Legislative acts as sources for Altai museums history study (19 - early 21 centuries)

An important place in the study of the history of Russian museumsoccupy the sources of legislative character. One of the first normative-legal acts concerning the preservation of cultural heritage inRussia is the Provision approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs in 1826. In the document it was the first time that the authoritiesforbade to destroy the monuments of history and ordered to organize collection of information about them. The need to establish theconnection of Museum Affairs and preservation of cultural values was designated in the regulations on the establishment of the ImperialArchaeological Commission approved in 1859 by Emperor Alexander II. The Imperial Archaeological Commission was considered tohave the right to produce excavations of ancient monuments and to take all possible measures to prevent the destruction of ancientmonuments, and transfer especially significant findings in the Imperial Hermitage Museum. The tradition the Russian Empire was latercontinued by the Soviet power. In 1918, in order to preserve, study and show the monuments of art and antiquities to broad masses ofthe people a decree of the government of the Russian Republic introduced a compulsory state registration of cultural property.Legislative sources of the first years of the Soviet period fixed the exclusive right of museum institutions to preserve the historicalculturalheritage. In the resolutions of the Soviet power of the 1920-1930s, the research component was strengthened in the work of theSoviet museums. After the Great Patriotic War the published legal documents contributed to the further development of the state systemof protection of monuments of history and active use of cultural values for the solution of educational tasks. Of special importance forthe development of the national museum were the normative-legal documents of the 1940-1950s: Regulation on the regional, territorial,and republican regional museum of 1948, Basic provisions on the construction of expositions of the regional, territorial, republican andlarge district regional museums of 1948, Basic provisions on the structure, acquisition, registration and transfer of funds of the museumsof the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Republic of 1955. In spite of the change of the political system in Russia in the 1990s, allpositive initiatives in the preservation of cultural heritage and development of museums continued. According to the 1992 law of Russiaon culture, every person has the right to learn cultural values and access the state museum funds of the country. In the 1996 law ofRussia on museums, museum institutions are defined as cultural institutions that perform the functions of collection, storage, study andpresentation of cultural values, as well as cultural educational work with the population. The legislative work on the preservation of thecultural heritage of Altai starts its history in the Soviet time. In 1920, a decree of the Altai Provincial Department of Education wasadopted directed on preservation, study and provision of broad access of the population to cultural values located in the territory of theAltai Province. One of the first regional legal acts on the preservation of cultural heritage of the Altai territory, founded in 1937, was theresolution of 1994, which guarantees the state protection of the land of historic significance with cultural objects and culturalinstitutions. The Articles of Altai Territory of 2002 guarantees the right of every Russian citizen to freely use the services of culturalinstitutions.

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