this world will come to senses. J.E. Stiglitz [2004], contrary to the current thinking and practice, believes that a different and better world is possible. Globalisation contains the potential of countless benefits from which people both in developing and highly developed countries can benefit. But the practice so far proves that still it is not grown up enough to use its potential in a fair manner. What is needed are new solutions, most of all social and political innovations (political, because they involve a violation of the previous arrangement of interests). Failure to search for breakthrough innovations of social and political nature that would meet the modern challenges, can lead the world to a disaster. Social innovation, and not economic, because the contemporary civilisation problems have their roots in this dimension. A global problem, solution of which requires innovations of social and political nature, is the disruption of the balance between work and capital. In 2010, 400 richest people had assets such as the half of the poorer population of the world. In 2016, such part was in the possession of only 8 people. This shows the dramatic collapse of the balance between work and capital. The world cannot develop creating the technological progress while increasing unjustified inequalities, which inevitably lead to an outbreak of civil disturbances. This outbreak can have various organisation forms. In the days of the Internet and social media, it is easier to communicate with people. Therefore, paradoxically, some modern technologies create the conditions facilitating social protests. There is one more important and dangerous effect of implementing technological innovations without simultaneous creation and implementation of social innovations limiting the sky-rocketing increase of economic (followed by social) diversification. Sooner or later, technological progress will become so widespread that, due to the relatively low prices, it will make it possible for the weapons of mass destruction, especially biological and chemical weapons, to reach small terrorist groups. Then, a total, individualized war of global reach can develop. The individualisation of war will follow, as described by the famous German sociologist Ulrich Beck. To avoid this, it is worth looking at the achievements of the Polish scientist Michał Kalecki, who 75 years ago argued that capitalism alone is not able to develop. It is because it aggressively seeks profit growth, but cannot turn profit into some profitable investments. Therefore, when uncertainty grows, capitalism cannot develop itself, and it must be accompanied by external factors, named by Kalecki – external development factors. These factors include state expenses, finances and, in accordance with the nomenclature of Kalecki – epochal innovations. And what are the current possibilities of activation of the external factors? In short – modest. The countries are indebted, and the basis for the development in the last 20 years were loans, which contributed to the growth of debt of economic entities. What, then, should we do? It is necessary to look for cheaper solutions, but such that are effective, that is breakthrough innovations. These undoubtedly include social and political innovations. Contemporary social innovation is not about investing big money and expensive resources in production, e.g. of a very expensive vaccine, which would be available for a small group of recipients. Today’s social innovation should stimulate the use of lower amounts of resources to produce more products available to larger groups of recipients. The progress of civilisation happens only as a result of a sustainable development in economic, social, and now also ecological terms. Economic (business) innovations, which help accelerate the growth rate of production and services, contribute to economic development. Profits of corporations increase and, at the same time, the economic objectives of the corporations are realised. But are the objectives of the society as a whole and its members individually realised equally, in parallel? In the chain of social reproduction there are four repeated phases: production – distribution – exchange – consumption. The key point from the social point of view is the phase of distribution. But what are the rules of distribution, how much and who gets from this “cake” produced in the social process of production? In the today’s increasingly global economy, the most important mechanism of distribution is the market mechanism. However, in the long run, this mechanism leads to growing income and welfare disparities of various social groups. Although, the income and welfare diversity in itself is nothing wrong, as it is the result of the diversification of effectiveness of factors of production, including work, the growing disparities to a large extent cannot be justified. Economic situation of the society members increasingly depends not on the contribution of work, but on the size of the capital invested, and the market position of the economic entity, and on the “governing power of capital” on the market. It should also be noted that this diversification is also related to speculative activities. Disparities between the implemented economic and social innovations can lead to the collapse of the progress of civilisation. Nowadays, economic crises are often justified by, indeed, social and political considerations, such as marginalisation of nation states, imbalance of power (or imbalance of fear), religious conflicts, nationalism, chauvinism, etc. It is also considered that the first global financial crisis of the 21st century originated from the wrong social policy pursued by the US Government, which led to the creation of a gigantic public debt, which consequently led to an economic breakdown. This resulted in the financial crisis, but also in deepening of the social imbalances and widening of the circles of poverty and social exclusion. It can even be stated that it was a crisis in public confidence. Therefore, the causes of crises are the conflicts between the economic dimension of the development and its social dimension. Contemporary world is filled with various innovations of economic or business nature (including technological, product, marketing, and in part – organisational). The existing solutions can be a source of economic progress, which is a component of the progress of civilisation. However, economic innovations do not complete the entire progress of civilisation moreover, the saturation, and often supersaturation with implementations and economic innovations leads to an excessive use of material factors of production. As a consequence, it results in lowering of the efficiency of their use, unnecessary extra burden to the planet, and passing of the negative effects on the society and future generations (of consumers). On the other hand, it leads to forcing the consumption of durable consumer goods, and gathering them “just in case”, and also to the low degree of their use (e.g. more cars in a household than its members results in the additional load on traffic routes, which results in an increase in the inconvenience of movement of people, thus to the reduction of the quality of life). Introduction of