PERFORMING VOTIANNESSHeritage Production, the votian Museum and village Feasts

Ergo'Hart Vįjstrik and Ester V su

'['his artic e- investigatcs ho.lv Votian iderrtit1, lras beetr stagec1 anc1 pcrfortrrecĮ irr the corrtcxt oftheVotiatr Mttseum atrcl in t re course of the L.,uzhicyvillage fēast. Our'arralysis conce ]tfates ol1 peĪ._ftlrnlative aSpects clfcr.r tura lreritage and et -rnic iclentityrelated [o t le clcal-ion ofspcciIic crr trrra spaces. I'he Votian Mtrseum is exatnitred as the setting of the villagc feast, reflecting the tlisplayaspectofheritageandiclentitypr'ocluctįoIr. WefocLtsonthelteyeĮerrrerlts-t reopeninr:ceremony,the conrtrrurral meal, and carnivalesque aspccts _ of the feast, rvhich invo vc various embo<lieclpractices and articitlate the mar-rifestatiorrs of traditiona cttlttlre chosen by tlre or.ganisers of thefestival, as tvel as contelllpo .aĪy e ]actlllelrts ofvillage life.

Į(eywords: cu tr-lral lreritage, etĮrr-ric identity, loca trrttseltm, perfbr'mance, r,iĮlage tēast, Votians

Among the valiety of ethnic minorities living inthe Russian Federation, the Votians are the smal -est indigenous group in the Lerringrad ob ast ofnorthwest Russia (cf. Viikberg 200i). Today the Vo-tian ianguage has been listed among the endangeredlarrgtrages of the Russian Federation (Ageeva 1994),and since 2008 Votians have had the official statusof a smal indigenous people of the Rtrssian North(Regnum 2008). A demographic survey in the middleof the nineteenth century documented the numberof Votians as exceeding 5,000 (Koppen 1867) but,after the changes in the Soviet nationality policy ofthe t930s (cf. Slezkine 1994:4 4), until the turn ofthe millennium they were not counted as a separatenationality in censuses. Long-term non-recognitionand even ethnic stigmatisation during the decadesafter the Second World War brought with them as-simi ation and even a conscious repudiation of Vo-tian identity. According to the all-Russian census of

2002, no more than 73 people declared themselvesas belonging to this ethnic group (Perepis 2002),butevidently there are people of Votian descent whodeliberately listed themselves (or were forced to istĮhenlselves) as ethnic Russiatrs.

Today Votians live in two villages * Luzhicy andKrakolye - in the Kingiseppski District of the Len-ingrad Oblast, by Luga Bay. These villages of about250 inhabitants are situated next to the multipur-pose merchant seaport of Ust-Luga, which has beendeveloped rapidly since 1995 by the federal authori-ties, and has been described by the Russian primeMinister Vladimir Putin as "one of the largest infra-structure projects ofEuropean scale in Russia" (Usr'-Luga 2008:2). According to the officia constructionplan, publicise d tn 2007, the intention was to replaceboth villages with a modern town of 35,000-70,000future port workers and their families. After protestsby the villagers, articulated and disserninated by the

EĪHN0LoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

scholarly comtnunity frotn Moscow research įtrsti-

tutes (Regrįls 2008), this idea was abar-rdoned but,

nonetheless, the expansion of the port constantly

threatens traditional commuuities in a zone of size-

able construction.Paradoxically, the process of developing the Us

Luga port (i.e. the threat to the Votians from outside

the villages) has occurred in parallel with a consid-

erable ethnic revival inside these villages since t re

end ofthe 1990s. The core institution in this process

has been a private Votian Museum in Luzhicy, whichhas mobi ised a gloup of cultura activists fromnearby urban centres, as we as from Luzhicy and

Krakolye. These peopĮe, altogether l 5_20 in number,

have different ethnic and educational backgrounds,

inclrrding schoo teachers, linguists, artists, mttsi-

cians, engineers, students etc. Some of them have

roots in Votian villages, but they reside mostly inKingisepp, the regional administrative centre, and

in St. Petersburg.įThe estab ishment of the museum instigated a

number of other activities connected with the pro-duction of Votian identity that included, for exam-ple, classes on native language and cultural historyin the Krakolye Basic School, the founclation of the

Society of Votian Culture, two Internet sites, andthe smal Votian newspaper Maalliici. However, the

most viable manifestation of the revival movement,closely related to the Votian Museutn, ras been the

local village feast Luzhickaią skĮachina,2 ce ebrated as

a joint community festival since 2000. This celebra-

tion is based on a traditional religious feast re ated to

the Orthodox village chapel. In the re-invented feast,

the religious function of the festival has been aban-doned, with the emphasis being laid on the produc-tion ofVotianness, and the celebration ofthe ethnicpast and cultural heritage in a variety of forms.

This article investigates how the ethnic identity ofan endangered minority group has been staged andperformed in the context of the corlmunity museumand through the village feast. Our analysis concen-trates on performative aspects ofVotian heritage inthose ctrltr.lra spaces where the heritage of the grotrp

is procluced individually as well as collectively. In

the first part of the paper, we exarnine what <ind of

mįįseĮtlĪ-l tlre Votiarr Musetttn is and lrow this irrstittr-tiorr, basecl orr an irrcįividttal grass-roots level irritia_

tive, is used in heritage production. Conseqr,rer-rtly,

we will stucly the ways in which official history has

been questioned in a museum exposition expressiuga vernacular viewpoint. Our research questions also

concern the strategies of building up the museumdisplay by relying on personal memories ar.rd partic-u ar materia ities of exhibitecĮ artefacts. Finally, the

reliability of the actua museum Space as a memorystorage is discussed.

The Votian Museum is examined as the setting ofthe vil1age feast, as the atter expiicitly demonStrateS

performative aspects of heritage and identity. Theaim ofthe study is to analyse the key e ements ofthefeast, such as the opening ceremony, the communalmeal and carnivalesque enactments' We articu atethe manifestations of traditional cu ture that have

been chosen by the organisers of the festival to lep-resent the Votian cultural heritage and how cliffer'-

ent understandings of Votianness are reflected inthe aforementioned embodied practices. Our studydemonstrates how the mį seįįm and village feast,

considered as ptrblic crr tura performances, are im-portant components in the process of the revitali-sation and constitution of local identity on a grass-

roots level, combinirrg traditiorra crr ture and the

ideas ofthe present-day Votian cultr,rral activists.

The Performances of Ethnic ldentity:Heritage Production in Museums andCommunity FestivalsAs a conceptual tool, performance emphasises the

importance of cu ture as a plocess enacted in em-

bodiecį encounters of people as active agents, eitherin mundane practices of everyday iife or in more"staged" events, such as ctrlttrra performances ofdifferent ktnds. Performance, for us, constitutes a

methodological lens for analysing the village feast

and the local museum as performative practices, al-

though they are not described as performances by

the organisers and participants (cf. Taylor 2003:3;Schechner 1990: 9). As out ined by Edward Schief-

felin, performance is a pherromenotr re ated to "hab_

its of the bocĮy more than Strįįctures of syrnbols, (...)

EĪHNoL0GlA EURoPAEA 40:2

:l j::]::

wįt r tl-rc social cotrstruction of rcaĮity rather tlrarr its

lepteserrtatiot.t" (Scl.rieffelin I99Bl. I94). Wheu seeu

from this per'spective, cr-r ttrra space is constructedand created ir-r particular performances, perceived

rnultisensorily in actior-r and participation, and ex-

periencecĮ in emotiorral icįentificatiorrs with the corn-munity involved in the events, emerging hic et nunc.

