The article examines the novelty and tradition of the rare plot of modern Orthodox iconography «Bear each other's burdens» from the point of view of compliance with the national cultural «Carrying the cross» concept. The author believes that the theological significance of this plot is close to the stories «Carrying the cross to Calvary», «the Good shepherd», «the Parable of the merciful Samaritan». In the general Christian concept, the following axiological features are revealed: an ineradicable hope for the best, even in unbearable conditions and circumstances, long-suffering social injustice, and an understanding of the wretchedness of life as a good. These values have been formed in the sacred core of Russian culture for many centuries of Orthodoxy and are consistent with the commandments and moral norms common to all Christians. These same value traits are called by the thinkers of the XIX-XXI centuries as the main characteristics of the Russian national consciousness, which is essentially religious, since it is contradictory and consists of opposites.

The paper presents key stages of the international community’s awareness of the crisis between humanity and biosphere. This understanding became possible due to a number of the UN Conferences on the Environment designed to prevent destructive effects on the planet. The conferences took place during the second half of the twentieth century. The article also considers main provisions of the concept of Universal (Big) History, universal evolutionism, complex systems concept, co-evolution, and holism that might explain new development trends. The author emphasizes evaluation of creating social networks as passing a singularity point with a possible optimistic outcome. Moreover, the study examines some publications on synergetics of education, including schooling, which helped clarify new challenges in forming next generation of the young people. As a result, some “memory traces” were found in the social unconscious. Furthermore, search for fresh approaches to assess community development when the new sociological paradigm with a man in the centre of the scientific model of the world has not fully taken root in social studies is estimated. The work seeks to provide answers to the questions raised while considering novel concepts under current conditions. Several publications with synergistic content are evaluated as well. The paper does not claim to be complete and exhaustive while summarizing the stated issue.

This article deals about stable musical figures in Russian Glorifying music. They are in sustainable complex of musical means and have quasi-metaphorical way, are to be found in music of different composers. Russian glorifying music is a genre group encompassing a number of genres of vocalinstrumental compositions. Over three centuries of its existence certain musical means have been continuously present. The article discusses the following tropes in pre-Revolutionary music: «triumph», «jubilation», «exaltation», «fanfare», «proclamation». It also attempts to classify the musical devices found in Soviet music. A four-part trope classification is suggested: melodic, figurative, affective, and grammatical tropes.

The paper explores the works of English art presented in Siberian collections as there is an objective need to study Russian collectors’ interests towards English culture. The article examines a factor of influence of Decembrists’ scientific and educational activities on the development of cultural life in Siberian region. The author studies a collecting phenomenon and a bibliophile’s personality in Russia. The purpose of this study is to determine a general principle in forming collections, though some Siberian assemblages (G.V. Yudin, the Stroganovs, the Basnins’ collections) have been adequately investigated by experts in museums and libraries. English engravings and book illustrations took a significant place in those collections. Graphics and English literature assemblages as well as book illustrations are also analyzed with a view of identifying peculiarities of ideas about engraving collecting. The research is based on the theoretical ground for the history of engraving techniques and comparison of Siberian collections. The study revealed the unity in preference for collecting English literature works. However, the results of collecting graphic works and book illustrations differ in amount of units, quality, masters, and techniques.

The article summarizes information about the main ballet performances of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater for the period from 1978 to 2020. The development of the aesthetic program of a ballet performance in the designs of various artists is analyzed. A brief analysis of the scenography of several performances is given. It is made on the basis of visual materials from the funds of the theater, public sources and private archives of the heirs of the masters (including photographs of performances, sketches of scenery and costumes). Scientific articles about the history of the theater, reviews of performances in the press, interviews with artists, choreographers and ballet dancers are also taken into account. Conclusions are drawn about the changes in the approach to the design of the performance and the methods of work of artists in the theater under consideration over the last 20 years, as well as possible prospects for the development of the theater's scenography.