What happened to the Roerich Museum. Employees of the Roerich Museum after the searches: We know that Putin was misled! FAN-TV. Who are the Roerichs

Photo from the site: pandia.ru

But the “division” of the inheritance of the famous artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich has not yet been completed.

The confrontation between the state and the public organization “International Center of the Roerichs” (ICR) has continued for more than a year.

The legacy of the Roerichs has become the talk of the town. Many articles have been written in various media representing both sides. It is still not easy to answer unequivocally, even after delving deeply into the essence of the conflict and studying all the documents and court decisions, and there were many of them, on whose side is the truth.

A new surge of interest in this issue is associated with recent events that occurred on April 28-29 of this year. The ICR states that there was an armed raider seizure of the Lopukhins’ estate, which was allegedly carried out by the State Museum of the East with the support of security forces. In this regard, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the State Museum of Oriental Art held a press conference at TASS “The Heritage of the Roerichs: Destruction or Preservation?”, where they explained their position to journalists.

For the general public, in fact, more important than all the ups and downs associated with the Roerichs’ legacy is the opportunity to touch the work of Nicholas Roerich, get acquainted with his amazing paintings and philosophical research. Is it really that important where it will all be located and stored?

And yet, only a state museum can provide greater preservation, study, restoration, scientific research and the necessary research.

Those who want to object can recall the words of the former director of the Roerich Museum, which existed under the ICR, Lyudmila Shaposhnikova, who said that the ICR and the museum were left without a livelihood after the Master Bank, which actually contained the ICR, had its license taken away. This just confirms that not every public organization can maintain museum and cultural values. Its former president, Alexander Losyukov, also spoke about the difficult financial situation in the ICR at a press conference. He even noted that “the ICR is destroying itself.”

Now in the former residence of the ICR, which for many years was located in a monument of federal significance - the Lopukhins' estate, there is a commission that is engaged in an inventory of the ICR property. In the future, the Roerich Museum will be located here, as an integral part of the State Museum of Oriental Art, its branch.

It should be noted that the decision to create such a museum was made more than 20 years ago and in exactly the same place. But it so happened that the International Center of the Roerichs with a public museum settled here for two decades. The Oriental Museum began to “take away” this historical building for a reason, but based on a court decision. On March 20, 2017, the Moscow Arbitration Court granted the claim of the Museum of Oriental Art to evict the ICR from the Lopukhins’ estate. On April 4, the Moscow City Court recognized as legal the decision of the Federal Property Management Agency to transfer the Lopukhins’ estate to the State Museum of the East, taken back in 2015.

That is, as Advisor to the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Kirill Rybak and Director of the Oriental Museum Alexander Sedov commented on the situation, on April 28 the legal eviction of the ICR took place, the leadership of which continues to fight and does not comply with the court’s decision.

The security in the building was changed, all premises were sealed, a special commission was created that is in charge of inventorying all property and video recording what is happening. According to the director of the new Roerich Museum Tigran Mkrtychev, it will work until the end of May.

Today the situation is such that the Lopukhins' estate - a monument of federal significance - belongs to the state, which transferred it to the operational management of the State Museum of the East with the aim of housing the Roerich Museum there. What will happen to the ICR is not yet clear, given not only the litigation over property, but also the criminal case related to the bankruptcy of Master Bank, which was directly related to the ICR by investing in it.

Part of the legacy of Nicholas Roerich and his son Svyatoslav, which ended up first in the Soviet Union and then in Russia, is partly in the Museum of the East and partly in the ICR.

According to not only representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Oriental Museum, but even the former president of the ICR, and now the president of the National Roerich Committee, Alexander Losyukov, the Roerich Center does not have any rights even to its part of the heritage that it kept. Moreover, he is not the legal successor of the Soviet Roerich Foundation, to which these cultural treasures were transferred.

In general, there are so many insinuations related to the will of Svyatoslav Roerich and his wife, which are constantly referred to by representatives of the ICR, that it is time to conduct an international investigation at the highest level to find out the truth.

Tags: Museum of the Roerichs, Moscow, “International Center of the Roerichs”

LET'S SAVE THE ROERIC MUSEUM!
http://www.sologubovskiy.ru/articles/6127/

Http://maxpark.com/user/3312574000/content/5808131

Svyatoslav Roerich. Speech at the establishment of the Soviet Roerich Foundation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QnjX5g2ag4

Paintings by N.K. Roerich in the ICR collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRYNvq26zSk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiUcBNkmb-E
Interview with A.V. Stetsenko, vice-president of the International Center of the Roerichs, given on the afternoon of April 29, 2017.