Ctrltura performances are situated in certain tan-gible locations and, at the same time, the perform-ance space is created wher-r the existing materialitiesare transformed into a symbolically rich space, intosomething that is more than what is visible. Theseare cu tural pelformances that give traditions andheritage an embocįied form, even though, paradoxi-cally, they are themse ves transient. Culturai per-formances may be considered to be restorations ofcu ture, though they are never merely leplesenta-tions (e.g. of ethnic identity, heritage etc.), but are

also enacted presentations, pleasures of doing, andce ebrations of being.3

Village feasts, for instance, are lepetitive in thesense that they restore certain events regularly ir-r

time and, yet, they have a rather open structure thatleaves space for personal interpretations. As a formof ctrltura performance the village feast "embodied

ideas and enacted interpretations" that plovidedopportunities fol increased and intensilied experi-ences, and for reflections on both individual andsocial identities (Stoeltje & Bauman 19BB: 590). Thevillage feasts, which once had a predominantly re-

ligious meaning, ale tlowadays Īostly secįllar cel-ebrations, as in the case of the Lrzhicy. However, thetraditional feast and re-established festival share the

function of creating in-group cohesion in the villagecommunity. The village feast provided, and nowprovides, an opportr,rnity for the participants to feel

a tlansie lt personal experience oftogetherness. T1-re

re-established Votian village feast can thus be in-tefpleted, witlr some reservations, as an exatnpĮe of"invetrted tradition" (cf. Hobsbawm 1983; Hand er& Lirrrrekirr 19B4); as here too e ements of past peas-

ant cu ture are selected and placed into new con-texts, these e ements gain new meanings that he1p to

constitLrte (and support) ethnic identity, and these

tladitions are reconstructed in the present.

Accor'ding to Tttrrrbridge arrd Ashwortįr, her'itagc

production is the process in which "the present se-

ects an inheritarrce from an imagined past for cttt'_

rent use and decides what should be passed on to an

irnagined future" (Tunbridge & Ashworth 1996: 6).

So for a group, heritage may become the cot-rnectiorr

between its history and its current life, and reinforce

its attachment to its dwellir-rg place. From the com-mur-rity perspective, heritage production includesprocesses involving "performances of remember-ing" (Smith 2006: 47), either in the form of (re)in-

vented feasts oI mįįseum_making processes. Thoseperformances both explicitly and implicitly explesswhat is valued by the group and what is worth dis-playing publicly. In these events, the communitymakes use of symbolic and imaginary realms of"co lective myths and history" and creates opportu_nities both for confirming and transforming exis ing values and traditions (MacAloon 1984: 1). Heri-tage is what gives material reality to the comtnuni-ty's identity and ma <es it observab e and perceivable

in the form of material artefacts, significant places,

mythologies, memories and traditions (Ashworth &Graham 2005:4).

Furthermore, cuĮttrra perfortnances, as enacted

forms of heritage, may become an important device

of the identity politics of a group (and sometimesalso expressions of resistance). The museum is a

pr,rblic space where a community's memory becomes

mediated: produced, explored and performed. Mu-seum artefacts have come to be seen not just as mere

representations of the past but as objects that may

acquire the statr"rs of agents in the process of remem-belir.rg. By the selection of what to exhibit in com-

munity mįlseums, the group controls the display ofthemse ves arrd atternpts to manage how others see

thern (Crooke 2010:27-28). Festivals, in turn, may

be considered public "comn-remorative ceremonies"that revitalise stories and images of the past, repre-

sent "collective autobiograpl-ry" for a cornmunity, and

"convey and sustain" tl-rem thlough ritual perfonn-ances (Conneiton 1989: 70*7I). The village feast as

a commemorative performance and the museum

as a site of commemotation may both be related to

the cultnral archive, as weil as beingrepertoire medi'

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40|2

ated by the "proccss of selection, tnemorization, ancl

i 1tel na izatiol-į" (Ihylor 2003: 20). However, tlowa-

days oue cannot iguore the fact that heritage per-

formances are often deliberately staged, as traditions

61e transfortnational and people who want to keep

them alive are trying to (re-)create means for keep-

ing certain cultulal knowledge and plactices alive

and educatir-rg younger community members. Per-

forming commemoį'ative events "engenders strong

e Īotions, as collective memories and identities ar'e

either maintained and transmitted to younger gen-

erations or contested and remade" (Smith 2006: 69).

Thįs emotional involvement may become an impor-

tant criterion for individualĮy meaningful heritage

experiences, yet it also struggles over whose heritage

representations better express the community's past.

Museums, which were traditionally related to of-

ficial histories and narratives of uations and ethnici-

ties, have become places for heritage negotiations,

"contact zones" (Clifford 1997: 192_ 93) in which

different meanings of a community's identity are

exhibitecl, perceived and intelpreted. Furthermore,

an increasing number of community museums

have corne into existence in recent decades as Partof grass-roots initiatives by those groups who were

formerly represented by public state- or municipal-

ity-run rnusenms. Often, there are particular indi-vicluals behind these initiatives rvho ale not trainedas museįįm professiorrals but feel the need to creāte

their own story of their heritage, together with com-

munity members. These mįlseums faci itate the idea

of comrnunity heritage as "a forum for alternativehistories, voices and experiences", which can be used

to "express local identity" and to wor < "as an educa-tiorral too " (Crooke 2009:42t-422). In the contextof sma l irrdigenous communities, it has been notedthat these museĮ ms trsually emelge as the resu t ofthe interest of one or a few commur-rity members,and often they survive as long as this person or

'group is in colrtlo of the mttsettm-makirrg process'(Bolton 2003:47). Thereby, the process ofmuseum: making may become a performance of both the in-.dividual ar-rd collective dimension. The same canlĮe said of the museutr-rs established by endarrgered'ethnic groups after the collapse ofthe Soviet Union

ir-r the territory of IĮtrssia: c1uitc ofterl cltĮcrly corrr-

rnurrity tnembers who perceivc tlrenrse ves as the lastcarriers of community heritage feel tl-re responsibil-ity to orgar-rise tl-ris heritage somehow itlto a museulĪ

display for the your-rger members of the ethr-ric corn-

rnunity (cf. Leete 2008; also Olsen 2000).

Analysing performances of ethnic identities as

they are expressed in the museum-making process,

as we l as in the vilĮage festival, provides an oppol-tunity to understand where ancl when, how and for

whom those identities are publicly created and nego-

tiated by different community members. Addition-alln we may see what e ements are consideled rep_

resentative and appropriate for the public display ofthe group's heritage, and to whom they are directed.

We argue that ethnic identity, in order to be sustaiu-

able in the changing cu ttrra space, rec1uires mani_

festations, restorations and co ective celebrations,

either in the for-m of a museum or a village feast.

Both these cultural phenomena bring ethnic Votiansand Votian activists, who otherwise are geographi-

cally dispersed, together into one locality and give

them opportunities for spatially shared and joir.rt

embodied experiences of Votianness. Yet, a museum

ar-rd a viĮlage feast ca l both be considered as hetero-

geneoĮĮs performance spaces in which strpportive as

well as more critica voices are co-ar'ticulatecį and

publicly staged, as well as spaces in which personallyperceived identities are enacted.

The Votian Museum: Creating andContesting the Space for Votian HeritageIrr his sttldy of the mttsetlms of Br'itish Co umbia,

Jan.res Clifford (t992) made a distinction between"majority mtlseums" and "tliba museums". He

outlined the basic characteristics of majority muse-

ums and comparecl these with the agendas of NativeAmerican lĪ įįseįįms. According to Clifford regard-

ing the latter', (1) they are to some deglee opposition-al, as their exhibits reflect excluded experiences and

cįlrlent struggles; (2) the distinction between (fine)

art and (ethnographic) culture is for them often ir-relevant; (3) the notion of a trnified History is cha -

ienged by local and community histolies; and (4)

they have no intention of incltrding tl-reir col ections

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

in thc patriurony of the natiorl, ofgreat art etc. (Clif-ĪorcĮ 997: I2I*I22)'

Tlre characteristics of the tribal lnLlSeĮįms ilr l]rit-ish Columbia correspond in some respects to spe-cific traits of the Votian Museum, and a similar op-position can be seen between the regional ,,majority

museum" in Kingisepp, the nearby adn-rinistrativecentre, and the local "rninority museum,, in Luzhicy.Despite the fact that the mrrnicipality mĮĮseum,dedicated to the history of the region, was foundedin the 1960s, an exposition of the archaeology andethnography of indigenous peoples of the area wasnot opened there unti 2000. Therefore, the vely factof founding a "grass-roots level" Votian Museum inLuzhicy in 1997, without any institutiona and finarr-cial support from loca or federal authorities, can beconsidered to be an oppositional activity, a form ofperformative resistance, with the aim of drawing at-tention to the non-recognised ethnic group.

