The museum’s work takes particular importance due to the overall democratization of cultural life in recent years. There have been theoretical problems regarding national museum studies, which increase the need for research to update the very concepts behind its operations. The Novosibirsk City Museum’s main objective is to further develop the cultural and educational aspects of museum communications, seeking to create a special approach for what is happening in the museum’s diverse dialogue processes. To address the lack of participation in Russian cultural and political life, the museum wants to help to develop independent, creative, innovative people, free to actively participate in the dialogue.
During the implementation of the state program, “Patriotic Education of the Citizens of the Russian Federation from 2001-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2016”, museums celebrating the glory of Russian military and labor movements appeared in schools, vocational schools and colleges in the cities of Novosibirsk and Novosibirskaya Oblast as centers of patriotic labor. Patriotism is the love that a citizen has for the place where s/he was born or where s/he lives. It is a love for the people that live there, and the various traditions that are specific to his/her homeland. It is the love for everything that is connected to one’s native land. A true patriot is always excited about events in his/her home corner, and s/he even takes actions to improve certain situations. How does one learn to love his/her homeland? How does one raise patriots? These are not idle questions: the future of our nation depends upon them. The museum is a place where children can express themselves, where they can see the contributions that evoke a sense of respect for the great events in the pages of our nation’s history. They can be introduced to the history of their homeland and the fates of their fellow citizens. They can “touch” history…
One of the museum’s activities for forming and developing a feeling of patriotism is to create an electronic archive called “Monument to the Glory of the People of Novosibirsk.” The purpose of the archive is to immortalize the memory of those involved in the World War II in Novosibirskii Oblast, placing its people in the systematic framework of preserving our historical roots and identity and enhancing spiritual traditions and the youth’s patriotic education.
In addition to this, the museum is in ongoing collaboration with patriotic organization and pays particular attention to veterans. It holds exhibitions and presentations, participates in memorial ceremonies across Russia, and implements projects dedicated to immortalizing memories of our country’s heroic past.
The museum is an institution of social memory, a repository of national wealth belonging to the public and its innate historical and cultural heritage. The Novosibirsk City Museum also acts as a transformative force and transmitter of spiritual and material values in order to preserve them for the future, to influence the education of the younger generation, and to realize the unity of the past with the present in the history of humankind.