Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

60 Proceedings of the International Congress on Historiography and Source Studies of Asia and Africa.Vol. I. 2020 D. V. Vanyukova (State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, Russia) Collection of Tropical African Art in the State Museum of Oriental Art: History of the Formation Summary: The Tropical African art collection is one of the smallest among the collections of the State Museum of Oriental Art (SMOA), and according to the museum records it contains 1100 items. There are artefacts of traditional art and crafts from leading art centres, including a number of undoubtedly magnificent works, as well as modern art pieces from different parts of the African continent. The collection of theAfricanArt Department in the Museum started in 1926 (African items from the collection of S. I. Schukin), but it was only in 1979 when the Tropical African Art collection was given an independent status. Among the main features that marked the process of the collection development was the dependence of the collection replenishment on official transfers from other institutions, as well as donations and randompurchases. Due to the lack of expeditionary missions or systematic procurement practices, the collection ofAfrican art in the SMOA Fund is rather chaotic and the characteristics of the objects it contains are versatile, both in terms of their artistic and historical value, and in terms of accuracy and complete- ness of their attributes. In Soviet times the Museum was a kind of cultural mouthpiece of the State policy in the field of both inter-republican and international relations, in particular with the countries of the East and Africa. As a result, due to the specifics of Museum activities, the very composition of theAfrican collection and the peculiarities of its formation provide a surprisingly accurate cross-section of the history of cultural, political and economic interaction of the Soviet Union, followed by the Russian Fed- eration, with the countries of theAfrican continent. Thus, the history of theAfricanArt Fund is a kind of cultural phenomenon. Large contributions to the Fund are associated with diplomatic gifts. Also, the major source of replenishment of the collection are the objects transferred by the countries participated in African art exhibitions, which were regularly held at the State Museum of Oriental Art. In addition, the collection includes items donated by institutions (e. g., Department of African Studies of the Institute of Asian andAfrican Studies of MoscowState University) and individualAfricanists (e. g., L. D. Yablochkov’s collection). Close social and economic cooperation with African countries allowed many professionals to visit the continent, work and live there, so the objects often came as gifts or were purchased by the Museum.