yet another economic innovation will not solve this problem. It can be solved only by social innovations that are in a permanent shortage. A social innovation which fosters solving the issue of excessive accumulation of tangible production goods is a developing phenomenon called sharing economy. It is based on the principle: “the use of a service provided by some welfare does not require being its owner”. This principle allows for an economic use of resources located in households, but which have been “latent” so far. In this way, increasing of the scope of services provided (transport, residential and tourist accommodation) does not require any growth of additional tangible resources of factors of production. So, it contributes to the growth of household incomes, and inhibition of loading the planet with material goods processed by man [see Poniatowska-Jaksch, Sobiecki, 2016]. Another example: we live in times, in which, contrary to the law of T. Malthus, the planet is able to feed all people, that is to guarantee their minimum required nutrients. But still, millions of people die of starvation and malnutrition, but also due to obesity. Can this problem be solved with another economic innovation? Certainly not! Economic innovations will certainly help to partially solve the problem of nutrition, at least by the new methods of storing and preservation of foods, to reduce its waste in the phase of storage and transport. However, a key condition to solve this problem is to create and implement an innovation of a social nature (in many cases also political). We will not be able to speak about the progress of civilisation in a situation, where there are people dying of starvation and malnutrition. A growing global social concern, resulting from implementation of an economic (technological) innovation will be robotisation, and more specifically – the effects arising from its dissemination on a large scale. So far, the issue has been postponed due to globalisation of the labour market, which led to cheapening of the work factor by more than ten times in the countries of Asia or South America. But it ends slowly. Labour becomes more and more expensive, which means that the robots become relatively cheap. The mechanism leading to low prices of the labour factor expires. Wages increase, and this changes the relationship of the prices of capital and labour. Capital becomes relatively cheaper and cheaper, and this leads to reducing of the demand for work, at the same time increasing the demand for capital (in the form of robots). The introduction of robots will be an effect of the phenomenon of substitution of the factors of production. A cheaper factor (in this case capital in the form of robots) will be cheaper than the same activities performed by man. According to W. Szymański [2017], such change is a dysfunction of capitalism. A great challenge, because capitalism is based on the market-driven shaping of income. The market-driven shaping of income means that the income is derived from the sale of the factors of production. Most people have income from employment. Robots change this mechanism. It is estimated that scientific progress allows to create such number of robots that will replace billion people in the world. What will happen to those “superseded”, what will replace the income from human labour? Capitalism will face an institutional challenge, and must replace the market-driven shaping of income with another, new one. The introduction of robots means microeconomic battle with the barrier of demand. To sell more, one needs to cut costs. The costs are lowered by the introduction of robots, but the use of robots reduces the demand for human labour. Lowering the demand for human labour results in the reduction of employment, and lower wages. Lower wages result in the reduction of the demand for goods and services. To increase the demand for goods and services, the companies must lower their costs, so they increase the involvement of robots, etc. A mechanism of the vicious circle appears If such a mass substitution of the factors of production is unfavourable from the point of view of stimulating the development of the economy, then something must be done to improve the adverse price relations for labour. How can the conditions of competition between a robot and a man be made equal, at least partially? Robots should be taxed. Bill Gates, among others, is a supporter of such a solution. However, this is only one of the tools that can be used. The solution of the problem requires a change in the mechanism, so a breakthrough innovation of a social and political nature. We can say that technological and product innovations force the creation of social and political innovations (maybe institutional changes). Product innovations solve some problems (e.g. they contribute to the reduction of production costs), but at the same time, give rise to others. Progress of civilisation for centuries and even millennia was primarily an intellectual progress. It was difficult to discuss economic progress at that time. Then we had to deal with the imbalance between the economic and the social element. The insufficiency of the economic factor (otherwise than it is today) was the reason for the tensions and crises. Estimates of growth indicate that the increase in industrial production from ancient times to the first industrial revolution, that is until about 1700, was 0.1-0.2 per year on average. Only the next centuries brought about systematically increasing pace of economic growth. During 1700- 1820, it was 0.5% on an annual average, and between 1820-1913 – 1.5%, and between 1913-2012 – 3.0% [Piketty, 2015, p. 97]. So, the significant pace of the economic growth is found only at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Additionally, the growth in this period refers predominantly to Europe and North America. The countries on other continents were either stuck in colonialism, structurally similar to the medieval period, or “lived” on the history of their former glory, as, for example, China and Japan, or to a lesser extent some countries of the Middle East and South America. The growth, having then the signs of the modern growth, that is the growth based on technological progress, was attributed mainly to Europe and the United States. The progress of civilisation requires the creation of new social initiatives. Social innovations are indeed an additional capital to keep the social structure in balance. The social capital is seen as a means and purpose and as a primary source of new values for the members of the society. Social innovations also motivate every citizen to actively participate in this process. It is necessary, because traditional ways of solving social problems, even those known for a long time as unemployment, ageing of the society, or exclusion of considerable social and professional groups from the social and economic development, simply fail. “Old” problems are joined by new ones, such as the increase of social inequalities, climate change, or rapidly growing environmental pollution. New phenomena and problems require new solutions, changes to existing procedures, programmes, and often a completely different approach and instruments [Kowalczyk, Sobiecki, 2017].