URGENTLY! The Museum named after N.K. is being seized. Roerich
http://www.icr.su/rus/news/icr/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=5362

Seizure of the Roerichs' Heritage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ILccUh8Ys

A.V. Stetsenko: “The destruction of the public Museum named after N.K. Roerich"

A fact is a fact!
What did Dmitry Medvedev talk about in 2009 and why is he silent about it today?
The gala evening dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the International Center of the Roerichs took place on December 15, 2009 in the Svyatoslav Roerich Hall of the public Museum named after N.K. Roerich.
A welcoming government telegram from the President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev was heard:
“I am glad to congratulate you on the 20th anniversary of the Roerich Center. Over the years, he has gained great fame in Russia and abroad. The center carries out large-scale work to study the rich heritage of the Roerichs, and permanent exhibitions and traveling exhibitions introduce visitors to the creativity, research and social activities of the great family. Your humanitarian and educational events and competitions for young artists are very popular. Projects for the protection of monuments, which the Center implements jointly with the UN, have received well-deserved scientific recognition. I wish you success, prosperity and all the best.”
Today Dmitry Medvedev cannot repeat these words...
Today, officials of the Russian Ministry of Culture have prepared closure for the N.K. Roerich Museum, and liquidation for the International Center of the Roerichs.
Why?
Because all these years - after 2009 -
The ICR and the Museum named after N.K. Roerichs carried out large-scale work to study the rich heritage of the Roerichs,
permanent exhibitions and traveling exhibitions of the Center and Museum introduced visitors to the creativity, research and social activities of the great family.
The humanitarian and educational events of the Center and the Museum, competitions for young artists,
projects for the protection of monuments, which the Center implements jointly with the UN, have received well-deserved scientific recognition.
Today in the center of Russia, next to the Kremlin, the Roerich Museum, a monument and center of spiritual culture, was closed.
Today, officials “from culture” and police officers “from protection of rights” have stopped visitors’ access to the paintings of the Roerichs and the fate of these paintings is unknown...
And our “intelligentsia,” who so love to make noise “in defense of culture,” supports these officials and police officers... with their deathly silence...

Who is trying to destroy the N.K. Roerich Museum?
Why are cultural masters silent?
Interview with P.M. Zhuravikhin, First Deputy General Director of the N.K. Roerich Museum.

A.V. Stetsenko:
“The public Museum named after N.K. Roerich is being destroyed!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27t4vGoadJo

Sergei Lavrov about the Roerich Pact
Current opinion.
Sergey Lavrov:
“When priceless monuments of world civilizations are barbarously destroyed - be it in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Kosovo - collective efforts to preserve universal human culture are especially necessary. There is a legal basis for this - the UN Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954. Let me remind you: that in its preparation the ideas of our compatriot Nicholas Roerich were used, embedded in the first multilateral act in this area developed 80 years ago. As soon as the barbarians are expelled from the territories where the World Heritage sites are located, UNESCO should send its missions there to assess the damage caused. and preparing plans for the restoration of priceless religious and cultural relics."
Vesti 24, 6.11.2015)

Current opinion.
Alisa Aksenova:
“The Roerich Museum is an unshakable center of culture”
Alisa Aksyonova is the honorary president of the state Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve, an honorary citizen of the Vladimir region, twice laureate of the State Prize in the field of education and culture, Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation.
Here is her opinion about the outrages that are happening in Russia:
“About 200 paintings were literally taken by force from the public museum located on the Lopukhins’ estate and taken to an unknown direction. Moreover, these were actions clearly with the consent, and perhaps at the direction of the Ministry of Culture, and perhaps even the minister personally.
This fact shocked me. The fact is that I knew L.V. personally. Shaposhnikov, and she told me a lot about the efforts, under what incredibly difficult conditions, this collection was taken out of India. There was an intricacy of politics, personal interests, and commerce, and so on, and so on. And so she took out this collection on a cargo plane in order to achieve its display in this wonderful mansion.
Of course, she received enormous help from the former ambassador to India, Mr. Vorontsov. Mr. Primakov personally knew about this. There was such a great power behind her.
And a wonderful museum was created.”

