Traveling through the ancient halls of the Lopukhins' estate, which housed the Museum named after N.K. Roerich, in contact with the great creativity of the human spirit, we seem to make a journey through time. From the vain present we are transferred to another dimension - the eternal time of cosmic truths, the quest of the spirit and creative insights. From the small space of the Museum we find ourselves in an immense world, multifaceted, beautiful and mysterious - the world of the Roerich family, who, with their life and work, showed that the most wonderful legends can become a reality for us if we embark on the path of moral, spiritual perfection, expansion of consciousness, if we remember our foundations, if we take into our consciousness the concept of Eternity and Infinity.
|
The introductory hall serves as an epigraph to the entire museum exposition. On the walls of this hall are unique paintings by N.G. Volkova, which symbolically reflect the most important stages of the cultural and spiritual evolution of mankind. |
|
 | |
 |
The image of the Russian Land appears on the picturesque canvases of N.K. Roerich presented in the Russian Hall. Created in different years, imbued with love for the motherland, the artist's paintings carry "the word and testament about Russia." The exhibits of the hall tell about the multifaceted activities of Nikolai Konstantinovich for the benefit of the great Russian culture. |
 | |
 |
The Hall of Teachers is dedicated to the spiritual mentors of the Roerichs, the Wise Men of India, the Great Teachers of mankind, in collaboration with whom the Teaching of Living Ethics was created. |
 | |
 |
The world's first Himalayan Institute for Scientific Research was established by the Roerich family in the Himalayan Kullu Valley, where they spent most of their lives in India. In the Kullu hall there are the first issues of the “Journal of the Himalayan Institute “Urusvati” and the seal of the Institute, photographs of the house where the Roerichs lived, personal belongings of Nikolai Konstantinovich and his family, ancient bronze from their collection, paintings by N.K. and S.N. Roerichs. |
 |
Historical documents from the archive of the Roerichs, placed in the exposition of the Hall of the Banner of Peace, represent Nicholas Konstantinovich as a personality of a planetary scale, as a public figure who raised the Banner of Peace above the Earth - the Banner of Culture. The Banner of Peace has become a symbol of the Roerich Pact, the first international legal act specifically dedicated to the protection of cultural property. |
 | |
 |
The Hall of Yuri Roerich is dedicated to the eldest son of Helena Ivanovna and Nikolai Konstantinovich - an orientalist, traveler, archaeologist, art critic, historian and linguist. |
Where does Roerich come from in Zagreb?
In 1932, a batch of paintings went on a world tour from the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York (Riga, Zagreb, Belgrade, Buenos Aires, Prague). The program of activities of the famous museum included a clause on mandatory exhibitions of the artist's paintings in different parts of the world.
Roerich's paintings arrived in Zagreb in 1933, and then a permanent exhibition of paintings was organized in the museum of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences. In 1934, 24 of them moved to the Belgrade Museum of Prince Paul, and 10 were given to the museum Moderna gallery in Zagreb for storage. Among them were Ashram (1931), Order of the Master (1931), Tibetan camp (1931), Way to Kailash (1931), Idols (1910), ParanirvanaParanirvana (1926), Morning Procession (1931), Kangchenjunga (1924), Master's Abode (1931), Tashiding (1924). This action was carried out in connection with the possible arrival in Zagreb of Nicholas Roerich himself, who was elected an honorary member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences back in 1930.
Unnecessary Legacy
Photo: from the Moderna museum catalog gallery. Kanchenjunga (1924)
Nicholas Roerich never donated his paintings, but generously shared them for temporary display. However, it happens that time and historical events grossly violate the will of a person. This is exactly what happened to the "Zagreb" collection, which remained in the city because of World War II. At that time, no one had the opportunity to deal with the issues of returning paintings to Roerich, who was already living in India.
In 1947 the artist dies. His family, remembering the collection stuck in Zagreb, cannot find the right solutions for its return. The Roerichs dreamed of returning the paintings, but they really did not want the paintings to end up in New York. The artist’s son, Svyatoslav Roerich, writes to his mother, Helena Roerich, that now his father’s paintings are in the museum warehouse in Zagreb and they are not exhibited: “My friends who traveled to Yugoslavia found out. But you have to be very careful not to attract the machinations of the American invaders Let it lie like that until we come up with specific steps ... ". (L. Sorokina. The Roerich family, p. 350).