The Votian Museum was established as a privateVentule of the Efimov famiĮy, who furnished, for thesake of the exhibition, one room of their summercottage. The primus motor of the mįĮseum has been,since the very beginning, Tatiana Efimova (bornin 1956), a chemical engineer by profession, whosehusband Sergey is a Votian from Luzhicy, where theĒfimovs have spent their weekends and summersin the o d wooden house inherited from Sergey,spa 'ents. Tatiana Efimova has since then taken theleading ro e irr the Votiarr revival lnovement arrd hasdedicated, with short inter.vals, her entire energy to"Votian affairs". As revea ed repeatedly in our inter-views with Tatiarra Efimova, her se f-awareness wasclosely attached to Luchizy despite the fact that shewas a Russian newcome . in the village arrd the Efi-movs officially įived in Kingisepp, Howevet, in2006they moved to Luzhicy and have since then been per-manent residents of the village.

According to the rostess of the museum, the rea-son for the exposition was to educate her childtenby doctrrnenting and sharing the loca lristory of thevillage she became acquainted with at the end of the1970s. Tatiana was fascinated by the customs and at-titudes sl-re came acloss in Luzhicy, which c ifferecįconsiderably from those traditions she had been

r-tsecį to in lrer Įįtrssiarr lrorrre village irr the -I'ikhviu

District of tlre Lcr-ringrarį oblast. In her own wo1.6įc,slre discoverec a people that did not officially existw ro were not lecogniseci, btrt shared .i.h .ulturnttraditions (ERA, DV 154).

On the one hand, the museum has been, for it.initiator, a private endeavour to edttcate her chi drenand to understand her close family n-rembers; on 1į1gother hand, this project had wider public implica-tions as Tatiana started to question the officia mi_nority politics represented by the regiona museumin Kingisepp. In this way, she took on the ro e of aguardian of the Votian tradition' even thotrgh s ęwas not an expeĪt in mtrseology, ethrrology or a yre ated fieįd. During her investigations, Tatianadiscovered various popular and scholarly misinter-pretations of Votiansa that weĪ.e articulated frory1the cosmopolitan point of view. In many cases, sheformtr ated her own a1ternative theories, which con_tested the we 1-established stereotypes and explana_tions, from the standpoint oflocal knowledge.

Her itage P ro du ctio n thro ugh Mus eumDi splay : Ar tefact s an d Indivi du aĮ sThe establishment and development of this particu_ ar museum can be interpreted as a plocess, a seriesof performative acts that created a specific culturalspace. As stated by Laurajane Smith, "The very act ofpossessing, managing and conserving (...) museumco ections is itself a perfornrative utterance of hav-ing identity" (Smith 2006: 68). Despite the fact thatthe Luzhicy tĪįtseum was based orr the individualilritiative of a newcomer, members of the ocaĮ com-murrity were inc trded in the process as dotrors andinformants. According to Tatiana Efirnova, the firstartefacts of the expositions were items of the house-hold equipment of her husband's family, but later,when villagers got to know about her "hobby,,, theystarted to bling new exhibits of their own accord.Therefore we can speak of the museum-makingprocess as a negotiated and collaborative perfor.m-ance. The hostess of the museum formulated thisidea vividly in the interview recorded in Ar.rgr.rst2000:

EĪHNoLoGlA EUROPAEA 40:2

..., Irr the very Įlegirrr-ring, there wer'e items that įacked

.. . n y information about their application atrc :. ...1 eaning, not to mentiotr what they were called.

:'... But it was a pity to throw them away. So I went to

,, ask. And I got to know that, for example (Tatiana,)i points to the artefact), this is an astija (vial), and

,r this a lannikko (wooden vessel with cover), a con-

.. tainer for curds or butter. This is also an astija(Tatiana takes another vesse in her hand), but for

' : mashing potatoes. This is an ušatti (woodenpail;, she again takes the artefact in her hand), a pro-

fttype of the present-day bucket. (...) Villagersthemselves now bring the majority of exhibits. I

, have fishing nets, of course, an anchor etc. All thisreflects that our viilage was, first and foremost,

a fishermen's village, and this is what I want toshow. And villagers just brought me exhibits suchas, foĪ example, a kurviverkko (a net for smelt), a

whole set, a net for catching smelt, in its entirety.Recently, they presented me with pulĮod (floats)

and v/eights of an archaic type. Even those villag-ers yoį would not expect to do so bring exhibits(...). (ERA, DV 1s7)

n 1998, when oulresearch team visited the musettmfor the first time, įhe Efimovs had eqtripped a roomof abotrt 20 m'zwith a variety of exhibits that were a-belled in Votian and Russian. During onr next threevisits (1999-2001), we witnessed the gradual growthofthe display and explored how new layers had beenadded to the "home-made" exhibition. The museumdisplay consisted mostly of ethnographic artefacts(nineteenth-century household equipment, clothes,working tools, including fishing gear, and itemsused in agricuiture and catt e breeding), pieces ofart (icons, paintings and drawilrgs mad by ama-tetir artists), documents, books and photos donatedby the villagers, as well as those acquired from ar-chives and visitors.5 Half of the wal s of the museumroom were coveled with fishing nets; clothes andworking too s were attached to the wa s and somewere placed on long benches ocated at the edges ofthe room. For Tatiana Efimova, every single exhibithad its own story; she knew by heart the previousowners of the artefacts and all of them represented

for her certairr periods irr tlre history of tĮre vilĮage.6For exan-rple, the existence of a pre_war Ortlroc oxchapel in Luzhicy, and the religious life of the vil_lage in general, were marked by icons donated by theVasi iev family, in the "irnprovised" hoĮy corner ofthe museum room, and religious iterature of thepre-war period. The Swedish period was indicatedby two Swedish coins, dating back to 636, foundin the Efimovs' vegetabie garden and considered bythe hostess of the museum to be the most preciousexhibits of the dispĮay.7 Her relationship with the ex-hibits was quite emotional; when we asked TatianaEfimova to mention her favourite exhibit she an-swered: "I cannot say that I have one favourite item.A i these things are for me ike my own children"(ERA, DV 157).

Thus, the exposition of the museum was built upfrom objects that supported remembering and dic-tated the narrative of the museum cĪeator. In addi-tion, for the sake of the exhibition Tatiana Efimovahad ordered, from the Russian Ethnographic Muse-um in St. Petersburg, copies ofphotos taken by Soviet ethnographers in the 1920s. These photos mostlydepicted villagers of that period and were mainlyfocused on personal aspects and genealogies of thevillagers. Individuals were a so dominant in the oldfamiiy photos donated to the museum and exhibitedtogether with ethnographic artefacts. According toTatiana Efimova, one of her aims in putting togetherthe exposition was to co nmemorate and pr'esent

native inhabitants and to "show how talented ourpeop e are" (ibid.). one ofthose gifted personalitieswas, fol example, Nikolay Nesterov, born in 921in Luzhicy, who worked for decades as an electricalengineer in St. Petersburg, and donated to the mu-seum his drawings that were made during and afterthe war. Nikolay Nesterov had never studied art, buthis ta ent a owed him to eaĪn additional money andsurvive as a prisoner of war during the Second WorldWar (FM 2000).

The hostess of the museum had accumulatecį a

considerable amount of information on the gene-

alogies of the villagers, so that we witnessed howshe (as a newcomer) explained, with the help ofmuseum photos, the genealogical relationships of

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

i:'

a.,.

tĮre orre-til-tle villager's to t rc native irr rabitarrts ofLuzhicy (rIįA, DV 266). 'Įatiarra Efin-rova thlrs hacįa sotnew rirt arr-rbįva ent role irr the Į-reritage prodtrc-tion process: sĮre col ected knowlcdge of local rr-rat-

ters fiom state alchives and scholarly literature andby ir.rtelviewing local villagers, but also shared thiskrrowledge wit r the village commurrity, gaining thestattrs of oca heritage specialist per se.