Her full interview is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFPm9JrDg9I&t=44s

Head of the Human Rights Council Fedotov visited the Center of the Roerichs

The head of the HRC, Mikhail Fedotov, visited the International Center of the Roerichs on April 30 and promised that the council would closely monitor the situation developing around the museum. Member of the Human Rights Council Andrei Babushkin also visited the Roerich Center with him. Secretary of the Board of the Roerich Center Tatyana Ivanova announced this on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
“Fedotov and Babushkin were on the territory of the museum, asked questions to the security service, asked to provide documents on the basis of which they were on the territory of the museum. They could not provide them with any documents. Then why are there police on the museum grounds? They took Fedotov into our outbuilding, showed him everything, and he said that we needed to figure it out, that the issue was serious, and that the council would deal with this on May 2, because it was the holidays,” she said.
M. Fedotov proposed inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the Roerich Center.

ALEXANDER AVDEEV:
The Roerich Museum is an important spiritual Center that brings ideas of goodness and justice to the world
Dear Lyudmila Vasilievna!
Your whole life is connected with culture. The range of your creative possibilities is unusually high. You are known and appreciated as a talented historian, writer, photographer, screenwriter, and profound philosopher.
But the main task of your life was the preservation, research and popularization of the priceless artistic and cultural heritage of the Roerich family, thinkers and devotees who devoted themselves to Culture with a capital C ‹…›. For more than 20 years you have had a friendship with Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Roerich. I think that you are a happy person because you communicated with an outstanding figure of world culture. And he was not mistaken in entrusting you with the unique philosophical and artistic heritage of his parents. It was you who managed to make the dream of the Roerich family come true - to create a museum in their homeland. The path to the museum was long and difficult, but you made it ‹…›. Today we see a wonderful modern museum. Thank you for the fact that for many years you have been debunking all sorts of fables about the life and work of this extraordinary family, fighting to preserve their heritage, and explaining the philosophical system of the Roerichs. For having the courage to fight for culture and create culture in our difficult times.
I am surprised and admire your energy of asceticism. You hold annual international conferences dedicated to the most important issues of culture and science, exhibitions of contemporary cosmists, children's drawing competitions, ethnic music festivals, musical and creative evenings. This is not a complete list of activities, but it speaks for itself. I especially want to note the importance of the traveling exhibitions of paintings by Nicholas Konstantinovich and Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Roerichs organized by the museum. Their routes are impressive ‹…›.
The Roerich Museum has become one of the most significant museums in Moscow and has taken its rightful place in the cultural life of not only the capital, but also the country, and has become a major international and scientific cultural center. And all this is your merit.
Despite the anniversary date, I think it’s too early for you to draw conclusions. Even today you are in constant creative search; your research works raise deep philosophical, historical and art questions and are an event in the scientific world. With all my heart I wish you, dear Lyudmila Vasilyevna, new successes, health, all the best, and I want to say the main thing: your service to the cause and legacy of the Roerichs is your service to Russian culture, this is your service to our Motherland, to all of Russia.
And let me (I know that you are a modest person) say this: you are an outstanding figure in our culture and you continue the glorious path that was shown to us by the outstanding thinkers of the Roerich family. Communication with you, communication with the museum, with exhibitions and the work of the Roerich family cleanses our souls, our consciousness and is a powerful counteraction to the unpleasant trends that are observed in our society. This is commercialization, this is a glamorous culture with its vicious effect on souls and minds, this is an entertainment culture, which today, unfortunately, is trying to displace from TV screens, from bookshelves, from the minds of people what we call real culture and real ethical standards and morality. For this impact, special thanks.
For this - special thanks!

Who has already closed the Museum and Center?
April 30, 2017 at 10:41 am Vesti correspondent correspondent Artyom Kol in a report entitled
"Ministry of Culture: Roerich's heritage is not exported and the state does not lay claim to it"
interviewed Assistant Minister of Culture K. Rybak.
The assistant reassured all the worried “fans of the creativity and ideas of the Roerich family” with assurances (as always, “very honest” and “very truthful”):
“No one is taking away the legacy of the famous artist, and the state does not lay claim to it.”
BUT!
But the Ministry of Culture, it turns out, has already liquidated the International Center of the Roerichs: “FORMER ICR employees and their sympathizers do not intend to retreat...”, K. Rybak openly and brazenly stated.
Journalist A. Kol repeated this word “EX” twice throughout the country.
Let's thank him! Now everyone should know that
The Ministry of Culture considers it has the right to steal other people's cultural heritage,
The Ministry of Culture considers itself to have the right not only to suspend the activities of any public organization, but also to liquidate this organization, and make its employees ex-officers without reason, trial or investigation.
Corrupt Russian officials violate the laws of Russia when there is something to profit from.
Therefore, the international community, public organizations for the protection of cultural heritage, and the museum community of foreign countries should know about the corrupt collusion of officials of the Ministry of Culture and the legal lawlessness of Medynsky’s team!!!

