The third of a series of annual conferences
«Integrity of Cultural Space or Sum of Territories?
The Notion of Border in Historical and Contemporary Contexts»

November 2-5, 2006
Norilsk, Russia

Within a long-term research project
LOCAL HISTORIES:
Academic, Arts and Educational Approaches to Local Studies


The third of a series of annual conferences «Integrity of Cultural Space or Sum of Territories? The Notion of Border in Historical and Contemporary Contexts» will be held in Norilsk in November 2-5, 2006.
The conference is initiated and organized by Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation (Cultural Initiatives’ Charity Foundation) within a long-term research project «Local Histories: Academic, Arts and Educational Approaches to Local Studies».
The third conference will deal with the issues of dialectics of territorial integrity and coherence / incoherence of cultural space – issues that are so relevant for today’s Russia.
During the conference the following issues will be raised:
• Types of spaces (historic, economic, political, symbolic, cultural, social, demographic, geographical, legal, linguistic, etc.). How are they co-relate? How do we deal with the problem of multiplicity of spaces on one territory, and vice verse - integrity of cultural space on different territories?
• Principles of national / territorial design. Contemporary configurations of spaces and territories.
• Coherence / incoherence of space. What makes up for territorial integrity?
• «Center-periphery-border» relations. Border / frontier, cross-border.

The conference program is designed in such a way that it combines different approaches to these problems in research, arts and educational practices. Renowned researchers and practitioners from Russian and abroad are invited to take part in the conference.
The series of annual conferences is held within a large-scale programme of the Foundation aimed at revitalising cultural life in Norilsk. It has become an experimental ground for discussing relevant issues in close cooperation with the local community; it has truly developed into a public forum.
The first conference «Local History – Textbook or Novel?» (Norilsk, December 2004) researched the problems of studying, popularizing and teaching local history.
The second conference «Citizens of Our World or Prisoners of Our Borders?» (Norilsk, November 2005) was dedicated to the problems of contemporary identity.
For more information about the conference series, please, visit our web-site: http://www.prokhorovfund.ru/rus/conferences/

For further information, please apply to Conference Coordinator:
Luba Kuzovnikova; e-m: solokuzo@yandex.ru; tel: +7 926 284 6258