Two opposite trends in the practices of arrangingthe display appeared. On the one hand, there waslestolation of ocal history and heritage throtrgh ar.-

tefacts, documents and photographs; these were ac_cumulated and displayed in order to create a va iddepiction ofthe past, to support and recreate Votianidentity among villagers. On the other hand, clue tothe creative nature ofthe performative process, newinterpretations were put forward that re-scriptedvarious cultural phenomena from the vernacularpet'spective and alticulated new "cu turai nryths,,,which placed Votians at the centre of the universe,and contested cosmopolitan views of centre ancl pe-r'iphery (cf. Ttran 1974:239; Grad n 2003). For ex-ample, Tatiana linked the term for public assemblyin medieva Novgorod, the Veche (Russian aeve),with the Votian word vĮici - 'people'. She also inter_preted, with the help of Votian words, many localplace narnes and thus presented various folk etymo-logicaĮ explarrations (see Efimova 2006, 2009' FM2003).

The museum attracted both inhabitants of Lu-zhicy and visitors (rnostly reiatives who came tothe cotrrrtrysicĮe dtrring the summer vacation), aswell as groups of schoolchildren and tourists whosesight-seeing routes passed through the region. How-evel, the scarcity of museum space set a Įimit on thenumber of visitors who cou d enjoy the ciisplay atany one time.

The Community Museum asą Contested Site of ActionThe museum as a syrnbolically rich cultural spaceand memory site may become a stage for contest-ing comrnon views, and sometimes even a battle-field of identity, as wel1 as loca politics, especially inunstab e socio-cuįtura situations. The story of the

Luz-Įricy tllįįsCLįį11 is a charactelistic cxatlrple Ofstrqhdevelopnretrts, arlcl įt cr'r mirrated irr two (įIalĪ1ąticeverrts tlrat clestroyed lot o lly thc nrttsetttn bLriįcĮirrnbut also the Efimov householcl. There was a fi.c i,ltheir house in September 2001 that resulted ir.r 1 .desttr-lction of the who e building, including all 61the mtrsetrm holdings (around 70 etlrnographic o _jects, 200 photos and cloctlments). The carrses of t gfire were not identified, btrt loca villager.s aSSociatedthe casua ties with vengeance agairrst the Efimovs,appeals to officials concerning the illegal logging go-ing on in the forest. The Efimovs' activities in thefield of the Votian revival and their fight for tlręrights oflocal inhabitants were evidently opposed bythose people who were interested in developing anclearning from the plunder econonry due to the ack ofcontr'o and changirrg political situation in the Rtrs_sian Federation.

However', after the hr.e, villagers continued to clo_

nate new objects to the rnnseum, and even two years ater our lesearch teatn found a llew temporary ex_

hibition set up on the veranda of the Efimovs, newhouse. In these years, Tatiana and Sergey Efimov at_

tracted a group of activists from St. petersburg anclother nearby nrban centres, who btought along newideas to advance the Votian reviva . For exanrple,classes on native langįĮage and local history wereinitiated in the ocal Basic School of Krakolye, thefirst Internet homepage dedicated to Votian mat-ters (see http://vadjamaa.nar.od.ru) was opened andbrand-new Votian ethnic sytrbols (a flag, a coat ofarms and an anthem) were invented. Activities a soirrclucįed the publicatiorr of a bilingr'ra co Įectiorr ofVotian folk tales, which gave rise to a discussion onVotian orthoglaphy ar.rd the possibilities ofcreatingla literary language. While at that time "Votian af-fairs" were predomirrarrtly based on individtra inįtiatives, it was logicaĮ that a phase of institr'rtiona i-satiorr fo owed. In April 2005, tlre Society of Votian .

Ctl ture was estab ished, and sirrce then it has beenthe core institution ofthe Votian revival. In order toshare information and present its icleas, the societystarted to prrblish the sma -sca e Votian newspaper,which is free and distributed to all villagers. .

In ocįober 2005, a haĮf of an old_stvle Votian

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

rcasįl)t ll()įlsc wits tlollaįctl to thc Socicty of Vrrtiltr

Cu įtrr'c by Lhc Filipov antĮ Kttztrclsov l'aInilics. arrd

įt '{as r'enovated with tlre help of tĮre village colnmį -l ity arrd volįlt]teer enthttsiasts. The followir-rg year a

, ew exhibition, displaying the interior of a Votian

house at the beginning of the twentieth century, was

opened. While visiting the mnseum ir.r May 2006, we

lrea ised that tl-re new museį Ī Space was much big-

ger; the living room of the old-type Votian peasant

. house was ftrrnished with o d household equipment,

including a large oven, a bed covered with home-ade textiles, fully functional looms, a spinning

rwheel, a long table and benches. There were several

she ves for' displaying ethnographic artefacts, whichwele olganised according to the materia s the toolswere made of (wood, clay or metal). In addition, an

o d-fashioned woman's fo k costume was exhibited.,The Įog walls of the living room were covered withtextiles and panels with photographs clepicting out-štarrding villagers and recent activities OfVotian ac_

tivists.The expanded museum space made it possible to

carry out a variety of activities initiated by the So-ciety of Votian Culture. The new building was usedenthusiastically as a commį nity centre; it servedas the venįįe fol classes of native language and lo-cal history, and workshops of traditiona lrandicraftand ctrisine, under the gtridance of elderly vilĮag-ers. Įn 2006, the museum was the scene of the an-nual village feast and the ceĮebration of the Day ofIndigenous Peoples of the region. This new spaceprovided an oppor'tį llity to experience nineteenth-čentury peasant life through old househo d irrteri-ors and artefacts. As seen in the photos taken by theEfimovs, these opportunities were taken advantageofbyVotian activistS, as wel as members of the chi -dren's fo k ore group, who dressed in folk costumesand participated in workshops dedicated to learningthe Votian language and o d crafts (see ill. i). ThemįlseĮtm space promoted more intense involvementin o d-tirne everyday practices, such as baking pies,weaving with looms, singing folk songs etc. It con-centrated the activities of the viliagers and theirguests, who par-ticipated in common get-togethersand experienced the physical c oseness oftheir com-

Ill. l: Workshop of baking traditiona pies in the VotiarrMuseum. (Photo: S. Lotov,2005)

lii:

panions in the ir-rtimate atmosphere of the feasts.Due to its successful activities, the new mįlseum

receivecį a great deal of attention irr loca ne vsPa-pers and on local TV channels. All tlris n-rarkecį theachievements of the levival movement before themuseįlm was btlrnt down again in September 2006.This time, some of the ex -ribits were saved thanks tothe rapid action ofthe villagers. The cause ofthis firea so remains unclear.

It is c ear that the repeated destruction of themuseum has caused a considerab e reaction in theVotian revival movement. The icįea of fotrrrding a

thild museum has been laised, despite the fact thatthe Efimovs have r..efused to accept new artefactsdonated by the villagers. New exhibits have beenpartially photographed ancį a virtual musetrm hasbeen set up on the homepage of Votian activists (see

w\i/r^/.vatland.ru). However, the destruction of themuseum house did not diminish the enthusiasm ofthe initiators ofthe Votian identity dispĮay; qįįite thecontIaĪy. Tlre process ofestablishing and constantly

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

re-establįshil1g tlrc Ltrzhicy mį seul'l1 reflects t -re

performativity of the enterprise - it is not just thebuilding ancį material objects that can be relatecį tothe museum but also the people and the activities ofcreating the exhibition of Votianness.

Considering the above-mentioned events, thequestion arises of whether the museum space is anappropriate mode for storing Votians' memories andmediating their identity.