Alas, no one was able to find the right solutions, and the paintings are still languishing in the vaults to this day. Moderna gallery. From time to time, according to the museum's work plan, they are exhibited, a catalog is issued, and then put back into the shade again.
When will Roerich's paintings in Zagreb see the real light?
Photo: from the catalog of the Moderna galerija museum. Tashiding (1924)
To this day, the paintings of the great Russian artist, holder of the Yugoslav Order of St. Sava and a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences are in the vaults Moderna gallery. Their curator is the museum adviser, Mrs. Dayana Vlasavlevich. She knows well the value of Roerich's paintings and regrets the current conditions of their maintenance. In addition, in a private conversation, she expressed regret that Moderna gallery cooperates with the New York Museum and some others, but has no working contacts with any of the Russian museums in connection with the Roerich collection. With the consent and support of Mrs. Dayana Vlasavlevich, in March 2015, through the efforts of some Russian enthusiasts living in Zagreb, contact was established with the staff of the Roerich department of the Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, who readily responded to the call for cooperation. Vladimir Rosov, head of the "Roerichs' Heritage" department of the Oriental Museum, himself became seriously interested in the Zagreb collection of Roerich and infected others, for example, specialists from Italy and Switzerland. However, the Croatian side unilaterally, without explanation, abandoned its own initiative and closed itself to cooperation with Russian specialists.
A photo: from the catalog of the Museum Moderna galerija. Tibetan camp (1931)
Meanwhile, the "Zagreb" paintings are unique. Yes, there are few of them, but the reversal of the plot, sometimes repeated by the master more than once later, the size of the paintings, their color scheme and compositional variations allow connoisseurs of Nicholas Roerich's work to say that all these paintings are priceless and, of course, worth being placed on permanent exhibition, evaluated and included in the catalogs of his work. At the moment, in the catalog of paintings by Nicholas Roerich, out of ten "Zagreb" paintings, seven appear: " Ashram", "Idols", "The Way to Kailash", "Paranirvana, Tashiding and " Teacher's Order".
And yet, the matter is not lost. As is known from an interview dated July 16, 2016 with the head of the Croatian diplomatic mission in Russia, Igor Pokaz, "negotiations are being held at a high level to hold an exhibition of more than ten works by Nicholas Roerich, which are located in Zagreb and have never been exhibited in Russia before... However, this project had to be temporarily suspended due to insufficient financial resources."
Let's add that this project is not only temporarily stopped, but also not brought to the attention of the museum workers as an alleged one.
And yet, let's hope that not in words, but in deeds, in Croatia they want "in Russia to know the culture of Croatia better, and in Croatia - the culture of Russia", and the paintings of Nicholas Roerich still visited the homeland of their creator and were exhibited for viewing by everyone who wants to see them with their own eyes, feel their energy, appreciate the texture of the brushstroke, the play of color and light...
"International Center of the Roerichs" in Maly Znamensky Lane got into a "cultural" scandal, but this story is not about art, but about fraud. In the early morning of March 7, investigators and representatives of the OMON entered the private museum. During the search, more than 200 paintings and drawings by Nicholas Roerich were seized.
This is illegal, - Vice-President of the ICR Alexander Stetsenko will say later at a press conference. - In our opinion, this is an armed seizure of the museum under the pretext of investigating the criminal case of the collapsed Master Bank.
The shocked museum staff did not want to let the OMON officers in. Those had to break open the doors and still pack the paintings of Nicholas Roerich in 57 boxes and take them out for examination.
We were told that they were purchased with the "stolen" money of Boris Bulochnik, who for many years was a patron of the "International Center of the Roerichs," said Alexander Stetsenko.
Who is the Baker?
Boris Ilyich until 2013 was the chairman of the board of Master-Bank, until the Central Bank of Russia learned that Bulochnik and his partners had carried out large-scale dubious operations. Master-Bank's banking license was revoked. The baker, according to media reports, robbed his investors of almost 70 billion rubles. By the way, the International Center of the Roerichs also kept its savings on the accounts of this bank and lost about 4.5 million rubles. But the law enforcement agencies failed to detain Boris Ilyich - he fled through the back door of the administration and left for Israel. Later, according to some reports, he returned with his wife to his homeland - to the Vinnitsa region of Ukraine. The disappeared banker was put on the federal and international wanted list, and the Tverskoy Court of Moscow in April 2016 sanctioned in absentia the arrest of Bulochnik, accused of the deliberate bankruptcy of a credit institution.
