Clubs of Enthusiasts

Subject / Art
“KLUBY PO INTERESAM” (“CHAT ROOMS (CLUBS)”), a form of joint leisure activities connected with interests in scientific, artistic, political, sports, leisure and other areas. The basis of such kind leisure activities is the idea of “amateurishness” - a kind of culture activity in which people can fulfill themselves as creative individuals beyond their profession. The Leningrad Oblast activities of chat rooms and amateur associations have become a significant phenomenon in life, covering different age groups of people. During a 30-year period they increased in number more than 7 times. In 2006 1454 such kind of associations were registered and they are visited by more than 45 thousand people. There are 8 main areas of activities: social and political (veterans’ of war and labour clubs, social and political clubs, the electorate’s clubs, clubs of soldiers-internationalists); industrial engineering (technical kinds of sport, modeling clubs, job advisers’ clubs, etc.); natural science (gardeners’ clubs, flower growers’ clubs, ecology clubs, natural science clubs, lovers’ of different sciences clubs, etc.); artistic (lovers’ of all kinds and genres of art clubs); social and demographic (children’s and teenagers’ clubs, family clubs, women’s and men’s clubs, elderly people’s clubs, religious clubs, etc.); collection; sports; weekends’ leisure arrangement. The most numerous are the clubs of veterans of war and labour. Members of these clubs take part in moral and patriotic education of the youth and in the work of the youth searching groups for finding new items for local history museums. The Leningrad Oblast festivals of veterans of war and labour clubs and amateur associations “Ya Lyublyu Tebya, Zhizn’” (“I Love You, My Life”) are held in Pikalyevo Town. Sports clubs and associations and health clubs are highly popular. Literature clubs are rapidly developing. Amateur theatre companies meet at biannual festival “Teatral’naya Vasna” (“Theatre Spring”) in Luga Town. The regional collectors’ clubs have long traditions. Items collected by the most active collectors were many times displayed at the festivals “Mir Uvlecheniy” (“World of Hobbies”). Voitsekhovich, Lyudmila Nikolayevna
Leningrad Oblast, the/Luga District/Luga Town
Leningrad Oblast, the/Pikalevo Town
Войцехович Л.И. Итоговая информация о работе клубов по интересам и любительских объединений… и основных тенденциях развития любительского движения в Ленинградской области в 2002 году // Область культуры. 2003. № 2., 33-39
Войцехович Л.Н. Информация о работе клубов по интересам и любительских объединений в КПУ Ленинградской области (по итогам годовых отчетов за 2005 г.) // Область культуры. 2006. № 2. С.31-38., 31-38
"I love it, life",
"The Theatre spring", an oblast festival