The Village Feast as a Performanceof Ethnic RevivalThe Luzhicy museum as a cu tura sPace integratesprivate and public representations, individua andcol ective depictions ofVotian heritage. once a year,the museum and museum yard are used as a ,.stage,,

for hosting the village feastLuzhickaia skĮachiną.In pre-industria rura societies of northwest

Russia, viliage feasts ̂ /ere expressions of co ectiveactivity that included certain religious, socia andeconomic functions. This phenomenon of collec_tively celebrating certain days of the church ca en-dar, which included a reiigious ritual, a commonmeal, singing and dancing in the course ofthree orfour days, was a part of the common Russian Ortho-dox tradition shared by several ethnic groups in thesecond ha fofthe nineteenth century and the begin-ning of the twentieth.s The religious ritual, consist_ing of a procession and a service in the local chapel,once an important part of the event, has been aban-doned and the ceĮebration of the ethnic communityis now the focus ofthe feast. The village feast, oncea tacitly religious testimony that enforced the sacra ties of the community, has now become a conscious-ly re-estabiished event by a group ofVotian activists,the "stage directors" of the Votian ethnic identity,and has become a public dispiay for self-reflection.

From the performative perspective, ethnic tradi-tions have always been constantly re-invented bydifferent agencies involved in the process and pre-sented for an aucįience (either for the gloup itse for for outsi<įers) (Bendix 1989). Beverly . Stoeltjestates that all festivals display certain characteristicfeatures, being "calendarically regulated interva s,public in nature, participatory in ethos, complex

itr stlltctttre, arrd n-rr"rltiple it-t voice, sCene, an(į pįįI.pose." The varied opportr-rtrįties for. participatioand, at the same time, integratiolt of the wĮrole gt6 obecause of a common purpose is what makes thįkind ofevent so captivating for participants (Stoeltje1.992:266). Thereby, festive events become perforrn-ances ofa group's ethnic identity that involve diver5ępolitical interests and various artictrlations of 1 .past realised in communa ly shared involvemen1 both real and imaginary cu tura space (cf. Gradē2003; Hoe scher 1998; Mathisen 2009). Thoug public displays of ethnic identity ure ul*ay. mor.or ess collective creations, they may be initiated bypaIticu ar individuals serving as "directors,, of theseevents.

The loca village feast in Luzhicy, Luzhickaią sklą-china, was re-established in 2000 to ce ebrate the500th anniversary ofthe village.e Since then, TatianaEfimova, the hostess of the Votian Museum, ą5been the main organiser of this community festivaĮce ebrated each year, usually on the third weekend of u1y.'0 The venue of the village feast has varied, butfor several years it has taken place on museum prop-erty. The main participants in the feast are local vil_lagers, their fami ies and re atives Who come to visittheir home village for this very event. Therefore, thefeast a so functions as a Space for family reunions,in which Votian ethnic identity is celebrated by cre-ating the feeling of tempoĪaly communitas (Ttlrner1969). In addition, the village feast has attracted theattention ofVotian activists from St. petersburg, re-searchers and students oflinguistics, ethnology, andfo klore, journalists and representatives of1ocal andfedelal govemrnents. However, folklore experts playa minor ro e here in comparison with large-scalepubiic folk-life festiva s _ the village feast in Luzhicyis a co aboratively created event encouragillg par-ticipation (cf. Bauman & Sawin 1990: 2BB-314).Tatiana Efimova, along with other cultural activists,has created the gelreral directoriaĮ concept for thewhoie event by structuring it, and by doing so hasprovided value and legitimacy to certain elements ofVotian heritage.

The number of festival participants has variedtoo, over 200 in the first year but stabilising in re-

6B EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

,.'i,aant y.n.. at al'į įįvcrage of 100. f'he dot-nitrant secu-

',.iu1. orp..t of tlre village feast arrc t re irrvolvemetlt

, l ethnic revival has, on the other hand, evidently

..g1c įrded some nrembers of the village community.

.,por example, in 2003 one of the native inhabitants,

.,r1ndy in her eighties, for whom the religious aspect

.,,of the feast day was more important, refused to par-:ticipate in the ce ebration and, irrstead, that week-

l1.. į she attended the liturgy in t re nearest ortho-

'dox church (ERA, DV 792)' Some villagers of Votian

.'d.r..rt might have missed the commĮ nity festiva

,.:du. to the opposition of their non-Votian familyl.rembers, who perhaps,fe t embarrassed in an un-

, fami]riar ethnic society (ERA, DV 795). The village

feast was also consciousiy rejected by those villagers,

mostly datshniki (summer-cottage ownels) of varį. ous ethnic backgrounds, who had moved to Luzhicy

, cluring the post-war period and were not connected

'with age-old family networks, thus lacking the mo-

,, tivation to communicate with other villagers (FM

2004). Therefore, the feast has been oriented to-. lvards a certain segment of the viliage population:

: native inhabitants and theil closer family members,I as well as Votian activists. These people appreciate

the organisers' endeavoįlrs arrd they have giveĪl Posi-tive feedback - for them the festival has increased

the irr-group coherence of the vilĮage commttnity(ERA, DV 154). The village feast can be character-

. įsed as a heterogeneous cu tural space wlrere differ-ent "voices" preserve their varied intentions.

tween the pelforrners ancl the auclicnce can be noted;tlre festive part that comes zrfter įs tnore irrrproviseclar-rd invo ves alĮ the participants. T'lrtrs, two distįr-rctperformances meet įn the viĮlage feast: the opcn_ing ceremony, which corresponds to a stagecl folk-loric programme in the forrn of a gala cor-rsisting ofcarefully selected heritage e ements, and the nrorespontaneous ce ebration that fo ows, involving irn_

provisatory self-expression, commensality, dances,

games, etc. Although, in the course of ten years, thevillage feast has had a stab e Structure, the foĮlowing

analysis is based on participant observation of the

performances in 2003 and 2004, supplemer.rted bylater photos and descriptions.

The opening Ceremony of the VilĮageF east: Staging VotiannessThe most explicitly staged and rehearsed parį ol the

event is a gala that inc udes speeches, arlanged po_

ems, musical pieces and other performances. Theseparts of the programme were, in 2003 and 2004, in-tr'oduced by the main organise ' of the feast, Tatiana

Efimova, who, through her commentaries and shortpresentations, framed the who e official part of the

feast. The opening ceremony usually reveals some

significant social roles in the community and con-firnrs dominant cotnmunity values (Stoeltje 1992:

264). Yet, the way the ceremony is staged reveals

the organisers' valnes and principles regarding lvhatshould be brought to the stage as representative ofthe commtlnity's heritage. A considerab e alnountof attention has been paid to the opening ceremony

through various acts of commemoration, includ-ing the presentation of elderly villagers and certainevents in the history ofthe village. Ln2003, the idea

of "commemorating all past members of the village

community" was manifest d in the ritual placing ofcand es in front of a wooden cross erected tempo-

rarily on the site of the formel village chapel. Thisperformance of remembering was introduced by

reading the Orthodox Church court protocol frotn

the 1730s, which accused the villagers of Luz}ricy

of carrying out vernacįį ar cultic practices, not ap-

Pl'oved by Church officia s, irr the chapel. The per_

formance of remembering peaked with the reading

::t:.,:;:!

::):.:].]].]

:.ri,,:

l,i.,l.tt:r,,:.

:::.,r,:

1l:ii.

;,,

.:: Luzhickaia sklachina, as a contelnporary secular

,,r, village festival, has the following basic elements: (l),,;,',- an openil'g ce emony; (2) a cornmunal meal (food

'tr,::,; and drinks); and (3) carnivalesque activities (games,

,l:, sports, dancing and a visit by disguised Chudi) (cf.

',,r:, Stoeltje 1992: 2; Turner & McArthur 1990: B5).

.:.ll: yet, the overa l stluctĮ re of the event is open and,r,,,, on. might also note the preparatory and aftermath,.,..r,,, phases of this process. The event is pre-planned ar-rd

:,. certair-r elements of it are rehearsed by the organis-i]::,::

,,:,:, ers and key performers. Likewise, there is no forma l::,i'. conclusion and the feast disperses in space, continu-:'. ing in p.irrute celebrations in people's homes. The be-t. ginni,.rg, the official programme, is carefully staged'rl. by organisers and, therefore, a clear distinction be-

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

:-]',r

t,

tjl!a;.;

of tlre Lorcį praycr, trarlslatecl irrto Votian lbr tlresa <e oftlrc festival by otie oftlre elclerly villager.s.

