Query from SHERA member

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>Hello Everyone.
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>There are several questions that I have been puzzling over regarding the
>reception of religious objects, particularly icons, in museum spaces.  I
>am hoping that someone might have some thoughts or know where I might look
>to find research on related questions.
>
>I am writing a dissertation titled "Museum Practices and Notions of the
>Local in a Russian Provincial City, 1898-1933," which focuses on the
>museum opened in 1906 by the Vladimir Provincial Archival Commission.
>The division of church antiquities was the strongest in this museum
>largely due to the loan of a significant number of items from the
>depository of the Brotherhood of Aleksandr Nevskii.  Many of these items
>were icons that had been sent by churches in the guberniia to the
>Brotherhood because they were no longer being used and were believed to be
>of value for archaeological or historical reasons.  The depository was a
>space primarily for preservation and research and the archival commission
>successfully argued that the public would be better served by having the
>objects readily available for viewing in a well-lit and comfortable space.
>
>Currently, my primary questions relate to how an Orthodox believer
>visiting a museum for the first time might respond to viewing icons in a
>non-church, non-domestic setting.  For example, would visitors only know
>not to kiss an icon if reprimanded or do you think the unusual setting
>would have prevented them from approaching an icon in such a way?
>Given that students of museums speak of a "museum gaze" or museums as a
>way of seeing, and of museums as temples of a particular type, how might a
>gaze of veneration become a secular gaze of contemplation?  (For the
>moment, I am assuming that a transformation of gaze eventually must take
>place given the display techniques utilized, the wide variety of objects
>nearby, the absence of characteristics important in a religious space,
>etc.)
>
>Related to these questions: can an icon ever be unworthy of, or
>inappropriate for, veneration?  Unholy?  Is there a de-sacralizing
>ceremony for a religious object no longer in use or for an icon that is
>damaged?  If so, what is it/are they?
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>I am also interested in the maintenance, and/or (re)placement, of icons
>and other religious objects in churches which the Soviet authorities had
>declared museums.  (For the purposes of my dissertation, the church under
>consideration is Uspenskii Cathedral.)  Were cathedral-museums of atheism
>used by believers to practice their faith despite the absence of shared
>Orthodox rituals?  What risks, if any, did Soviet authorities believe they
>were undertaking when they placed expropriated religious items back into
>their original settings?  I have not come across archival sources on these
>questions in relation to my region and would be interested to know if
>someone else has for another case.
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>Any thoughts, speculation and leads are welcome!
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>Susan
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>Susan N. Smith                          University of Washington
>Doctoral Candidate                      Box 353560
>Department of History                   Seattle, WA   98195
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>                    [email protected]