Conservation of cultural heritage in the modern period of Russian society’s development is one of the main tasks that the State has to have if it strives for increasing of its authority in international level. The processes of statehood consolidation and forming of new image of high and educated society cannot be torn from the revaluation of all cultural fond of one of the richest countries over the world. Conservation of cultural values and intensification state role in the light of glorious history of native land are basis of more difficult processes of spiritual education of rising generation and all society in total.

Many spiritual, historical and cultural values of Russian State were moved artificially aside by powerful informative stream of western cultures, propagandizing preference of hi-tech, in the period of destruction of social and political formation of the Russian society of 1980-90s. Admiration by the values of allogenic and new society came to replace of honouring and interest to own national history, culture and art. The values were allogenic because of geographic distance and other way of the formation of the American culture of the 20th century and special accents and methods to present out from a country. As a result, big stratum of information that helped integrally to apprehend essence and value own national cultural heritage in all its display – architecture, decorative and applied arts, cinematograph, theatre and others – was gradually excluded from the educational process of Russian system during 20 years.

Education reforms did not take into account important role of pedagogics in forming of the national values which express an intellectual development of generation and its knowledge of great representatives of own society, state role in the world, fortunes and development in the first level of awareness and understanding of significance of culture, pride for its riches and greatness in the second level.

The question of return in educational process maximal volume of information just about native culture and cultural values of multinational and multi-confessional society becomes very important in the stage of the gradual intensification of Russian role in international processes of political and economic stabilization and strengthening of its position in many varied questions of social development. Understanding to preserve national material and spiritual heritage has to take enough important place.

The process of reservation has connection with conception of “restoration”. The problems of the restoration of material values are discussed in various levels of power. But required volume of activity for present day makes to apply the term “conservation” more often not to allow subsequent destruction or full disappearance of majority objects in the various regions of Russia. St Petersburg is not exception from the list of Russian objects which require special financial aid and high-powered complex programme of the renewal and restoration of some objects with coefficient 80 percent of demolition, for example:

• the Fortress of Nyenschants,
• the Northern Forts of Kronstadt

However, state did not accent its attention on restoration of spiritual heritage – traditions, creative schools and directions, spiritual education – long time restoring fundamental objects of cultural heritage. The big stratum of Russian society that studied in comprehensive school, professional schools and universities at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, lost connection with state history and culture. The youth Russian generation ceased to learn, to show an interest and feel high feelings with respect to own culture because of absorption of the artificial-made values of foreign cultures. As a result, new wave of officers changed vector of management directing big financial streams in economic profitable projects and minimizing inputs to preserve, rehabilitate and restore material and spiritual cultural heritage. We have many examples such as transfer of the part of uninhabited fond to category of less valuable objects and its sale to big commercial and state organizations. Demolition of spiritual values of culture, substitution of information streams, national cultural values by big volume of general global information about cultural values of foreign countries in pedagogical process is the cause of such activity too. And if we do analysis of educational programmes of the leading economic countries of the world – the USA and the United Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Germany, Japan and South Korea, – the most volume of information about culture included in various educational courses of schools, colleges and universities, contain knowledge of own objects of cultural heritage and national traditions.

Thus, conservation and restoration of all the various types of cultural heritage that we can preserve and restore, must take priority part in modern period of Russian state development, political and economic formation in international market, big transformations in the spheres of culture and arts. The term “restoration” has to acquire new meaning meeting to modern understanding of culture that is “restoration/renewal of material and spiritual (non-material) cultural values: objects of national heritage of various degree of demolition, traditions and customs, spiritual peculiarities of every nation of the country”. And it is logical if the extended definition of restoration will be one of the main goals of pedagogical process in every educational level of the Russian Federation.

Alexander G. Buychik
Ph.D. Social Sciences
Associate Professor of St. Petersburg Institute of Arts and Restoration