Sirrce 2003, tlie con-rpulsol.y clemcnt of the ce -ebtatiorr has been the hoistirrg of the Votian flag, which was presented publicly for the first time clur_ing the village feast. n addition, the Votiarr coat ofarms and anthem (an arrangement of a folk song)were introdnced to the participants of the feast, es_tablishing the legitimacy of the village corrmunity.For the sake of the festival, a distinctive cuįturalspace with its own tu es and aesthetics was created,where participalrts could sense ancį petform ,,gentt_

ine" Votianness. Ethnic identity was maniiestedvividly in the fo k dresses of the performers, whichstlesses the role of materia objects in the processof establishing cultura heritage. These enaįmentsof hybrid performance have historical roots (peas-ant life ofthe nineteenth century), but also .on,ni,modern e ements.

The ambiva ent natu .e of conternporary Votiarr_ness was vividly represented in the performances ofthe oca fo k ore gĪoup at the opening ceremony.Schoolchi dren, most of whom had neither an in-digenotrs cu tural backgrouncl nor klrowledge of thenative langtrage, performed Votian fo k songĮ for theaudience, among whom only a small minority couldunderstatrd the iyrics. 2 In2004,Votian heritage waste-introdttced irr staged perfo .mances of fo k cįānces,a-s we as in the fi.agments of the weclcling ritual ofthe nineteenth-centįlry peasant,s life cyclĮ. Besidesthe songs, Votianness was stressed in these perfor.m-ances through dialogues in the native language, anclmar'ked with fo k costumes that were recįlrsįuctedaccording to the descriptions of eighteenth-centuryscho ars (FM 2004). Here the terrclency to exploretrrore archaic forrns of traditior-ra cultule is mani-fested in order to c .eate a feeling ofarrthenticity. Thesa ne co lcelns the clothing of Tatiana Efimova, whodurirrg the 2006 village feast was dr.essecį in a fo kcostįlme from the beginning of the twentieth cen-ttlry, but since 2007 slre has worrr a stylised ancį moreo.:1"i: costume designed according to archaeologi_cal findings.

These representations of past cultural traditionsin a new context reflect, however, only one possible

way of per.{ilrnring Votiarlrress. Whi e artalysing tĮręlreld lnaterials, wc also for-rtrcį an alterrrative wiy 11,wl-rich tlre Votiarr identity was ce ebratecl in the įr.o_gralnĪne of t re festive gala. T'l-rese were variotls įgr_fot'mances, for example rhythrnic 8ymnastics, ;o osilrging, etc., that were inc ucįecį irr the prograrnr gbecause of the fact that tl-rey *... p"rfo.,rr.ā uy tr,.commtrnity members or their chi dren. Accor.dingto this approach, everything that was presented bythe ocal inhabitants, tl-rat is, people of Votian de-scent, rePĪesented Votianness

The opening cer.emony of the village feast can be .

interpreted as a conscious act of ternembering and .

commemoration that is oriented to attra and visuaį .

perception. only certain e ements of traditiona ctrl-tu 'e aĪe selected and presented by the ..stage

cįirec_ ,:

tors" as Votian heritage.

The Loca CtLisine ąnd the Commlmal Mecil ]

AnotheraspectofVotianidentitythathasbeenmarrifested and celebrated viviclly during the vi age ..feast is the ocal cuisine. Comparecl to tt'. op"niig _,ceremony' the communa meal is clearly u l.ss stageā .,part of the evenr. According to Beverly Stoeltje, ihe l

food eaten dur.ing the feast ,,embodies the iclentity :

of the group and represents the par.ticulo. o..o- ,,sion"; the food as it is perforn-red (preparecl, ...u.,1 1.,

and chosen) colnmunicates a traclition of the corn_ ...1

murrity (Stoeltje )'992:265).,,Throtrgh 1hę 6h91gg 96 ,,,,

food and drink and the way they are servecl, people l

ar'e borrded into groups throtrgh commensa į.t*i- ,r..ty" (Stoeltje & Bautnan 19B8: 594). In this ritua -like ,..,l,,

event, which carries both traditiona ancl rrroclern .i,meanings,atemporarycommttnitas,thefeelingofan "extended family,,, is createcl.

, al

In the fir.st revived viilage feasts, the presentation ,,,---,

of local "forgotten" delicacies was initiated by the ',-.14

organisers of the feast, and this was carr.ied out in ':,.:

the form of contests: trac itional food (mostiy pies :..rl

with different shapes arrd fillings) *o, p..puĮj by :

the o der fema e members of the cornmrrlity; th.s. ,.were judged by a jur.y and finally shared with all par_ ,...

ticipants in the feast. This <ind ofactivltynetpejthe ,liVotian activists explore and revive oca fooā truai- .,.,tions, bring them forth from the memories of elderly ',,

,,tllirj.li,

ji::rlii:ii:. ]

ja']j īoEĪHNoLoG A EURoPAEA 40:2

ll

peoplc arrd' iIr tIlis way, įLtt'tt cct'įaitt nritrtil'csįlttitlIrs

of for,',',.I. tr'atįiriorlal ctrisittc i ttįo cc cbratct crr į trraI

heritage'. Becattse tlre getrre of contest was not successftt

in the context of village feasts (as the food was not

c istributed evenly), this idea was later sonrewhat

transformed. As the prograrnrne of the annual feast

has, from the ver'y beginning, inc uded a cotnmuna

rreal, where palticipants share their home-made

dishes ar-rd drirrks, the presentation of traditiona

cuisine has become a compulsory pat t of the festive

menu. We can also examine this issue from another

perspective: a tradition was re-invented to prepare

certain dishes for the sake of the village feast, and

this has giver-r them a new function ancĮ thus helped

lhe recipcs oi past deĮicacies įo survive.

our reldwork team also witnessed a de iberate in-

vention ofheritage in the sphere ofcuisine: in2004,a herba tea made of the ferrnented Įeaves of Rosebay

Willowher'b ( piĮobittm angustifoliunt) was pIesent-

ecl during the viliage feast as a local drink that had

once gairred irrternationa fatne for the Votian peop1e

(cf. Nikolaeva 2005). This interpletation was based

on a Velnacular Rįlssian desiglration of the drir]krconopctcu , atį, "tea of Koporye", which lin <ed the

origir.r of the tea with the medieval centre of the Vo-tian land, Koporye.

According to Barbara I(ir'shenb att-Girnblett,"feasts are prominent in rites of incorporation,where corlmensality, the act of eatirrg togetheĪ, is anarchetype of trnion'' (Kirshenblat Gimblett 2001:

23). The communal meal can be regarded as the

staį'ting point of the tlnofficial part of the Luzhicyvillage feast. When we attended, the meal \ir'as ar-ranged on long tables, where home-made dishesand drinhs were shared and served by the partici-pants themselves. Wlrile įįp to that point perform-ers and audience were sepalated, durirrg the mea these borders disappeared and the activities wereno longer directed by the organisels but by the vil-lage community itself. People sat around the tablesgrouped into fami ies and kinship gĪoups. Howevet,there were no rigid hierarchies and peop e were wel-come to change their places, as the mea served asa venįle for active conrmunication. Peopie, some of

wl-ror-r-r dicĮ not t-neet facc to fatce lnorc crftctr t ratl <lncc

a ycar, had tlte opportunity to share news, to recallpast events or to just have a goocl time in the corn-pany oftheir relatives and neighbours. It was evidentthat, through the communal r-r-real, kinsl-rip ties were

continuously strer-rgthened and the same was tlue ofthe local village identity.

The meal ir-rc uded short greetings and toasts, as

we l as commur-ral sirrging. However, these were nolonger old Votian songs, performed within the gala

by the folklore groį p, btrt poptrlar Russian songs,

learned from and distributed by popular movies,radio programmes, and other mass mecĮia. The veryact of sirrgirrg together, the pleasure of co ectiveperfotmance, united Vi lagers, relieved tensions andclearly created a feeling of cohesion. 'I'hese perform-ances also reflected contemporaryVotianness, whichis not defined so much through the native languageas through shared past and common activities.