In 2022, the Swiss branch of the international publishing house Springer published a book, a collection of papers entitled Military Geoscience: A Multifaceted Approach to the Study of Warfare. It consists of selected contributions by international researchers in the field of military geoscience, presented at the 13th International Conference on Military Geosciences, held in Padua in June 2019. The first paper is by the editors, Aldin Bondesan and Judy Ehlen, and provides a brief overview of understanding the concept of military geoscience as an application of geology and geography to the military domain, and the historical development of the discipline. It should also be pointed out that the International Conferences on Military Geosciences (ICMG), which organises this biennial international conference, has over the past two decades also covered other aspects, such as conflict archaeology. The publication is further divided into three parts. The first part comprises three contributions covering military geoscience up to the 20th century. The first paper, by Chris Fuhriman and Jason Ridgeway, provides an insights into the Battle of Marathon through topography visualisation. The geography of the Marathon field, the valley between Mt. Cotroni and Mt. Agrieliki, allowed the Greek defenders to nullify the advantage of the Persian cavalry and archers, who were unable to develop their full potential. This is followed by a paper by Judy Ehlen, who explores the geological background of the Anglo-British coastal fortification system along the English Channel, focusing on the Portsmouth area of Hampshire. The author thus points out that changes in artillery technology and naval tactics between the 16th and 19th centuries necessitated changes in the construction of coastal fortifications, both in terms of the form of the fortifications and the method of construction, including the choice of basic building materials, as well as the siting of the fortifications in space. The next article is then dedicated to the Monte Baldo Fortress in north-eastern Italy, between Lake Garda and the Adige River. In his article, Francesco Premi analyses the presence of the fortress in the transition area between the Germanic world and the Mediterranean, and the importance of this part of Italy (at the southernmost part of the pre-Alpine mountains) in military history, as reflected in the large number of important military and war relics and monuments. The second part of the book, which is the most comprehensive, focuses on the two World Wars and consists of nine papers. The first paper in this part provides an analysis of the operation of trench warfare training camps in the Aube region of France. The group of authors, Jérôme Brenot, Yves Desfossés, Robin Perarnau, Marc Lozano and Alain Devos, initially note that static warfare training camps have not received much attention so far. Using aerial photography of the region dating from 1948 and surviving World War II photographic material, they identified some 20 sites where soldiers of the Entente forces were trained for front-line service in trenches. Combined archaeological and sociological fieldwork followed, confirming the presence of these camps, both through preserved remains and the collective memory. The second paper in this volume also concerns the survey on trenches, located in northern Italy in the Venezia Tridentina Veneto area in northern Italy. The authors Luigi Magnini, Giulia Rovera, Armando De Guio and Giovanni Azzalin thus use digital classification methods and archaeology to determine how Italian and Austro-Hungarian First World War trenches have been preserved or, in case they have disappeared, why this was the case, both from the point of view of the natural features as well as from the anthropological point of view of the restoration of the pre-war settings. The next paper, by Paolo Macini and Paolo Sammuri, analyses the activities of the miners and pioneers of the Italian Corps of Engineers during the First World War, in particular with regard to innovative approaches to underground mine warfare. In the Dolomites, the Italian engineers, using various listening devices, drilling machinery and geophysical methods, developed a system for drilling underground mine chambers, which they intended to use and actually used to destroy parts of Austro-Hungarian positions. The paper by Elena Dai Prà, Nicola Gabellieri and Matteo Boschian Bailo concerns the Italian Army's operations during the First World War. It focuses on the use of tactical maps with emphasis on typological classification, the use of symbols, and digital cartography. The authors thus analysed the tactical maps of the Italian Third Army, which were being constantly updated by plotting the changes in positions and tactical movements of both sides. These changes were examined both in terms of the use of new symbols and the analysis of the movements. This is followed by a geographical presentation of the Italian Army's activities during the First World War. The authors Paolo Plini, Sabina Di Franco and Rosamaria Salvatori have thus collected 21,856 toponyms by analysing documents and maps. The locations were also geolocated to give an overview of the places where the Italian Army operated during the First World War. The analysis initially revealed the complexity of the events on the battlefields, but also that the sources had misidentified the places of operation, as toponyms were misidentified, especially in the case of homonyms. Consequently, the area of operation was misidentified as well. In this respect, the case of Vipava was highlighted, which can refer to both a river and a settlement. The following paper is the first on the Second World War. It is the article by H. A. P. Smith on Italian prisoners of war in South Africa. The author outlines the circumstances in which Italian soldiers arrived to and lived in the southern African continent, and the contribution they