Protection of the Name and Heritage of the Roerichs
http://borisovbel.ru/defend/2017/290417_zayavlenie.htm

Litigation for the Roerichs' heritage between, on the one hand, the public Museum named after Svyatoslav Roerich. N.K. Roerich (in Maly Znamensky Lane, in the former estate of the Lopukhins), the International Center of the Roerichs, on the other - the Museum of the East, lasts a quarter of a century.

Today there is a new twist in the drama. About this is an open letter addressed to the government, the Duma, the Federation Council, signed by the trustees of the public Museum. N.K. Roerich and representatives of the public. Several recent events have contributed to the aggravation of the situation around the public museum. Soon after the death of Lyudmila Vasilievna Shaposhnikova, President of the International Center of the Roerichs, on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the ICR, the Lopukhin Estate was transferred from the capital to federal ownership, and then to the operational management of the State Museum of the East. At the same time, reports appeared that First Deputy Minister of Culture Vladimir Aristarkhov appealed to the Khamovnichesky Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office of Moscow with a request to check the legality of the ICR's ownership of cultural property from the family's heritage. Against this background, the news of the Ministry of Culture’s plans to create the State Museum of the Roerichs in the Lopukhins’ Estate caused a stormy public reaction. A petition on change.org calling to save the public Museum. N.K. Roerich, signed by almost 60 thousand people. In particular, the open letter states that the will of the founder of the museum, Svyatoslav Roerich, who advocated for the public status of the museum named after. N.K. Roerich.

What will be the status of the new museum?

Tigran Mkrtychev: It will be a branch of the Museum of the East. Last year, the Academic Council of our museum discussed the concept of the State Roerich Museum. In February it will be presented to a board at the Ministry of Culture.

What is the essence of the GMR concept?

Tigran Mkrtychev: In short, this is maximum openness, academic fundamentality of research work, a new approach to presenting the Roerichs’ heritage to the widest range of viewers, and popularization of the Roerichs’ heritage. Plus cooperation with all Roerich organizations in different cities and countries.

Where will the GMR be located?

Tigran Mkrtychev: Last year, the Museum of Oriental Art received operational management of the Lopukhins’ estate on Maly Znamensky Lane. Now the public organization International Center of the Roerichs (ICR) is located there.

Public Museum named after. N.K. Will Roerich have to move somewhere?

Tigran Mkrtychev: No, I don't want to say that. We are currently conducting intensive negotiations with the public museum named after. N.K. Roerich, to find common ground for interaction, to connect our collections, our efforts to present the heritage of the Roerichs.

But if you move there, does the museum go from being a public one to becoming a state museum?

Tigran Mkrtychev: At least, the State Roerich Museum will be located on this site.

At the public Museum named after. N.K. Roerich has a large fund. At the same time, a significant part of the collection belongs to private individuals...

Tigran Mkrtychev: Yes indeed. We can say that in general their collection consists of two parts. One part is the one that was bequeathed by Svyatoslav Roerich to the Soviet Roerich Foundation. The second part of the collection of the Museum. N.K. Roerich and ICR - private collection. It will, of course, remain with the owners.

The ICR has an agreement with the Moscow government to lease the building for ten years on the terms of free use. This agreement remains in force today.

Tigran Mkrtychev: This agreement has its own rules.

What rules, in particular, are we talking about?

Tigran Mkrtychev: For example, about timely payment of utility bills... The ICR had significant debts.

So the main problem is financial?

Tigran Mkrtychev: And she too. In my opinion, the main problem is that the exhibition of the public museum named after. N.K. Roerich does not meet modern standards of museum display. Over the past few years, the number of visitors to the Museum. N.K. Roerich fell significantly. And the reluctance to change anything in the exhibition, in the policy towards visitors, is the main stumbling block in the negotiations between the ICR and the State Museum of Art.

What would you like to change?

Tigran Mkrtychev: It seems to me that the exhibition needs to be made more modern and the obvious dissonances removed.

Judging by the publications, the stumbling block in the legal disputes between the ICR and the Museum of the East was the issue of ownership of the works of the Roerichs, which were transferred for temporary storage to the Museum of the East. Are there about 300 of them?

Tigran Mkrtychev: The Museum of the East contains over 400 works related to the Roerichs' heritage. 282 paintings are those works about which the ICR approached us with legal claims.