Music and dancing are important factors in gen-

eĪ'ating the shared experience and ce ebration so crtt-cia to the success of the festival (Turner' & McArthur1990: 85). However, in 2003 we witnessed, in thisrespect, contested approaches, as more educated"guardians of authenticity" (cf. Annist 2009: 1.32)

from St. Petersburg intervened to contlol the rep-ertoire of common singing, to avoid popular musicand choose tr aditional songs, as well as to oppose thedisco dancir.rg favoured by villagers and their guests.

CarnivaĮesque E ements of the ViĮĮage FeastThe fina part of the feast is minima1ly staged andmuch more spontaneous and irnprovisatory as a per-formance. As Michai Bakhtin (1984: 196_277) hasargued, popular festive forms in cultut'e, especiallycarnivalesque events, invo ve all the participantsand are often a humorolts and playful lĪix of the

high arrd ow, the sacred and the pr'ofane. In 2003

and 2004, the feast reached its culmination witha variety of games and contests between the par-

ticipants, dancing and visits by disguised "guests",

cal ed the Chudi, who appeared suddenly to tlre

participants of the feast.'3 These were mostly elderly

villagers, accompanied by their grandchildr..en, who

had disguised themse ves and brought in carniva_

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

Įesque elemerrts tlrat firrally broke dowrr al borcįersand conventions, freeing the participants in theirbodily expressions through joy ar.rd merriment. f'helnįlmmels entered the "stage" of the feast singing aRussian song, and then joined the dancers and askedthe participants to dance with them, repeating theirprovocative movements and gestures. The Chudialso made attempts to get those people who were sit-ting at the tables into the dance area, thus causingovera l disorder and joy. After public ,,presentation,,

of their masks and costumes, some of the mummers,playing certain roles, asked the participants ques_tions. For example, in 2003 one of the elderly womenwas disguised as a soldier and as <ed the guests toshow their certificates that allowed them to be in theborder zone (ERA, DV 798).

The institution of visiting mummer.s is based ona nineteenth-century peasant tradition, a custom

related to miclwinter feasts of the folk calendar, 1a,s,1-

dirrgs arrd othet' commutral get_togethers (cf. Ą 151u

1969: 142_1Ą8). Įn the collįemporary viIlage feast"this phcnornenon was not resįored deliberatety įlthe "direcįors'', but it re_emerged spontaneouslvas an inįtiative of oldcr community members, th beirrg an autonomoĮ s vernacu ar creativity uniti gvarious aspects of bodily expression. The selectioiof disguises also echoed, on the one hand, topicalproblems of the viĮlage community (lor exampĮe, 1ę_strictions in the border zone, and the constructioof the port; see a so ill. 2); on the other hand, themasks of mummers reflected villagers' spontaneousinspitation, as these represented a variety offolklor_ic and fictional characters (for example, Baba yaga,

the Booted Cat and the Gypsy Woman).Carnivalesque elements may articulate aiternative

modes of self-expression and they often integrate

::;1'.

::lt::.

,::a:

:t,'tl't:i,i t .

:.illr:..::.::.4

į:li:

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

t l. 2: Chudi disguised as a soldier, a bric1e ancį a sailor. (Photo: Ser-gey Efimov,2007)

different groups withirl thc cotnmttnity through

įrnusįng gameS, conteSts etc. il'hrouglr latrgl-rter,

tensio ls and even traumas of everyday life rnay be

collectively derided and overcome. Individual and

social identities become transformed; as in the case

of the Chudi, at the tirne of our visits, villagers wore

gloįcsqįle costumes and masks while performing

ih. ,o ., oi imaginar'y characters. The costumed

Derformer was more than just a parĮicular person;

h. o. h. became a "bearer'' of symbolic messages

(from the past) (cf. Stoeltje 1992:270). Dance and

rnusic, ikewise supportin8 carnivalesque solidarity,

engaged all the participants in the same action, cre-

ąting emotiona1ly enhanced memorable moments.

Thus, the integration of various participants, mem-

bers of the village conrmunity and cultura activists

into one commL nitas was realised by carnivalesque

iaughter, play and games.

ConclusionThe Votian Museum and the Lttzhicy village feast

are "heritage practices" (Hafstein 2009: 11) in which

the cu tural identity of an ethnic group is publicly

perfolmed ancĮ negotiated through the creation of

a symbolic space. These acts of commemoration

make it possible to establish and revitalise the co -

lective myths and images of the past, reflect upon the

present condition of the community, and ensure the

SįĮstainability of an endangered minority group.

The reviva of the Votiarr ethnic identity irr the last

decade has been initiated by particular individuals,. cultura activists, who have takerr the role of guard-

ians and "stage-directors" of contempoĪafy Votian-ness. Both in the case of the Votian Museurt and the

Luzhicy village feast, certain elements of the ethnicpast are consciousiy selected, combined with poPu-Iar cu tural practices, and publicly displayed by the

activists. However, staged performances also includespontaneous enactments t ]at plodįĮce hybridity,blending traditions of different origins and therebymaintaining the vitality of heritage practices, as wellas the identity of the group. These performancesprovide opportunities for active participation andfacilitate in-group cohesion.

Our research proved that a museum, traditionally

corrsidered to be a static archįve ofctrlttrral her.itage,

rnay also be seen as a process of perforr-native acts.

Furthermore, this archive is not eternal and can be

a challerrged space of resistance. Thus, a museįįmis not only a set of rooms with artefacts br"rt also a

conglomerate of ideas that are reified in exposition,as well as being articulated in various practices and

performances attached to it. The Votian Museum,

as a "minority museum", exhibits the local historyfrom a subjectively perceived aĮternative perspective

that contests the story of the "majority museum" inthe regional administrative centre and brings forth

the excluded experiences of Votianness.

The Votian Museum has been the main setting for

staging the most vibrant manifestation of the Vo-

tian ethnic reviva . Although the re-inverrtecį feast

is based on the traditions of Russian Orthodoxy,religious e ements have been discarded in the con-

text of the contemporary festival, which provides

an embodied multisensory expetience of helitageand a tempofaly fee ing of communitas. While ana-

lysing the Lrlzhickaia sklachina, we outlined three

basic components that had been staged to differentciegrees, starting with the most arranged part, the

opening cerelĪony, arrd concluding with the most

spontaneoįįs Part, the calnivalesqĮ e reve . It seems

that the e ements of the atter, especially mummeIs,joint singing aud dances (not necessarily folkloric),afe the most vita aspects, as these encoįlra8e paf_

ticipation of ali atter.rdants and, at the same time,

they are the most sustainab e, as they can be adapted

to changing cultural conditions. The commensalityof the festive tnea supported this clairn: colĪ].mĮ -

nal sharing of food and drinks proved to be more

important tharr including tracįitional recipes in the

menu. The Luzhicy village feast as a performance

of cu ture (cf. Schechner 2002:38) produces ethnic

identity arrd conso idates the village conrmunity; it

al ows fot'communication with the imagined etlrr-ric

past and, at the sarne time' educates younger Partici-pants. Furthertrrore, the village feast c 'eates a space

for the increased and intensified experience ofethnicidentity through the co lective commemoration of

the past. It gives rise to festive joy and a celebration

of shared moments for families and kinship groups'

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

Wc c ainr t rat, irr tlre corrtetnporar.y socio_politicalsituatįorr, tlre Luzlricy village feast, througlr įts nrate-rial objects ancl sensory involvement, has provecl tobe a rnore ploductive and sustainable mode of cre-atirrg ancl sįlppoįting ethrric ider-rtity tharl the tnoretransient exposition of the Votian Musenrn.

In conclusion, an ethnic cultural space can be cre_ated in either tnore stab e places, such as a mĮįseum,ol in temporal, performative spaces, such as the vil_lage feast. Yet, both cases indicate that the cultur.alspace is activeĮy produced by partictrlar indiviclualagencies, who, in their embodied actions and expe_riences, constantįy rregotiate the present and the fu-ture of ethnic survival.