made to the local environment and the society, and the remnants of their presence preserved to the present day. In their article, William W. Doe III and Michael R. Czaja analyse the history, geography and significance of Camp Hale in the state of Colorado. In doing so, they focus on the analysis of the military organization and its impact on the local community. Camp Hale was thus the first military installation of the U.S. Army, designated to test and train U.S. soldiers in mountain and alpine warfare. It was here that the U.S. 10th Mountain Division was formed, which concluded its war path on Slovenian soil. The Division's presence in this former camp, which was in military use also after the war until 1965, and in the surrounding area is still visible through numerous monuments. This is followed by a paper by Hermann Häusler, who deals with German military geography and geology on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. A good year before the German attack on the Soviet Union, German and Austrian military geologists began an analysis of the topography, population and infrastructure of the European part of the Soviet Union, which led to a series of publications, including maps showing the suitability of the terrain for military operations. During the war, military geological teams then followed the frontline units and carried out geotechnical tasks such as water supply, construction of fortifications, supply of building materials for transport infrastructure, and analysis of the suitability of the terrain for all-terrain driving of tracked and other vehicles. The same author also authored a paper in the next chapter, this time focusing on the activities of German military geologists in the Adriatic area. Similarly to his first contribution, the author presents the work of military geologists in northern Italy and north-western Slovenia. He also focuses on the construction of fortification systems in northern Italy and presents the work of karst hunters in the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral. Part 3 covers the 21st century with five different papers (chapters). The first paper by Alexander K. Stewart deals with the operations of the U.S. Army specialised teams in Afghanistan. These Agribusiness Development Teams (ADTs) carried out a specialised form of counter-guerrilla warfare in which they sought to improve the conditions for the development of local communities through agricultural assistance to the local population. In this way, they were also counteracting support for the Taliban. The author notes that, in the decade after the programme's launch, the project had only a 19% success rate. However, he stresses that such forms of civil-military cooperation should be present in future operations. The next chapter, by Francis A. Galgan, analyses the activities of modern pirates through military-geographical or geological methods. Pirates, who pose a major international security threat, are present in four regions of the world: South and South-East Asia, East Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. Building on the data on pirate attacks between 1997 and 2017, the author shows the temporal and spatial patterns of pirate activities, as well as the influence of the geography of coastal areas on their activities. This is followed by another chapter with a maritime topic. Mark Stephen Blaine discusses the geography of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Through a presentation of international law, the strategic importance of the sea (sea lanes, natural resources) and the overlapping territorial claims of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, the author shows the increasing level of conflict in the area and calls for the utmost efforts to be made to prevent the outbreak of hostilities or war. M. H. Bulmer's paper analyses the Turkish Armed Forces' activities in Syria from the perspective of military geology. The author focuses on the Kurdish forces' defence projects, which mainly involved the construction of gun trenches, observation towers or points, tunnels and underground facilities, as well as on the Turkish armed forces' actions against this military infrastructure. This involved both mountain and underground warfare activities. While these defensive infrastructures proved to be successful during the guerrilla warfare period, direct Turkish attacks on these installations demonstrated their vulnerability. The last chapter deals with the current operational needs and limitations of military geosciences from the perspective of the Austrian Armed Forces. Friedrich Teichmann points out that the global operational interest of states determines the need for accurate geo-data as well as geo-support in case of rapidly evolving requirements. In this context, geoscience must respond to new forms of threats, both asymmetric and cyber, at a time when resources for geospatial services are limited, which also requires greater synergy and an innovative approach to finding solutions among multiple stakeholders. This also includes increased digitisation, including the use of satellite and other space technologies. The number of chapters in the publication illustrates the breadth and depth of military geoscience, as well as the relevance of geoscience to past, present and future conflicts or military operations and missions. The current military operations in Ukraine demonstrate the need to take into account the geo-geological realities of the environment and that terrain remains one of the decisive factors for success on the battlefield, irrespective of the technological developments in military engineering and technology. This can also be an incentive for Slovenian researchers and the Slovenian Armed Forces to increase research activities in the field of military geosciences, especially in view of the rich military and war history in the geographically and geologically diverse territory of Slovenia.

