Аннотация:The history of visual anthropology in Russia is closely connected
with foundation the All-Union Commission for Folk Music of the
Union of Composers of the USSR in 1972 (also known as the Folk Music
Commission). The Commission brought together different specialists,
such as musicologists, folklorists, ethnographers, filmmakers, film critics
and many others. In the early 70t h the Commission organized workshops
and ethnographic film screenings. In 1977 the research group "Folklore
on the Screen" under the guidance of Elena Novik was established
and the First Festival and conference "Folklore on the Screen" was
organized. The workshops and festivals of the Commission got involved
the specialists not only from the USSR but guests from Europe, Canada,
Japan and the USA as well. The members of the Commission made
use of camera in their field work, exploring new visual methods within
research process. In 1987 the Folk Music Commission in collaboration
with the Commission on Visual Anthropology of the Estonian Union of
Cinematographers organized the First International Festival on Visual
Anthropology in Pernau (Estonia). The Commission was the center of the
Soviet visual studies till the end of existence of the Soviet Union. In 1992
the Commission was finally disbanded, but the tradition of ethnographic
film screenings and workshops was renewed in a short time. The First
International Workshop on Audio-Visual Anthropology took place
at Likhachev Russian Research Institute of the Cultural and
Natural Heritage in 1993 and became a regular meeting. Starting from
2009 the Workshop is organized jointly with the International Festival of
Audiovisual Anthropology "Days of Ethnographic Cinema". The article is
based on the unique archive documents and personal memories of Elena
Novik and Eugenia Andreeva.