What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to explore the 'Draft Decree on Artistic Communes' and its implications for Soviet artistic policy from 1918 to 1921.

April 11, 2026Open Access

The Decree on Artistic Communes in the Context of the Policies of the Department of Fine Arts of the People's Commissariat for Education, 1918-1921

Puntos clave

The study aims to explore the 'Draft Decree on Artistic Communes' and its implications for Soviet artistic policy from 1918 to 1921.
Introduced unpublished archival documents into scholarly discussion.
Employed concrete historical analysis and text hermeneutics.
Conducted comparative analysis of the decree and related policies.
Contextualized the document within the frameworks of war communism and avant-garde artistic policies.
The decree represents a radical attempt to organize artists within communes to balance creativity and state needs.
The project provides insight into the evolution of artistic practices during the Civil War.
Examined reasons for the abandonment of the communes, linking to broader socio-political contexts.
Demonstrated continuity between the concepts of artistic communes and later ideas about artistic labor and productive art.

Resumen

The article analyzes the unpublished "Draft Decree on Artistic Communes" (1918), created by the Department of Fine Arts of the People's Commissariat for Education. By introducing this archival document into scholarly circulation for the first time, the author considers it a key testimony to the "left art" program during the Civil War period. The study focuses on the proposed model for organizing artists into communes, which combined ideas of "liberating creativity" with "serving the needs of the State." The project is analyzed in the context of the avant-garde's artistic policy and the general practice of war communism, revealing the radical horizons of transforming artistic life in post-revolutionary Russia. The context of the decree's creation and possible reasons for the abandonment of the "artistic communes" project is also examined. Furthermore, the article investigates the further development of the concept of "artistic communes" within the frameworks of "artistic labor" and "productive art." The article employs methods of concrete historical analysis, contextualization, and text hermeneutics, while also critiquing the source and conducting a comparative analysis of the text. The scientific novelty of the article lies in its introduction of a previously unexplored archival source, which is of great importance for understanding the processes of establishing the Soviet artistic system in 1918–1921. The source is subjected to detailed investigation and commentary in the article. Aspects of the historical context and external influences on the emergence of the studied "Draft Decree on Artistic Communes" are considered. The further development of the trends outlined by the project is also investigated. Its deep connection to the concepts of "artistic labor" and "productive art" is demonstrated. Thus, these later and better-studied concepts appear as a logical continuation of the project in this context. The article conducts a comprehensive analysis of relevant documents and materials, as well as the conceptual content of the studied main document.

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