The fact is that Svyatoslav Roerich organized an exhibition that traveled around the cities of the USSR in the 1980s. When Svyatoslav Nikolaevich died, the exhibition remained ownerless. Therefore, it was decided to accept these 282 works (they were in our museum for quite a long time) for permanent storage.

What other works, besides those in the collection of the Oriental Museum and the Public Museum named after. N.K. Roerich, would you like to unite them in the State Museum of the Roerichs?

Tigran Mkrtychev: We don't want to unite or take anything by force. We approach the ICR with a proposal for cooperation.

But it's an offer they find hard to refuse. You have received the building where the public museum with the richest collection of the Roerich family is located, under operational management. In addition, the ICR has financial problems. Do they have virtually no choice?

Tigran Mkrtychev: We are not going to drive them out with riot police. Don't misunderstand. This is a subject of negotiations. The problem is that the people who represent the ICR consider themselves the only legitimate heirs of the entire Roerich legacy.

If I'm not mistaken, they only laid claim to that part of the heritage that was transferred to the Soviet Roerich Foundation. This is by no means the entire legacy of the Roerichs. Their legacy is both in India and the USA. In addition, there was also the legacy of Yuri Nikolaevich’s older brother, an orientalist who came to the USSR in the late 1950s. Can you say anything about his fate?

Tigran Mkrtychev: It's a complicated story. During his lifetime, Yuri Nikolaevich donated his very good library and collection of woodcuts and Buddhist icons to the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He died suddenly in May 1960. Everything went to his two housekeepers, who were dependent on him and, by law, received the status of heirs. As a result, the collection began to sell out.

Is it quite difficult to find works from it for GMR?

Tigran Mkrtychev: It was partially purchased from the heirs by the International Center of the Roerich, when Boris Ilyich Bulochnik and Master Bank were in power... The rest was dispersed.

At the International Cultural Forum, plans were announced to create a regional art museum named after N.K. Roerich in the Taitsy estate in the Leningrad region. This is not the only museum associated with the name of the Roerichs in St. Petersburg. Are you going to cooperate with them?

Tigran Mkrtychev: We constantly cooperate with them. The Roerichs lived in St. Petersburg. There are two institutions working with their heritage. This is the State Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family on Vasilyevsky Island. It was public, but about ten years ago it was transformed into a state one. Since then we have been communicating very closely and effectively. Secondly, this is Izvara - a small estate of the Roerichs near St. Petersburg with a very interesting collection, there are early works by Nikolai Konstantinovich. This small museum is part of the association of museums of the Leningrad region. These are our allies and partners. Of course, we are not going to take things from other state federal museums. But we plan to establish good relations with all museums where the Roerichs’ belongings are located in order to organize joint exhibitions.

A striking example of successful cooperation is the display of Nicholas Roerich's triptych "Banner of Peace - Banner of Culture". For the first time, viewers could see all three parts of the triptych together. Two are from the New York Museum of Nicholas Roerich, one is from the Tretyakov Gallery, and they met at the Museum of the East. We have civilized relations with museums.

Is it possible to have the same civilized relations with the International Center of the Roerichs?

Nicholas Roerich's office in his Indian house. Photo: Yuri Lepsky

Tigran Mkrtychev: I'm an optimist. We have one item for display. We may have different points of view on it. But our museum still does not focus on a small number of people familiar with Roerich’s work. Our potential audience is the entire 140 million population of Russia.

The Museum of the East houses Roerich's memorial cabinet. I came in several times, unfortunately it was closed. What's with this memorial office?

Tigran Mkrtychev: It was open twice a week. True, its opening hours were not very convenient for visitors. But from this year we want to make sure that the office is open every day, and once a week it will be open until 20.30.

In December, the International Center of the Roerichs presented the newly published “Diary of the Manchurian Expedition (1934-1935)” by N.K. Roerich and an exhibition dedicated to her. You probably attended this presentation?

Tigran Mkrtychev: No.

The ICR carries out extensive publishing and scientific work. Of course, serious specialists also work at the Museum of the East. How do you plan the scientific work of the State Roerich Museum?

Tigran Mkrtychev: Frankly, I am quite skeptical about the scientific products that the ICR produces.

But Lyudmila Shaposhnikova, who exported from India the heritage given to her by Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, headed the ICR for many years, was an Indologist?

Tigran Mkrtychev: Yes. She was originally an expert on the labor movement in India.

But that was in the 1950s, when there was no other option.

Tigran Mkrtychev: She did not study the work of N.K. Roerich as an art critic. These were discussions about the struggle between Light and Darkness, about cosmic thinking.

That is, about the philosophy of the Roerichs?

