The article focuses on materials from the Collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg which were collected by G.P. Snesarev’s expedition to South Kirgizia, the town of Osh, and several parts of the Fergana Valley in the Uzbek Republic in 1940. The trip was organized by the Central Anti-Religious Museum in Moscow. The expedition goal was the study of vestiges of religion in Central Asia as well as the criticism of faults in regional anti-religious measures. In addition to collecting material objects, Snesarev made some significant observations on the degree of strength of vestiges of religion and on overcoming them. The next expedition to South Kirgizia and Uzbekistan to continue the study of Islamic life was planned by the Central Anti-Religious Museum for 1941, but the Great Patriotic War prevented it. Thanks to the work of Gleb Snesarev at the Central Anti-Religious Museum, the collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg boasts a unique set of artefacts and documents (photographs and observation notes) that make it possible to reconstruct some aspects of religious life in Central Asia in the time of tumultuous transformation.
Keywords: study of religion, collecting, Uzbek beliefs, vestiges of religion, anti-religious propaganda, Central Anti-Religious Museum
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2020.2.121-126
About the author
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Ekaterina A. Teryukova – PhD (Philosophy), Deputy Director for Research, State Museum of the History of Religion; |