But in the museum they don’t even want to hear about the dubious lines of the biography, they speak only positively about Boris Ilyich. For almost fifteen years he was their philanthropist - he allocated funds for the restoration of the Lopukhins' estate, where the museum is now based. The banker was allegedly so fascinated by Roerich's work that the Baker bought up more than 30 Roerich's paintings at auctions and donated them to the museum. Each painting cost 2-3 million dollars, now for some exhibits they ask for even more - 12 million dollars each.
We don't know where the Baker is now. After a criminal case was brought against him, he did not appear in the museum, ”Olga Mironova, head of the development department of the N.K. Museum, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. Roerich. - You should have seen him with his wife - these are the most modest people. When they came to their house with a search, there was nothing to take for the confiscation of valuables.
What paintings were taken?
The exact number is not called in the museum itself. They say up to 200. Among them, there are only nine paintings that were donated by Boris Bulochnik.
What about the rest of the paintings? What was seized? I asked.
These are paintings and drawings by Roerich, which appeared in our museum from 2002 to 2017. But they can’t name which ones specifically - we were warned not to disclose such information, since this is a state secret, ”said Alexander Stetsenko, Vice-President of the ICR. - I'll tell you that for all the paintings that Boris Ilyich gave us, he has no property rights. We don’t have any documents either – they were taken away during the seizure of the paintings. There is reason to believe that later the Ministry of Culture will generally say that we do not have documents for the paintings.
So far, the department has not publicly reacted to these accusations. But a law enforcement source said that the searches at the museum had nothing to do with the Russian Ministry of Culture.
- For a long time the Baker was one of the main sponsors, but who is now?
This is open information - we are a public organization created on the initiative of Svyatoslav Roerich (author's note - the son of Nicholas Roerich). It has a certain number of members, there is a charter ...
They did not name the names of influential sponsors, but fundraising is ongoing, even on the territory of the museum - there are transparent boxes with requests for help. On the other hand, they voiced the idea that the Ministry of Culture has long been "hunting" for cultural values owned by the private Museum. N.K. Roerich. Here they are worried that the paintings will be sold or given to the State Museum of Oriental Arts, and the Lopukhins' estate will be completely taken away from them.
We have had an unofficial “war” with the state museum for a long time. After all, there is part of the Roerich collection, mostly there are early works that were painted in Russia - before the artist left for India, - says one of the museum employees. – But, if we have a tag with parameters for each painting, because Svyatoslav Roerich himself gave us the paintings before the collapse of the USSR, then there – all the numbers do not agree. We have doubts about authenticity. And if they want to take away our collection from us, which is much larger, then they will even have nowhere to place it. We have already heard that the paintings were taken not to the Investigative Committee, but to the State Museum of Oriental Art.
Why was Roerich's office closed?
To find out information, I go to Nikitsky Boulevard, where the State Museum of Oriental Art is located. It has two halls with paintings by Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich and a memorial office with personal belongings.
Only the office is closed from today, - the cashier tells me at the entrance.
- Why? I'm interested.
They didn't explain to us. They said to say that for technical reasons. Although the renovation seems to have been completed recently.
True, there is a white chair under the entrance door to the memorial office. And the employee in the hall says that I should come tomorrow.
- Have the paintings from the Roerich Museum been brought to you yet? Where can you see them?- I ask, referring to information from the media.
Well, so far this has not been discussed. There will still be judgment. But, if they decide so, then you will read about the updated exposition on our official website - do not read the rest, - says the museum employee.
Returning to the cashier, I asked to be allowed tomorrow into the same office, which, due to mysterious circumstances, was closed.
They won't open tomorrow. Come back in a month, or better in two, when everything is over, - interrupting our conversation, the museum guard said.
- What will end?- I clarify.
Well, the whole story.
MIA OFFICIALLY
The seized paintings of Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich were purchased by the former chairman of the board of one of the capital's banks with funds stolen from a credit institution, - said the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irina Volk.
Investigators found that Boris Bulochnik, acting as part of an organized group, entered into a number of fictitious loan agreements with more than 170 individuals and 200 legal entities. It is known that he was the sponsor of the Museum. N.K. Roerich, where in the period from 1990 to 2010 he donated paintings by Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich, purchased with funds received by affiliated individuals on fictitious bank loans. On this fact, a criminal case was initiated on the grounds of a crime under the article "Intentional bankruptcy", which was later reclassified under the article "Fraud" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
LAWYER'S OPINION
Lawyer Oleg Pavlovich answered the questions of Komsomolskaya Pravda.