AbstractThis article argues for a transregional historical approach to explain the career of political secularism, i.e. the ideas and practices that inform the modern state’s relationship to and administration of religion, in the 20th century. More specifically, it asks in how far we can understand secularism in South and Southeast Asia between the end of the First World War and decolonisation after 1945 as a result of transregional patterns that evolved within and beyond these regions. The argument is based on three brief case studies on Atatürk’s Turkey as a contested source of inspiration for state secularity and religious reform, regional women’s networks to foster secularism and social change in the 1930s, and secularism as a strategy of postcolonial state-building and territorial integration. Conceptually, the article suggests to use global intellectual history as a means to combine research on connectivity with historical comparison.

The purpose of the article is to reveal the regularities of socio-cultural and art history activity formation in the context of researches and representations of M. Hlushchenko`s tangible cultural heritage. The research methodology is based on cultural-historical, analytical, synthetic, and comparative methods to outline similarities and highlight differences in processes of socio-cultural activity related to M. Hlushchenko’s figure, artistic work, and personal archive. The scientific novelty. Based on the analysis, synthesis, and comparison of the main exhibitions, publishing projects, and journalistic activities dedicated to the 120th anniversary of Mykola Hlushchenko, the priority vectors of specialists’ activities in socio-cultural sphere have been identified. Dependency of socio-cultural activities in process of representing the M. Hlushchenko`s cultural heritage has been detected through the cultural-historical method in accordance with public needs. Conclusions. For 30 years since Ukraine regained its independence, the tradition of presenting socio-cultural projects for artist's anniversaries, probably borrowed from the Soviet times, has been established. In other words, the actualisation of M. Hlushchenko’s cultural heritage takes place cyclically, every five years. Today, the number of open, but still unexamined archival documents is growing every year, and mostly they are included in the scientific circulation without proper systematisation and processing. Traditionally, exhibition activity, namely the demonstration of some individual pieces of M. Hlushchenko's creative achievements, occurs at regional level. The main scientific investigations of M. Hlushchenko’s heritage has been carried out in related scientific fields, such as history, cultural studies, and archival work. Research activities are held by scientists insufficiently, accordingly, M. Hlushchenko’s cultural heritage still remains understudied, although it occupies an exceptional place in the history of Ukrainian art of the 20th century and deserves special attention and more detailed modern art research. Currently, we consider that the most significant contribution to research and representation of M. Hlushchenko’s cultural heritage in the field of socio-cultural projecting is publication of information with limited access, in particular archival documents and artistic works. Key words: Mykola Hlushchenko, Nicolas Gloutchenko, socio-cultural projecting in art, tangible cultural heritage, creative heritage, artistic work, 20th Century Modern Ukrainian Art, Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum, Dnipro Art Museum.

The influx of Chinese into Korea has a long history. The earlier migrants were rapidly absorbed into mainstream Korean society and quickly assimilated. However, the Chinese migrants who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the huaqiao, chose to maintain their separate, non-Korean identity. This later led to open discrimination towards the huaqiao in post-independence Korea. The adoption of modern nationalism and racial theories in Korea also facilitated the disenfranchisement of the huaqiao, whose loyalty to the Korean national state was suspected and whose economic and social rights were appropriated. The recent revival of Chinese power has led to the mellowing of Korean attitudes towards China and the Chinese. The left-aligned political parties in Korea are especially in favour of cultivating closer ties with China. The composition of the Chinese community in Korea has also been altered by the influx of new migrants from mainland China. This has led to the renaissance of the once moribund Chinese communities in Incheon and Busan, both of which now boast sizable Chinatowns. Yet the huaqiao still face problems with integrating fully into Korean society and being openly huaqiao can still lead to unwelcome attention and prejudice from native Koreans. The integration of the Chinese community in Korea remains a challenge for Korea that still holds firmly to the old nationalist ideology of the 20th century.