Tigran Mkrtychev: We leave it to the ICR to deal with this. But there is a huge artistic heritage of Nicholas Roerich. There is a very large collection collected by the family. And all this makes it possible to engage in other research and make the work of the Roerich family accessible to a wide range of lovers of Oriental and Russian art. I won’t deceive you, I don’t follow the literature on Roerich that the ICR publishes.

During the existence of the office of N.K. in the Museum of the East. Roerich, what publications have you published about the work of the Roerichs?

Tigran Mkrtychev: We have an extensive publishing program. Exhibitions of the Roerichs were held annually, accompanied by catalogs or collections of articles. So we published four volumes of “Leaves of the Diary” of Helena Ivanovna Roerich. These books are reviewed by the museum's editorial and publishing council. In order to put archival documents into circulation, serious work with the reference apparatus is required.

By the way, the introductory article and comments to the “Diary of the Manchurian Expedition (1934-1935)” by N.K. Roerich was written by Olga Lavrenova, Candidate of Geographical Sciences and Doctor of Philosophy. Apparently, she is familiar with the requirements for a scientific publication.

Tigran Mkrtychev: Maybe. You know, there are a lot of Roerich organizations in the world, and they are in constant confrontation with each other. My task is not to arrange confrontations with anyone, but to do my own thing.

Was your specialization related to Roerich?

Tigran Mkrtychev: I am an archaeologist, specialist in Buddhist art. My doctoral dissertation is devoted to the Buddhist art of Central Asia from the 1st to 10th centuries. In recent years, I have made several exhibitions dedicated to the legacy of the Roerichs. A virtual exhibition “Nicholas Roerich. Power of Light” opened in Brussels, which I prepared as a curator.

What does a virtual exhibition mean in this case?

Tigran Mkrtychev: The design is made in the form of a crystal with two screens. On the screens are animated paintings by Nikolai Konstantinovich, which help talk about his work. The script was written by me. We have combined the collections of the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York and the Oriental Museum to show how Nicholas Roerich understood the “Power of Light”.

So we are returning to the struggle between Light and Darkness?

Tigran Mkrtychev: Absolutely right.

In parallel with the opening of a branch of the Museum of the East in the Lopukhins’ estate, restoration is planned in the main building of the Museum of the East. A tender for the development of its project was held in 2015 for 30 million rubles. The restoration of the Lunin House, where the Oriental Museum is located, lasted 10 years and was completed in 1984. But if a new restoration begins, then the museum must be closed. Where is the museum going to move from the main building?

Tigran Mkrtychev: We received a new premises - pavilion No. 13 at VDNKh.

Does this mean that the Oriental Museum will move to VDNKh? Will the building on Nikitsky Boulevard be closed for 10 years?

Tigran Mkrtychev: This question is definitely not for me.

In the Public Museum named after N.K. Roerich in Moscow were searched: law enforcement officers seized more than 200 museum objects from the halls. These are paintings and drawings that belong to artists Nicholas And Svyatoslav Roerichs. The Public Museum named after Nicholas Roerich and the International Center of the Roerichs, on the basis of which it is located, did not receive visitors for a day and a half. All this time, an investigative and operational group was working here. For the staff and management of the museum, what happened was a real shock; none of them were warned about the visit in advance. According to them, the searches were similar to a real armed seizure. Watch the FAN-TV report from the scene of the incident.

The vice-president of the International Center of the Roerichs told a FAN-TV reporter about how the searches proceeded. Alexander Stetsenko and an employee of the Security Service of the Museum named after N.K. Roerich Valery Nikiforov.

- When they started breaking in, knocking: “Open the door!”, the security said: “If there is a management command for me, I will open it.” He doesn’t see who’s there, you understand? And the management is coming. Then they started hitting the castle with a sledgehammer - you see, in order to knock it out,” says Stetsenko.

Then he turns to his colleague:

– Valery Mikhailovich, have you been here?

- Yes, me and the security.

– When they started beating, did you then open the door?

“When these things fell from the impact, I realized that everything here would be smashed, and then it would be impossible to close the museum. And then I shouted: “That’s enough, don’t hit me anymore, I’ll open it for you now!”

- And you opened it?

- Yes. They surrounded me here.

- Riot police, there were about 15 people there, they were all in civilian clothes, I don’t understand who it was. And they gave me the resolution to read, it was written there why all this was being done, about Bulochnikov, and so on. And they said, “You must sign.”

-Did you sign? – the FAN-TV reporter is interested.

- Yes, I was forced to sign. They threatened me, they said that I would be familiarized and would be a witness to what would happen here.