- Did the investigators have the right to seize the paintings before the trial?
If a criminal case has been initiated, then during the period of its investigation, it is also allowed to conduct an inspection, search and seizure of things that in the future may be recognized as the subjects of a crime. They can be transferred to safekeeping or left where they were. If later the court finds that the accused people are not guilty, then the material evidence is returned. If the court decision is different, then the things are transferred to the owner or the state.
- And the museum staff should have been warned about the search, about the arrival of the riot police?
No. This is done most often if people are guilty so that they do not have time to hide the traces of the crime. In this case, destroy the paintings or hide them. The meaning of the search is that it is carried out suddenly.
For several weeks now, an exhibition of 31 paintings from the collection of the Museum of the East has been opened at the Lopukhins' Estate, which, by the way, are also the property of the Public Museum. Roerich of the ICR, illegally held by them for many years.
Today, in this photo essay, we want to show all visitors of the portal what the paintings have turned into in the state, so to speak, storage in the SMOA. This sad photo tour will be accompanied by records of eyewitnesses who visited this exhibition and captured the disgrace they saw there.
Such an exhibition, without any words, speaks about who exactly cannot be trusted with the national property. The invaders and their assistants for many years shouted that everything was handed over by the Roerichs to the people, which means it should belong to the state. Let us briefly recall once again that S.N. Roerich, handed over the entire heritage, on the condition that it would be located in the Public Museum.
But let's approach this issue from the other side. But are all of us, who wrote thousands of letters asking for help from the ICR, and remained unanswered, not related to the Russian people? The state is not officials, they are just a state apparatus, the so-called "servants of the people." The state is the people of our country, and therefore we are with you.
Look how many organizations have signed the Open Letter to the President (cry for help) - 163 organizations. These signatures were also collected on our portal, no one insisted on them, no one forcibly forced anyone to send them to us. We also opened the possibility of signing only on our own initiative, because we understood that many simply do not know where and how (especially now) they can send their vote in defense of the ICR.
So rudely, like a bandit, to cross out 26 years of excellent fruitful work, as a result of which the Museum was created, which has become one of the brightest pearls of Russian culture - is this all in the name and benefit of the State?
In the meantime, there is no answer to this question, let's return to the quality of the "responsible state" storage of our paintings. And before that, let's remember how paintings were restored and restored in the ICR back in good times. Such a picture is, for example, a portrait of E.I. Roerich by S.N. Roerich. And later, already in 2016, the whole world raised funds for the restoration of the last lifetime portrait of N.K. Roerich. And they collected the required amount, the portrait was returned literally from non-existence. And it is all the more bitter to tears that this portrait needed adaptation, but then the invaders ran in, turned off all systems, and what has now become of this portrait, what is happening with other paintings, that were previously favored by the employees responsible for storage - we can only guess .
%201937.jpg)
S.N. Roerich. Portrait of E. I. Roerich (2). 1937
S.N. Roerich. Portrait of N.K. Roerich. Canvas. Butter.
This photo essay presents 6 paintings, about the state of the rest, especially those that lie in the so-called. storerooms of the SMOA, one can only guess anxiously. But even those 6 paintings out of 31 placed at the exhibition - you must admit, this is already a lot. A logical question arises - why seize such a heritage, if it was impossible to manage what was seized many years ago?
Tatyana Boykova
* * *
S. N. Roerich, Silence, 1964
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
The paint is peeling off
S. N. Roerich. Kanchenjunga. White Citadel, 1954
.jpg)
.jpg)
A traumatized painting with a deep dent in the middle
a heavily crumbling layer of tempera, not to mention the deplorable state of the frames.
Wounded paintings by S. N. Roerich from the storerooms of the Museum of the East, which, according to the will of S. N. Roerich, should belong to the International Center of the Roerichs. The State Museum "takes care" of the masterpieces of world art in such a way. (03/22/2018 Irina Shmigelskaya. Latvia.)
S. N. Roerich, Kanchenjunga. Secret Hour, 1955
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
The picture has a lot of scratches.