The curtain rose. The howling of desert wind filled the performance hall in the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Into the center stage, where a scenic construction of a mountain cliff and a desert landscape was dimly lit, entered the character of the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu (1849–1931), performed by Chen Yizong. Dressed in a worn and dusty outfit of dark blue cotton, characteristic of Daoist priests, Wang began to sweep the floor. After a few moments, he discovered a hidden chambre sealed inside one of the rock sanctuaries carved into the cliff.Signaled by the quick, crystalline, stirring wave of sound from the chimes, a melodious Chinese ocarina solo joined in slowly from the background. Astonished by thousands of Buddhist sūtra scrolls, wall paintings, and sculptures he had just accidentally discovered in the caves, Priest Wang set his broom aside and began to examine these treasures. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the desert sky was pitch-black. Priest Wang held his oil lamp high, strode rhythmically in excitement, sat crossed-legged in a meditative pose, and unfolded a scroll. The sound of the ocarina became fuller and richer and the texture of the music more complex, as several other instruments joined in.Below is the opening scene of the award-winning, theatrical dance-drama Dunhuang, My Dreamland, created by China’s state-sponsored Lanzhou Song and Dance Theatre in 2000. Figure 1a: Poster Side A of Dunhuang, My Dreamland Figure 1b: Poster Side B of Dunhuang, My DreamlandThe scene locates the dance-drama in the rock sanctuaries that today are known as the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, housing Buddhist art accumulated over a period of a thousand years, one of the best well-known UNESCO heritages on the Silk Road. Historically a frontier metropolis, Dunhuang was a strategic site along the Silk Road in northwestern China, a crossroads of trade, and a locus for religious, cultural, and intellectual influences since the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). Travellers, especially Buddhist monks from India and central Asia, passing through Dunhuang on their way to Chang’an (present day Xi’an), China’s ancient capital, would stop to meditate in the Mogao Caves and consult manuscripts in the monastery's library. At the same time, Chinese pilgrims would travel by foot from China through central Asia to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, playing a key role in the exchanges between ancient China and the outside world. Travellers from China would stop to acquire provisions at Dunhuang before crossing the Gobi Desert to continue on their long journey abroad. Figure 2: Dunhuang Mogao CavesThis article approaches the idea of “abroad” by examining the present-day imagination of journeys along the Silk Road—specifically, staged performances of the various Silk Road journey-themed dance-dramas sponsored by the Chinese state for enhancing its cultural and foreign policies since the 1970s (Kuang).As ethnomusicologists have demonstrated, musicians, choreographers, and playwrights often utilise historical materials in their performances to construct connections between the past and the present (Bohlman; Herzfeld; Lam; Rees; Shelemay; Tuohy; Wade; Yung: Rawski; Watson). The ancient Silk Road, which linked the Mediterranean coast with central China and beyond, via oasis towns such as Samarkand, has long been associated with the concept of “journeying abroad.” Journeys to distant, foreign lands and encounters of unknown, mysterious cultures along the Silk Road have been documented in historical records, such as A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Faxian) and The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (Xuanzang), and illustrated in classical literature, such as The Travels of Marco Polo (Polo) and the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West (Wu). These journeys—coming and going from multiple directions and to different destinations—have inspired contemporary staged performance for audiences around the globe.Home and Abroad: Dunhuang and the Silk RoadDunhuang, My Dreamland (2000), the contemporary dance-drama, staged the journey of a young pilgrim painter travelling from Chang’an to a land of the unfamiliar and beyond borders, in search for the arts that have inspired him. Figure 3: A scene from Dunhuang, My Dreamland showing the young pilgrim painter in the Gobi Desert on the ancient Silk RoadFar from his home, he ended his journey in Dunhuang, historically considered the northwestern periphery of China, well beyond Yangguan and Yumenguan, the bordering passes that separate China and foreign lands. Later scenes in Dunhuang, My Dreamland, portrayed through multiethnic music and dances, the dynamic interactions among merchants, cultural and religious envoys, warriors, and politicians that were making their own journey from abroad to China. The theatrical dance-drama presents a historically inspired, re-imagined vision of both “home” and “abroad” to its audiences as they watch the young painter travel along the Silk Road, across the Gobi Desert, arriving at his own ideal, artistic “homeland”, the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Since his journey is ultimately a spiritual one, the conceptualisation of travelling “abroad” could also be perceived as “a journey home.”Staged more than four hundred times since it premiered in Beijing in April 2000, Dunhuang, My Dreamland is one of the top ten titles in China’s National Stage Project and one of the most successful theatrical dance-dramas ever produced in China. With revenue of more than thirty million renminbi (RMB), it ranks as the most profitable theatrical dance-drama ever produced in China, with a preproduction cost of six million RMB. The production team receives financial support from China’s Ministry of Culture for its “distinctive ethnic features,” and its “aim to promote traditional Chinese culture,” according to Xu Rong, an official in the Cultural Industry Department of the Ministry. Labeled an outstanding dance-drama of the Chinese nation, it aims to present domestic and international audiences with a vision of China as a historically multifaceted and cosmopolitan nation that has been in close contact with the outside world through the ancient Silk Road. Its production company has been on tour in selected cities