On July 25-30, 2010, at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts the 53rd Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference was held.
The Meeting entitled Unknown Treasures of the Altaic World in libraries, archives and museums united scholars of various Altaistic disciplines such as Turkology, Mongolian studies, Manchu-Tungus studies, Japanese and Korean studies.
The 53rd Meeting was the third held in Russia, after Moscow 2005 and Kazan 2007. It was rather natural to choose the IOM RAS as the stage for the Meeting since its archives and mss collections contain invaluable documents on the history and culture of peoples belonging to the Altaistic world. It was also a sign of appraise of academic achievements of Russian and, particularly, St Petersburg scholars some of which such as V.I. Tsintsius, A.N. Kononov, N.A. Baskakov, A.M. Shcherbak, L.P. Potapov, S.G. Klyashtornyj, received the PIAC’s Gold Medal (Indiana University Prize for Altac studies).
The State Hermitage and the Fund of Oriental Cultures were co-organizers of the Meeting. The Russian Museum of Ethnography and the Consulate General for the Republic of Turkey in St Petersburg contributed much. The Russian Foundation for the Humanities supported the Meeting financially.
In the Meeting scholars from Bulgaria, China, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation (Kyzyl, Moscow, St Petersburg, Vladivostok, Ulan Ude), Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, the USA took part.
The plenary session was held at the Theatre of the State Hermitage, it was inaugurated by the President of the 53rd Meeting of the PIAC, Dr Tatiana A. Pang and the Secretary General of the PIAC, Prof Barbara Kellner-Heinkele. The Head of the State Hermitage, Dr Milhail B. Piotrovsky, the Consul General of Republic of Turkey in St Petersburg, Nemet Chinar, the Head of the Foundation of Eastern Cultures, Dr V.N. Blondin delivered their speeches. The IOM’s Head, Dr Irina F. Popova told the participants about the history of the Asiatic Museum / The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, the current situation with its mss and archival collections and the research work carried on at the Institute. The so-called Confession of each of the participants (more than 100 persons) who presented themselves and their academic achievements for the last year completed the plenary session.
The work was divided into 6 panels such as Beliefs, Religion; Historiography; Uighur, Runic Studies; Mongolian Studies; Linguistics; Collections, Archives, Archeology. English was the working language. There were 93 papers accepted, 69 delivered of which 49 by foreign participants, 20 by Russian ones. They were by both constant members of the PIAC such as Dr V.M.Alpatov, Dr E.V. Boikova, Dr T.A. Pang, Dr S.G. Klyashtornyj, Dr I.V. Kormushin, Dr B. Dugarov (Russia), Dr A. Sárkösi, Dr M. Dobrovits (Hungary), Dr G. Stary (Italy), Dr B. Kellner-Heinkele, Dr O. Korf, Dr E. Taube, Dr P. Zieme, Dr H. Walrawens, Dr K. Sagaster, Dr S. Raschmann (Germany), Dr J. Legrand (France), Dr E. Tryjarski (Poland), Dr M. Tatár (Norwas) and scholars who took part in the meetings of the PIAC for the first time.
On July 28, 2010, the participants of the Meeting visited the Russian Ethnographic Museum and observed the constant exhibition and the exhibitions on Central Asian Culture and Siberian Shamanism. They were also taken to the special storage room and shown jewelry artifacts from the relevant areas. On July 29, 2010, they visited the Department of Conservation and Preservation of the State Hermitage and had a chance to see the storage room where the collection of Turfan fresco paintings is kept. The excursion was organized by Dr N.G. Ptchelin, the State Hermitage. Moreover, the participants visited the Central Mosque of St Petersburg.
According to the decision of the special Committee taken at the Business meeting on the last working day, the 2010 PIAC’s Gold Medal was given to Prof Sun Begnin, Seoul University, South Korea. Indiana University, Bloomington, was chosen as the place for the 54th Meeting of the PIAC, Prof A. Campi will be its President.
Dr Irina V. Kulganek
Dr Tatiana A. Pang, the President of the 53rd Meeting of the PIAC PHOTOS The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, view from the Neva river  Prof Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, the Secretary Generak of the PIAC  Dr Tatiana A. Pang, the President of the 53rd Meeting of the PIAC  Prof Irina F. Popova, the Head of the IOM RAS  Prof Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, the Head of the State Hermitage, delivers his speech at the opening ceremony  At the Green Hall of the IOM RAS  The final sitting of the 53rd Meeting of the PIAC  
Dr Kamil Veli (Turkey), D.A. Nosov (doctoral student, the IOM RAS), Dr Jacques Legrand (Paris), Dr T.A. Pang (the IOM RAS)  Dr I.V. Gerasimov (St Petersburg State University) and Prof Yankovsky (Poznan, Poland)  At the audience with the Consul General of the Republic of Turkey, Mr M. Chinar  The participants from Turkey  The visit to the St Petersburg Mosque  Prof Alicia Campi, Indiana University, the USA, the President of the 54th Meeting of the PIAC  |
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