– Riot police ensured the passage of representatives of the Ministry of Culture: Advisor to the Minister of Culture, Mr. To the fisherman, Deputy Director of the Museum of Oriental Art Mkrtychev, then came investigators from the Investigative Committee, the Department for Combating Economic Crimes and Combating Extremism,” Stetsenko reports. – This is called an armed takeover of the Public Museum. I could have waited a few minutes, I would have arrived with a lawyer - we were already on our way, we could have familiarized ourselves with the decision. We could voluntarily show them without any breaking or grabbing. But such a demonstration was precisely needed in order to show how strong they are and how they treat us.

The force operation is related to a case of major fraud in one of the banks. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the former chairman of the board of Masterbank purchased the seized paintings with money stolen from the credit institution. He entered into a number of fictitious loan agreements, but was unable to fulfill his monetary obligations, and in 2013 the bank’s license was revoked. In addition, he donated paintings to one of the international public organizations. Based on this fact, a criminal case was opened under the article “Intentional bankruptcy”, which was later reclassified under the article “Fraud”. The department also notes that the accused is currently hiding outside the country and has been put on the international wanted list.

Standing near the place where quite recently there was a portrait of Nicholas Roerich, subsequently seized by investigators, Natalia Cherkashina- and about. General Director of the Museum named after N.K. Roerich - told a FAN-TV correspondent about the details of the operation: “Paintings and documents of gift were confiscated from us. And not only the original deeds of gift, but also their copies were confiscated from our accounting department, and documents were confiscated from the archives of the International Center of the Roerichs. I was isolated and not allowed into the museum. The administrative part, where the office of the vice president, mine and the first deputy is located, was cut off, a riot policeman stood up with a machine gun and forbade anyone to leave. I didn’t even know what was going on in the museum! Later we learned that there was not a single museum employee, not a single curator, or a caretaker in the halls of the museum.

When we were allowed to leave the administrative building, naturally, the first thing I did was go to the museum. The first removal of paintings has already been completed there. I was, if I say “shocked,” it would be an understatement. I was simply amazed by the attitude and behavior of the people in the halls who participated in this operation. On the first floor, where we have an exhibition, there was a group of people eating; a lot of time had already passed. They were having lunch, drinking something, I said that this cannot be done in the halls of the museum, and asked to leave, to which I was answered: “Well, we don’t go to the toilet here!” And no one, naturally, came out. We don't know anyone by name or last name. There were a lot of people and they didn't introduce themselves even if we asked.

I went up to the second floor, and there I saw, again, representatives of the investigative authorities, representatives of the Ministry and a representative of the Oriental Museum, in outerwear, almost everyone in jackets, coats, who was wearing what.”

The First Deputy General Director of the Museum named after N.K. also shared his emotions with FAN-TV. Roerich Pavel Zhuravikhin:

– The picture is like a child. The fact is that Roerich’s painting is created using tempera; it is painting in tempera. Tempera is a pigment of natural minerals, and it is clear that the binder holds this, say, sand. As soon as serious tremors occur, if this connecting link weakens a little due to a large number of years, a scree immediately occurs. I just saw how these paintings were stacked on edge in cardboard boxes! It’s hard for me to say what’s inside and in what condition. These paintings were bought at auctions, brought to Russia by Boris Ilyich for the Russian people, for Russian culture, they were collected here for 25 years and a huge collection was collected, the largest collection of paintings by the Roerichs in the world! We should be proud! Now they are putting these paintings at risk in order to get their money back to investors. This is unthinkable! Well, okay, describe the pictures. We'll give you a subscription. But why tear them off the walls urgently?! Some were literally taken out of the territory through the back door. And all this is under the supervision of the Advisor to the Minister of Culture.

– By the way, it became known that more than 50 boxes with paintings are already on the territory of the Museum of the East...

“The horror is that we don’t fully know what’s there.” There were strangers in the museum, and the security alarm was completely turned off. This is an incredible situation!

The Public Museum named after Nicholas Roerich has been located in the Lopukhin estate for more than 25 years; it is a structural subdivision of the International Center of the Roerichs. The museum's heritage consists of the world's largest collection of paintings by the Roerichs, over 900 of them, with a total of about 3,000 exhibits. The museum has the status of a public organization; it is not subordinate to the Ministry of Culture; moreover, it is involved in a lawsuit against the department.