throughout China and in countries abroad, including Austria, Spain, and France, literarily making the young pilgrim painter’s “journey along the Silk Road” a new journey abroad, off stage and in reality.Dunhuang, My Dreamland was not the first, nor is it the last, staged performances that portrays the Chinese re-imagination of “journeying abroad” along the ancient Silk Road. It was created as one of many versions of Dunhuang bihua yuewu, a genre of music, dance, and dramatic performances created in the early twentieth century and based primarily on artifacts excavated from the Mogao Caves (Kuang). “The Mogao Caves are the greatest repository of early Chinese art,” states Mimi Gates, who works to increase public awareness of the UNESCO site and raise funds toward its conservation. “Located on the Chinese end of the Silk Road, it also is the place where many cultures of the world intersected with one another, so you have Greek and Roman, Persian and Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese cultures, all interacting. Given the nature of our world today, it is all very relevant” (Pollack). As an expressive art form, this genre has been thriving since the late 1970s contributing to the global imagination of China’s “Silk Road journeys abroad” long before Dunhuang, My Dreamland achieved its domestic and international fame. For instance, in 2004, The Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara—one of the most representative (and well-known) Dunhuang bihua yuewu programs—was staged as a part of the cultural program during the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. This performance, as well as other Dunhuang bihua yuewu dance programs was the perfect embodiment of a foreign religion that arrived in China from abroad and became Sinicized (Kuang). Figure 4: Mural from Dunhuang Mogao Cave No. 45A Brief History of Staging the Silk Road JourneysThe staging of the Silk Road journeys abroad began in the late 1970s. Historically, the Silk Road signifies a multiethnic, cosmopolitan frontier, which underwent incessant conflicts between Chinese sovereigns and nomadic peoples (as well as between other groups), but was strongly imbued with the customs and institutions of central China (Duan, Mair, Shi, Sima). In the twentieth century, when China was no longer an empire, but had become what the early 20th-century reformer Liang Qichao (1873–1929) called “a nation among nations,” the long history of the Silk Road and the colourful, legendary journeys abroad became instrumental in the formation of a modern Chinese nation of unified diversity rooted in an ancient cosmopolitan past. The staged Silk Road theme dance-dramas thus participate in this formation of the Chinese imagination of “nation” and “abroad,” as they aestheticise Chinese history and geography. History and geography—aspects commonly considered constituents of a nation as well as our conceptualisations of “abroad”—are “invariably aestheticized to a certain degree” (Bakhtin 208). Diverse historical and cultural elements from along the Silk Road come together in this performance genre, which can be considered the most representative of various possible stagings of the history and culture of the Silk Road journeys.In 1979, the Chinese state officials in Gansu Province commissioned the benchmark dance-drama Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, a spectacular theatrical dance-drama praising the pure and noble friendship which existed between the peoples of China and other countries in the Tang dynasty (618-907 C.E.). While its plot also revolves around the Dunhuang Caves and the life of a painter, staged at one of the most critical turning points in modern Chinese history, the work as a whole aims to present the state’s intention of re-establishing diplomatic ties with the outside world after the Cultural Revolution. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, it presents a nation’s journey abroad and home. To accomplish this goal, Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road introduces the fictional character Yunus, a wealthy Persian merchant who provides the audiences a vision of the historical figure of Peroz III, the last Sassanian prince, who after the Arab conquest of Iran in 651 C.E., found refuge in China. By incorporating scenes of ethnic and folk dances, the drama then stages the journey of painter Zhang’s daughter Yingniang to Persia (present-day Iran) and later, Yunus’s journey abroad to the Tang dynasty imperial court as the Persian Empire’s envoy.Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, since its debut at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the first of October 1979 and shortly after at the Theatre La Scala in Milan, has been staged in more than twenty countries and districts, including France, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Russia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and recently, in 2013, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.“The Road”: Staging the Journey TodayWithin the contemporary context of global interdependencies, performing arts have been used as strategic devices for social mobilisation and as a means to represent and perform modern national histories and foreign policies (Davis, Rees, Tian, Tuohy, Wong, David Y. H. Wu). The Silk Road has been chosen as the basis for these state-sponsored, extravagantly produced, and internationally staged contemporary dance programs. In 2008, the welcoming ceremony and artistic presentation at the Olympic Games in Beijing featured twenty apsara dancers and a Dunhuang bihua yuewu dancer with long ribbons, whose body was suspended in mid-air on a rectangular LED extension held by hundreds of performers; on the giant LED screen was a depiction of the ancient Silk Road.In March 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping introduced the initiatives “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” during his journeys abroad in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. These initiatives are now referred to as “One Belt, One Road.” The State Council lists in details the policies and implementation plans for this initiative on its official web page, www.gov.cn. In April 2013, the China Institute in New York launched a yearlong celebration, starting with "Dunhuang: Buddhist Art and the Gateway of the Silk Road" with a re-creation of one of the caves and a selection of artifacts