At the opened exhibition in the captured building of the ICR, it was demonstrated that the Heritage of S.N. Roerich dies after storage in the Museum of the East. The barbarians did not take care of proper storage. While the officials tried all the years of the ICR to take away the building and paintings, and at this time ... the paintings of the world famous artist S.N. Roerich as a result of their unworthy storage require urgent restoration. Tempera crumbling, traces of dirty hands, a dent. Kanchenjunga. We clearly see the crumbling tempera. As a result of inadmissible storage, this work requires urgent restoration. SOS! (03/25/2018 Olga Antonova, Kemerovo)
.jpg)
S. N. Roerich, Sacred Flute 3, 1955
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Scratches and dirty spots
* * *
.jpg)
S.N. Roerich. Kanchenjunga (Kanchenjunga. Evening). 1954
.jpg)
.jpg)
Dirty spots, heavily crumbling tempera.
The heritage of the Roerichs stolen from the ICR is slowly dying within the walls of the Museum of the East.
At the opened exhibition (it is difficult to call it an exhibition) in the captured building of the ICR, some of the paintings by S.N. Roerich, these paintings were for many years in the Museum of the East, at one time transferred to them for temporary storage and not returned to the true owner, i.e. ICR They were illegally held by the Museum of Oriental Art. And now, with pain in our hearts, we are forced to see not negligence, but a criminal attitude towards heritage, we see what happens to the paintings after their long "captivity" in the Museum of the East. Pictures are dying. The barbarians did not take care of the proper storage of those paintings that they "privatized". Nevertheless, it was not enough for the officials to hold these paintings illegally. all the years they attacked the fruitful cultural and scientific center (the International Roerich Center), attacked the ICR and the estate in which the museum was located, the estate, restored from the ruins by the public without the help of the state. Now we see that those long-captured paintings of the world-famous artist Svyatoslav Nikolaevich. Roerich, as a result of unworthy storage, they require urgent restoration. The crumbling tempera, traces of dirty hands, dents and scratches. And the Museum of the East, together with the Ministry of Culture, has enough impudence and confidence in impunity to demonstrate their criminal attitude towards the storage and preservation of national property. And what do the events of the capture of the Lopukhins' estate, along with all the unique heritage in 2017, tell about??? All the pictures captured, armed by the "guards" and taken out, all the priceless heritage of the Roerich family "floated away" in an unknown direction. WHERE, all the heritage taken out of the museum? "History is silent." Everything is covered in darkness. One can only guess how the Ministry of Culture disposed of the property - KNOCKING, SHOUTING, WRITING, CALLING and T AND SH AND N A !!! (23.03.2018Natalya Eremina. Riga, Latvia)
The paintings of Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich, seized from the International Center of the Roerichs on March 7, were transferred to the Museum of Oriental Art. So far, this institution acts as a warehouse for storing material evidence. The fact is that the works taken out of the ICR, according to the investigation, were donated to the center by the owner of the Master Bank that has sunk into oblivion, Boris Bulochnik, against whom a criminal case has been initiated. Let us recall that the Lopukhins' estate occupied by the Center of the Roerichs has been "squeezed out" by the Ministry of Culture for the Museum of Oriental Art for many years.
On March 7, the numerous women's team of the International Center of the Roerichs was literally dumbfounded by the "gift" that was presented by the Ministry of Culture and law enforcement officers. The working day began for them with closed doors guarded by riot police. While indignant employees, who were not provided with absolutely no information, and representatives of the media, accumulated at the entrance to the territory of the center, in the very building of the Lopukhins' estate, there was, without exaggeration, a barbaric seizure of exhibits.
Later it became known that investigative actions in the ICR took place as part of a criminal case initiated against Boris Bulochnik, who at one time was the largest patron of the Roerich Center, being the owner of the Master Bank closed in 2013. The investigation believes that the paintings were allegedly bought with the money stolen by the banker. In the Center of the Roerichs, the investigators are, to put it mildly, skeptical about the suspicions.
ICR Vice President Alexander Stetsenko:
“We had a philanthropist Boris Ilyich Bulochnik. Master Bank did not transfer any accounts to us. And they took out the paintings donated since 2002. And the investigators said that it was bought with stolen money. How? 17 years ago, the Baker bought paintings abroad, returned them to his homeland, to Russia.”
The Ministry of Culture "denies" the events that took place in the Roerich Center, stating that representatives of the department were present during the seizure solely in the role of "experts". But we must not forget that for many years the Ministry of Culture has been trying to literally expel the ICR staff from the Lopukhins' estate (restored, by the way, without the participation of this same Ministry of Culture) and pass Historical building and at the same time priceless heritage of the Roerichs subordinate to the Museum of Oriental Art. Later it became known that the paintings taken from the Roerich Center ended up in this museum, which has so far become a temporary warehouse for storing material evidence. In total, about 200 exhibits were seized. (paintings and drawings). The leadership of the ICR was forbidden to disclose specific names, according to them, not all the paintings donated by the Baker went to the Museum of the East, but at the same time, works that were not related to the patron were confiscated.