In 2015, the Moscow Government transferred three museum buildings to the ownership of the Federal Property Management Agency, whose leadership transferred them to the Museum of the East for operational management with a burden, that is, with the Public Museum located inside. According to the museum's management, with the help of regular inspections and lawsuits, the Ministry of Culture plans to liquidate the public museum and create a state museum in its place, as a branch of the Museum of the East.

A FAN-TV correspondent in a private conversation asks Natalya Cherkashina: “How do you explain this conflict with the Ministry of Culture? It’s probably clear that the investigative and operational group has its own job, it’s dealing with a criminal case.”

And about. The general director of the museum replies: “The press secretary of the Ministry of Culture gave information that the Ministry of Culture has nothing to do with this. But when it was no longer possible to hide the fact that employees of the Ministry took part here, then the Minister of Culture declared that employees of the Ministry of Culture have the right to take part in such investigative actions and, as it were, to observe. But what we saw was not an observation, but a specific instruction to representatives of the investigative authorities what to seize: what first, what second..."

FAN-TV also voiced its opinion Galina Daruse, expert, member of the International Council of Museums of UNESCO: “I must state, this is written in my official review, that the accounting of this museum at the time of my inspection in 2015 complies with the basic requirements of the State Standard. Although we have no reason to make such demands on the Public Museum, you understand! The Roerich Museum keeps its records as required by the state. Namely: each painting received is recorded in a receipts book, drawn up in accordance with the requirements of our instructions. There is no second level, which is what the deputy for science at the Oriental Museum requires. As an expert who inspected federal museums, this is what I came across. Yes, the catalogue, if prepared accordingly, is the very second level of accounting, which the Roerich Museum does not yet have. This is not in 70% of state museums, I checked them. And now, for example, the Hermitage and Tretyakov Gallery have a problem: they do not have a general ledger of receipts, which is required by state accounting. Why? Because old museums. Neither Tretyakov, nor Catherine They didn’t know what the Soviet Union’s demands would be, they didn’t keep such a book. Therefore, to make a claim against a public museum that they do not have a second level when they have a complete catalog of the collection that I am talking about is ignorant.

There is a second claim that they speculate on based on the incompetence of public opinion. They say: “Why didn’t the Roerich Museum include the paintings in the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation after 2005?” The Law on the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation of 1996 and amendments to it, which have now been adopted, do not provide for mandatory inclusion in the Museum Fund for public museums, that is, owners of non-state institutions. Let the Oriental Museum not fool people. The Roerich Museum included a non-state part in the Museum Fund - 669, in my opinion, paintings by the Roerichs. That's it, there is an order. He published the second part, which came after 2005, in the catalogue. Now he is being slowed down by the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR: he does not want (why, I don’t know) to include the remaining paintings in the museum register. Maybe it wants to get unframed paintings for its use? It wraps up all the museum’s appeals with the request “put us in, turn us on.” They say: “No, you have the wrong expert, your papers are written down incorrectly.” The public should know that they are simply being deceived by people who enjoy the status of a doctor of some sciences.”

Pavel Zhuravikhin described in more detail the participation of the Ministry of Culture in the scandal surrounding the Roerichs’ legacy:

– Before the arrival of the current leadership of the Ministry of Culture, we had excellent relations with the previous minister. The Minister of Culture valued our museum activities very highly Alexander Avdeev. Lyudmila Vasilievna, our general director, under two ministers of culture she was awarded the orders of “Friendship”, “For Services to the Fatherland”, and for the preservation of cultural heritage. It’s difficult for me to talk about the president, he has a lot to worry about, so naturally he relies on his subordinates. He, I believe, cannot but trust the Minister of Culture. When Mr. Medinsky gave a corresponding letter stating that the state property of the Oriental Museum was being robbed, that a certain private organization wanted to take it from the state, naturally, he (the President of the Russian Federation - editor's note) wrote and gave his visa: “I ask you to ensure the interests of the state.” It's clear. He trusts the minister and relies on his integrity. In fact, there was a complete falsification of facts, the president was actually misled, and this paper began to decide everything. The court decision in favor of the International Center of the Roerichs was overturned, and the will of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Roerich was disavowed. But there is a will! There is the will of the donor, it is clearly and clearly expressed: the Public Museum and the transfer to a public organization created by Roerich himself.

– What do you intend to do now, after all this?

– We are counting, first of all, on the voice and indignation of the public. Secondly, we will challenge and protest the actions of security forces. We are doing this now. Thirdly, we will still seek to change this decision. It harms the entire heritage of the Roerichs and may lead in the future (we do not exclude this) to questions from the Indian side about what is being done with the heritage of an Indian citizen, which was Svyatoslav Roerich.