from the site. In March 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, released a new action plan outlining key details of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Xi Jinping has made the program a centrepiece of both his foreign and domestic economic policies. One of the central economic strategies is to promote cultural industry that could enhance trades along the Silk Road.Encouraged by the “One Belt, One Road” policies, in March 2016, The Silk Princess premiered in Xi’an and was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing the following July. While Dunhuang, My Dreamland and Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road were inspired by the Buddhist art found in Dunhuang, The Silk Princess, based on a story about a princess bringing silk and silkworm-breeding skills to the western regions of China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) has a different historical origin. The princess's story was portrayed in a woodblock from the Tang Dynasty discovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein, a British archaeologist during his expedition to Xinjiang (now Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region) in the early 19th century, and in a temple mural discovered during a 2002 Chinese-Japanese expedition in the Dandanwulike region. Figure 5: Poster of The Silk PrincessIn January 2016, the Shannxi Provincial Song and Dance Troupe staged The Silk Road, a new theatrical dance-drama. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, the newly staged dance-drama “centers around the ‘road’ and the deepening relationship merchants and travellers developed with it as they traveled along its course,” said Director Yang Wei during an interview with the author. According to her, the show uses seven archetypes—a traveler, a guard, a messenger, and so on—to present the stories that took place along this historic route. Unbounded by specific space or time, each of these archetypes embodies the foreign-travel experience of a different group of individuals, in a manner that may well be related to the social actors of globalised culture and of transnationalism today. Figure 6: Poster of The Silk RoadConclusionAs seen in Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road and Dunhuang, My Dreamland, staging the processes of Silk Road journeys has become a way of connecting the Chinese imagination of “home” with the Chinese imagination of “abroad.” Staging a nation’s heritage abroad on contemporary stages invites a new imagination of homeland, borders, and transnationalism. Once aestheticised through staged performances, such as that of the Dunhuang bihua yuewu, the historical and topological landscape of Dunhuang becomes a performed narrative, embodying the national heritage.The staging of Silk Road journeys continues, and is being developed into various forms, from theatrical dance-drama to digital exhibitions such as the Smithsonian’s Pure Land: Inside the Mogao Grottes at Dunhuang (Stromberg) and the Getty’s Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road (Sivak and Hood). They are sociocultural phenomena that emerge through interactions and negotiations among multiple actors and institutions to envision and enact a Chinese imagination of “journeying abroad” from and to the country.ReferencesBakhtin, M.M. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1982.Bohlman, Philip V. “World Music at the ‘End of History’.” Ethnomusicology 46 (2002): 1–32.Davis, Sara L.M. Song and Silence: Ethnic Revival on China’s Southwest Borders. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.Duan, Wenjie. “The History of Conservation of Mogao Grottoes.” International Symposium on the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property: The Conservation of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and the Related Studies. Eds. Kuchitsu and Nobuaki. Tokyo: Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, 1997. 1–8.Faxian. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. Translated by James Legge. New York: Dover Publications, 1991.Herzfeld, Michael. Ours Once More: Folklore, Ideology, and the Making of Modern Greece. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985.Kuang, Lanlan. Dunhuang bi hua yue wu: "Zhongguo jing guan" zai guo ji yu jing zhong de jian gou, chuan bo yu yi yi (Dunhuang Performing Arts: The Construction and Transmission of “China-scape” in the Global Context). Beijing: She hui ke xue wen xian chu ban she, 2016.Lam, Joseph S.C. State Sacrifice and Music in Ming China: Orthodoxy, Creativity and Expressiveness. New York: State University of New York Press, 1998.Mair, Victor. T’ang Transformation Texts: A Study of the Buddhist Contribution to the Rise of Vernacular Fiction and Drama in China. Cambridge, Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies, 1989.Pollack, Barbara. “China’s Desert Treasure.” ARTnews, December 2013. Sep. 2016 <http://www.artnews.com/2013/12/24/chinas-desert-treasure/>.Polo, Marco. The Travels of Marco Polo. Translated by Ronald Latham. Penguin Classics, 1958.Rees, Helen. 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The article is devoted to the some aspects of formation of the pedagogical high-er school in Inner Asia capitals: Ulan-Ude city (the Republic of Buryatia, Russia) and Hoh-Hot city (the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region, China). The importance of re-search is obvious, because it is necessary to comprehend the changes happening in the 20th century in educational systems and its influences on modern processes, to analyze and es-tablish the reasons of the transformational processes happening in an education system that is impossible without experience gained from previous generation. Methodological basis of the research is the historical method, and also systematic and structural-functional analysis. Results of the study let us to reveal the features of development and formation of the pedagogical higher school of Inner Asia considering their history and national color and also have a direct relation to one of the most actual problem of cultural, information and educational security. The obtained results can be used in the work of public authorities involved in the development of public policy in the field of education, in reading of the lecture course, special seminars on pedagogy and history of education for the students and specialists of humanities.