Documentary Retrospective of the Formation of the Educational Process at the Kharkiv Higher School of Art (1921-1963).

The article presents a retrospec‑ tive review of the organization of the educational process of one of the oldest art institutions – Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts (KSADA) based on archival documents using chronological-systemic and problem-searching meth‑ ods. The main problems covered in the article include the analysis of historical and pedagogical issues regarding the development of the methodology of higher education in the field of art and design. The author notes that over the years, KSADA underwent numerous reorganizations, changed its name, direction of educational activities, educational con‑ cepts and methods. However, the general direction of this institution remained unchanged: to provide quality train‑ ing for design and art professionals. It is noted that from the early 20s of the twentieth century, the artist was entrusted with a great responsibility for both the propaganda of symbols and images of Soviet society and the decoration of the environment. The awareness of the role of the artist in the society, resulted in immediate realization of the fact that the artist had to be trained not only in the professional visual activities, but also as a pro‑ fessional able to work successfully in various fields of artis‑ tic and industrial activities. The development of higher artistic and industrial education in Kharkiv and the training of relevant professionals were influenced by various socio-political factors, cultural and social demands of the society. Due to the difficult political situation in the country, this training experienced certain difficulties; in different historical periods certain teaching methods were destroyed, and new forms of training were sought. For a long period of time, the national artistic and pedagogical value guidelines were purposefully subjected to oppression, the sphere of their influence was narrowed, which was not in favor of the development of Ukraine’s in‑ terests in the field of design. Against the background of these vague requirements and unclear criteria for a particular artistic phenomenon, ide‑ ological accusations were easily fabricated, which led to political persecution. Attention is drawn to the fact that higher artistic and industrial education went through a dif‑ ficult historical path, its value orientations changed every time according to the preferences of the new government, new minister of education or the ideological instructions of the party leadership. However, the vector for teaching and organizing the educational process was always focused on improving the professional training of specialists in accord‑ ance with the needs of industry