New Evidence of Destruction of Moscow’s Nicholas Roerich Museum

On January 30, a press conference was held for “The Deliberate Destruction of the Non-Governmental Museum Named after Nicholas Roerich: Results and Consequences,” at the Rosbalt Information Agency in Moscow. Its date was tied in to mark 9 months since the illegal seizure of the Museum by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the State Museum of Oriental Art subordinated to the Ministry. 

New evidence was presented at the conference, which highlights how the Ministry of Culture of Russia illegally seized the Non-Governmental Museum Named after Nicholas Roerich in the center of Moscow. During the incident, more than 900 paintings and drawings by Nicholas and Svetoslav Roerich were illegally seized and removed from the Museum. Those affected were outraged by the illegal actions of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and Minister Vladimir Medinsky. 

Fortunately, the International Center of the Roerichs (ICR) with the help of donations, returned more than 400 paintings and drawings of Roerich to Russia, held over 600 exhibitions, published 250 books from the Roerichs’ heritage and about the Roerichs. The Non-Governmental Museum, named after Nicholas Roerich of the ICR, became the largest non-governmental museum in Russia, with the world’s largest art collection and archives of the Roerich family. 

On the night of April 28-29, 2017, the State Museum of Oriental Art took over the buildings of the Lopoukhins’ estate. The Ministry of Culture illegally seized all the funds of the Non-Governmental Museum belonging to the ICR under the cover of the investigative actions conducted by the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the case concerning the Master Bank. Also, the seizure of the property of the organization and its workers took place, which resulted in numerous thefts. 

“On April 29, 2017, the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, under the pretext of investigative actions against the head of the Master Bank, transferred the buildings to the Museum of Oriental Art for operational management, and the property located in it, for safe custody,” Alexander Stetsenko, Vice-President of the International Center of the Roerichs, stressed. 

At the same time, the court’s decision did not come into force, because the ICR immediately appealed against it. “The decision came into force only in August 2017, when the appellate instance passed an appropriate decision. Prior to this, there was no legal decision”, explained the attorney of the International Center of the Roerichs Dmitry Kravchenko. 

The ICR’s workers were able to enter the territory of the estate only on January 15, 2018. It was the day when the enforcement proceedings concerning the court’s decision began to release the ICR’s property and remove it from the Lopoukhins’ estate. “In our absence, the doors were forced open, the boxes were ransacked. The property was piled up in several rooms. The furniture was disassembled. Furthmore, throughout these 9 months, the workers could not take away their personal property. It was possible to return the property only after applying to the courts. But many things turned out to be simply gone, those of valuable icons in a silver setting, expensive gift books, sculptural compositions. The workers cannot get access to their passports, certificates of marriage and birth so far. I received my passport only after I sued the court in January 2018. When I went into my office, the box was ransacked. On what grounds?”, Alexander Stetsenko said. 

Recently, the Ministry of Culture, represented by the First Deputy Minister V. Aristarkhov, has been taking all possible measures to eliminate the ICR on the flimsiest of pretexts, up to accusations of extremism and claims to the organization’s charter. 

“When we saw that part of the property was actually destroyed, we insisted on the property being transferred only by agreements signed by the two sides. The State Museum of Oriental Art has refused to sign the acts”, Dmitry Kravchenko said. The ICR continues to appeal against the decision of eviction from the buildings of the Lopoukhins’ estate. 

In conclusion of his speech, Alexander Stetsenko, assessing the events around the ICR, recalled the prophetic phrase of Nicholas Roerich, “The destruction of a museum is the destruction of a country.” 

Natalia Cherkashina, Acting Director General of the Non-Governmental Museum, named after Nicholas Roerich, emphasized that the Museum Named after Nicholas Roerich was the largest non-governmental museum in Russia, and one of the largest in Europe. She noted that its Director General, Lyudmila Shaposhnikova, created a composition that combined science, beauty and spirituality. For the first time, the whole Roerich family was represented in the museum. Natalia Cherkashina submitted the photos with beautiful views of the Non-Governmental Museum halls. Nothing has remained of these now.

By Tom Day