“About 50 packages were handed over to us for storage as material evidence. How many paintings are there, I cannot say, since we do not have the right to print them, ”quotes the director general of the Museum of Oriental Art Alexandra Sedova agency TASS.
It is curious that it was on March 7 that the Moscow Arbitration Court refused the application of the State Museum of Oriental Art to speed up the consideration of its claim for the eviction of the International Center of the Roerichs from buildings 4 and 7 of the Lopukhin estate, which houses the public Museum named after N.K. Roerich.
It's not cultural
It is difficult to talk about what happened on March 7 without such terms as "savagery", "barbarism" and "shame". How else to call the situation when the "experts" from the Ministry of Culture, accompanied by riot police (as Alexander Stetsenko said, in the hands of one of them he saw an ax, apparently for knocking down locks), without waiting for the arrival of the ICR lawyer, block the work of the institution, forcing the employees to “sit quietly”? Isn't it wild, without any explanation of the reasons, not to miss people who came to work, for whom the Roerich Center has become a second home, one might say, the meaning of life? Perhaps the author of these lines is an overly impressionable person, but seeing the devastated looks of the women employees of the Center who received such a “gift” by March 8, one becomes not only hurt, but also ashamed in many ways. I sincerely wish the employees of other cultural institutions, whose patron was Boris Bulochnik, never encounter the same attitude.
The leadership of the ICR told in detail about what was happening inside the museum, where OMON officers and the same “experts” were in charge for several hours during a press conference.
The sharpness of this situation is given by the fact that it was not at all necessary to arrange a “mask show” on a dank pre-holiday day. Here is what the first deputy general director of the Museum named after N.K. Roerich Pavel Zhuravihin:
“There is absolutely no logic in the actions of law enforcement officers. And we are talking not only about the absurdity of the situation with the former philanthropist. The fact is that almost the same story has already arisen with us - representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, within the framework of the same criminal case, arrived and reported that some paintings had been given the status of material evidence. At that time, we signed a paper stating that we undertake not to take any action with these paintings, and that's it, no withdrawal occurred. We strictly complied with this order. Why it was necessary to act differently this time - one can only guess.
According to him, there is no evidence of the qualifications of the people who seized the paintings. Moreover, deep doubts are caused by the conditions in which the transportation was carried out - “it was the most ordinary small van, and not a special transport corresponding to the transportation of such a cargo”. Recall that we are talking about the priceless paintings of the great Nicholas Roerich!
The story is not over
It is clear that the Roerich Center will not give up and will continue to defend its Museum, there is more than one ahead court. So far, it remains only to wish courage and perseverance to the team, which literally from the first days of the existence of the International Center of the Roerichs has defended the right to preserve public status heritage of our great compatriots. If anyone does not know, Svyatoslav Roerich in the late 80s directly indicated that the legacy of his family was transferred to Russia on the condition that paintings and other works of art would be stored and exhibited in a Museum with a Public status. That is, its work should not depend on any departmental barriers, which, unfortunately, characterize all domestic ministries without exception.
“The incident on Tuesday fits into a broad campaign launched by the Ministry of Culture and the Oriental Museum against our public Museum. We are already accustomed to unscheduled inspections, of which there were 17 by the Ministry of Culture in 2016 alone, to stupid accusations of extremism, which, of course, were not confirmed... Svyatoslav Roerich, and not the lot of officials, ”concluded Pavel Zhuravihin.
How long the Museum of the East will play the role of a "temporary warehouse of material evidence" is unknown. It is very likely that the endgame of this party, unleashed, apparently, by the Ministry of Culture, will be the imperceptible disappearance of the “temporary” status, and the paintings will remain in the Museum of Oriental Art with the tacit consent of society. It would be appropriate to recall the appeal of Nicholas Roerich himself in his message to the Friends of the Banner of Peace.
“... no decrees will create culture and will not protect it if the public is indifferent and inactive. Culture is the expression of the whole people. Its protection and exaltation is a nationwide duty.
Nicholas Roerich (To Friends of the Banner of Peace, 1947)
