Having a background in cultural studies, I have always been interested in history of cultural institutions and artistic communities in the Soviet Union and socialist states. In my PhD project, I am dealing with the history of the Soviet Art Industry, the specific brunch of production under which the objects of decorative and applied art were produced. Such objects include handmade and machine-produced goods as porcelain, lace, lacquer boxes, metal and wooden works, jewellery, and so on. I am particularly interested in the institutional history of the Art Industry, labor conditions in workshops, gender-specific crafts, and displaying Soviet handicrafts at the international exhibitions.
My research interests also include material culture under socialism, cultural and material diplomacy, critical and historical craft studies.