Notes* This lesearch project was supportecl by the European

Union through the European Regional DevelopmentFund (Centre of Excellence CECT), the Estonian Sci_errce Foundation grant no. 7795, and target_financeclprojects SF0180157s08 and SFO180139s08. The arti_cle is mainly based on field naterials documentecl irL]998_2006' including video recordirlgs and fielcį notesmade at the Luzhicy village feasts in 2003*2004. E._H.Västrik provided errrpirical tnaterial, while E. V sucontl'ibuted to the theoretica and methoclologicalframework for. the study. We ackr.rowledge the assist_ance of Tatiana Efimova wlio helpecl us during the fielcltrips, allowed įrs to įįse her photo archive ar-rcl provideclus witĮr additiolral infornration on local matters.

1 AlĮ the activists were interested in ..Votian affairs,,, br-rtonly few ofthem possessed active knowleclge ofthe Vo_tiar.r language.

2 We use the term "village feast,,to mark a subcategoryof a festival, a co lective phenomenon tlrat createsįr-rdsįlpports in_gl.or'lp cohesion within the par-ticular com-munity. A more specific ter.m is preferred here in orcler.to stress the one-time religious and communal func_tion of the celebration (cf. Shevzov 2004). The terrnLttzhickąia sklachina, literally trar-rslated as,,chrbbirrgof Luzhicy" (crcla wna < crc"lą t'rcctmucrz .c trb to-getlrer; pool one's resotrrces'), refers to the conrmrtna -ity of the eveĪit. Activists aįso lrse the Votian parallelĪer m LL L tsan vakkov '3 Richard Schecl-rner's (2002: 22) basic cĮefirrition of per_forrnance as "restored,, behaviour. indicates not onlythe r'epetitiveness ofcultural practices, but also the waįidentities (whether personal or.collective) ard tradi_tions at'e enacted įtr muĮtiple acts that are uniqįle, yet

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

alrvays ctltltaitr sonle į.ci.ĪlllįĮ Īts of wĮrat was <Įorrc irr t pas į.

4 Fot exanrplc, Sovict scl-ro ars, as wcil as authoritics, d1,1not ntakc thc distinction betwceti vat.ious indigenoll"peoples of the regiorr and label ed t -rerrr al as lzhori_ans, anotlter Balto_ ;irrr-ric etlrr-ric gr.oup living in 1hqLeningr.ad oblast. That is the reason wl-ry Įocal Votia11viĮlagers started to iclerrtify thet-nse ves volur-rtariĮy asIzhorians atrd, dtte to lot-tg-term norr-recognition ,1assin-rilatiotr in recetrt decades, irlso as Rltssians. ,fą1ią

oEfimova stressed the importance of the.,enlighteni g,aspect of her activities in interviews recorded in l9;gand 2000. (All interviews with Tatiana Efimova citedbe ow were concįttcted in Russįan.)

5 Both scholarly books on Votian foįklore ancl LPs ancįCDs witlr music received from visiting reseaįchers asgifts had beerr put on dispĮay.

6 I'hese periocls mentioned by Tatiana Efimova in the in-terview included the Swedish rr-rle of the seventeenthcel1tį ry, the growth ofthe viĮlage at the errd oft re nine-teenth century and at the beginning of the twentįethcelltury, the Stalinist repressiotrs of the 93Os, tlre ca-lan-rities of the Seconci World War, and the ir.rsecurity ofthe post-war period (ERA, DV į57)'

7 The Swedish period is marked įn vernacular place_related įore by medieval burial molrrr<]s that are intet-preted as "Swedish cemeteries,, (Votiar-r št, eetaą ką noc ,Rnssiarr araedcn ue .troeun L), despite the fact that thesemoulrds cįate back to an earlier period. Memories ofseventeenth-century Swedish nrle are a part of thecomlnon knowledge of the natįve inhabitants of theregion.

8 On the phenomenon of local feast days iu popularEastern orthocloxy see, for exatrrpĮe, Shevzov 2004 anclVästri < 2008.

9 Luzhīcy was for the first tirrre mentioned in writtetrsources in tax lists of the year 1500, clocurnenting theirrhabitarrts of the Votian Fiftlr, a forn-rer acįrnįr-ristra-tive unit ofthe Novgorodian Republic.

10 This date generallycorresponds ro the DayofSts. peterarrd Paul ilr the orįhocįox cIrtrrclr ca encllrr, cclebrltec traditionally as or-re ofthe feast <lays by the Luzhicy viĮ-lage chapel įĮP to the 1960s (cf. Vįįstr.ik 2008: 106_ 07).

1 on the flag, designed by Votiarr activists irr 2002, thereis a recl cross on a w rite centreboard, wlrich is framedby two bĮue triangles.

2 Thel'e are only a few dozen people, eĮclerly men anrįwoĮ]]en, who lrave an active krrowledge of Votian.Nonet -reless, the rrative larlguage is arr important sym-bolic value for the Votian reviva movemerrt.

l3 Theword Chudi (uy al)denotes, inthe foįkloreofRus-sians and seyeral Finno-Ugric peoples, n-rythologicalothers. Īn Votian folklore, the Chtdi correspol d to theNordic mrrmnrirrg tradition (cf. GunneĮl 2007).

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EĪHNoloGlA EURoPAEA 40:2

A PERFORMATIVITY OF NORDIC SPACEĪhe Tension between Ritual and Sincerity Re-Embodied

:ll..' through Each Performance of Sweden's Allsäng pä Skansen

Chad Eric Bergman

Drawing on Riclrard Sclrec rtret''s ideas of perforlllance, modeĪn ritual theor'y (especiaĮly tlre lvor <

of Seligman, Weller, Puett and Sirnon), anci Butler'.s considerations of perfolmativity, this arti-clc considers that the perfornrativity of Nordic Space is Įocated in t rc tension bct'tveett ritual ilrrdsirrcerity. Usinu examples from the į50th te evisecl installment of AlĮsängp Sknnsen (a Swedishcomtrrunity sirrg-alolrg event) I e,Kamil]e lror.v repetition affbr'cįs trs the oppol'tLrnity to crea!e andIe-C 'eate a sense of wlrat Nordic cou d mean ill a variety of aretras. IĮepeating Nordic Space zrs a

bl.errcį clf lllelnol'y anc re-creation continually i'eestab ishes tlre refl'eshing tetrsiotr betweerr r'itrra and sinccrity.

Iky wortĮs: perfor'rnativity, ritua , sir-rcerity, sing_along, Swecįen

There will be more "in-between" peĪformativegenres. In-between is becoming the norm: be-tween iterature and recitation; between religionand entertainment; between ritual and theatre.Also, the in-between of cu trrres: events that can'teasily be said to oĪiginate in, or belong to, this orthat cultĮlle but that extend ilrto severa cu tures.(Schechner I9B5:322)

I wonder: What would a performativity of NordicSpace look Įike? Sound like? Fee like? Smel ike?Taste like? These questions begin a discussion of ac-tion ancl doing that is central to the project ofNordicSpaces. These are not passive places, pieces of realēState to be possessed, owned oI leflected in a stateof being. On the contrary, Nordic Space evokes anactive exchange of doing and calls forth a space re-located and re-imagined. To do this imaginative

thinking, I want to exP ole these concepts ofperfor_mativity and Nordic Space as an "in-between" genrethat might offer insight into events that "extendinto severa cu tures." I will then look at the NordicSpace of AlĮsäng Pa Skansen (a Swedish communitysing-along event) in particu ar through the ens andspeaker of sight and sound.

Richard Schechner, groundbreaking theatreand performance scholar', opened up the discur-sive vista, or a fan in his case, of what is possibĮeto examine under the rubric of performance andas a resu t created an intelconnected web of pos_

sibi ities for understanding the way we expeliencethe wor d. Undergirded by collaborations \^/ith andwĪitings of anthropologists Victor Turner, ErvingGoffman and C ifford Geertz, Schechner explainedthat the basic performance stl'ucture of gathering/performing/dispersing under ies _ and literally con-

EĪHNoLoGlA EURoPAEA 40:2