Resolution of the International Scientific-Social Conference, devoted to the 70-th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact (Moscow, October 7-9, 2005)

RESOLUTION

OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC- SOCIAL

CONFERENCE, DEVOTED TO THE 70-TH ANNIVERSARY

OF THE ROERICH PACT

(Moscow, October 7-9, 2005)

On October 7-9, 2005 in the International Nicholas Roerich Center there took place the International Scientific - Social Conference, devoted to the 70-th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact. The International Nicholas Roerich Center was the initiator of the Conference. In the organization of the Conference there took part the International League of Culture Protection, the International Association of Peace Funds, the International Humanitarian Fund “Znanie” (“Knowledge”), the Russian Academy of Arts, the Russian Fund of the International League of Protection of Culture, the All-Russian Society of Protection of Monuments of History and Culture, Russian Academy of Education, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, K. Ziolkovsky Russian Academy of Astronautics, the Ye.I.Roerich Charitable Fund.

Newspapers “The Kultura” (“The Culture”), “The Guberniya”, TV channel “The Kultura” (“The Culture”), magazine “The Kultura i Vremya”) (“The Culture and Time”) implemented the Conference infotainment.

The Conference was opened by Yu.M.Vorontsov – the President of the ICR, the Special Representative of the General Secretary of the UNO, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador. The Conference participants were complimented by Ye. G.Drapeko – the Deputy of the Chairman of the Commission in Culture of the State Duma of the Russian Federation; by K.Lilleorg – the Representative of the Information Center of the UNO in Moscow; by V. M. Afanasyev – the President of the International League of Culture Protection, Pilot-Astranaut; by L.Zeiler (Germany) – the Member of the Presidium of the Ethics Society “The World Spiral”; by K.Kox – the President of Agni Yoga Society and the Nicholas Roerich Society of the Netherlands; by L.Stroble – the Director of the Austria Roerich Society; by V. Ganz – the Member of the Living Ethics Society Board (Italy). There were read the compliment addresses of V.S. Chukov – the Director of the Expedition Center “Arktika”, the President and the Full Member of the Russian Geographical Society; A.V.Bobrov – the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir region, Lokesh Chandra – the Chairman of the International Academy of Indian Culture, Professor.

There were received complimentary telegrams from A.S.Sokolov – the Minister of Culture and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation; from L.Tanyuk – the Chairman of the Committee in Culture and Spirituality of the Supreme Rada of the Ukraine; from I.G.Ilishev – the Deputy of Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, the Minister of Culture and National Policy; from Yu. P. Gnedovsky – the Chairman of the Union of Architects of Russia; from P.I.Gonchar – the Director of the Ukrainian Center of National Culture “Ivan Gonchar Museum”; and others.

In the halls of the Museum there were exhibited four exhibitions: “The 70^th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact”;“The Lopukhins’ Estate: the History of Restoration”; the Exhibition of the funds of the Central Scientific Restoration Project Workshops of the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation and the Central Council of the All-Russian Society of Protection of Monuments of History and Culture “Ruined by Human Ignorance and Restored by Human Hope” (N.K.Roerich); and the Exhibition “Earth and Cosmic Painting of Alexei Leonov”, devoted to the jubilee of A.A.Leonov – Pilot-Astronaut, the Member of the Council of Painters of Russia. There were presented the ICR editions of 2005.

In the work of the Conference there participated more than 450 representatives of Russia regions, representatives of more than 20 foreign countries: Austria, Belgium, the Republic of Belarus, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, Canada, Latvia, the Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, the USA, Serbia, the Ukraine, Finland, Czech Republic and others. Among the participants of the Conference there were 6 Academicians, 7 Doctors of Science, 13 Candidates of Science.

At the Conference there were made such communications as “The Actuality of the Roerich Pact in the Modern World” by L.V.Shaposhnikova, the first Vice-President of the ICR, the General Director of Nicholas Roerich Museum, the Honoured Artist of the RF, the Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Astronautics; “ About the Interaction of Bodies of State Authority and Institutional Settings in Protection of Historic Cultural Heritage of the Roerichs” by G.I.Malanicheva, the Chairman of the Central Council of the All-Russian Society of Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments”; “ The Future of Public Museums in Russia” by G.A. Zaitseva, the President of the Fund “Ecology of Culture”; “The Problems of Cultural Heritage in Conditions of Deformation of Value Landmarks” by A.I.Aksenova, the General Director of Vladimir-Suzdal National Park, the Laureate of the State Prize of the RF and A.A.Tenetkina, the Deputy of the General Director in Science; “Forms of Safe Custody of Cultural Heritage in International Law” by A.A.Kovalyov, the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee in Education, Culture and Science, the Chairman of the Profile Committee in Culture and Cultural Heritage of the Legislative Assembly of St Petersburg; “Public Museum as a Phenomenon of Culture” by G.V.Daruze, the Member of the International Committee of Museums; “The Roerichs House in Cruckerty: the Revival of the Center of Spirituality and Culture” by M. Bernardi, the Head of the Living Ethics Society; “The Progress of the Banner of Peace Movement and New Culture of the World in Mexico” by A. Rodrigues, the Chairman of the International Committee of the Banner of Peace (Malaga, Spain, Mexico, Mexico); “The Banner of Peace” by Shashibala, the Professor of the Institute of the National Museum, the Professor of the International Academy of Indian Culture (New Delhi, India); and others.

The Conference states that the Roerich Pact, suggested in the first half of the XX century by N.K.Roerich and founded on the concept of culture as a motive power of Cosmic evolution of mankind, has been the important component of the international legal protection of cultural values. Together with the Pact N.K.Roerich offered the distinctive mark to be located on the subjects of protection – the Banner of Peace, representing three spheres surrounded by a circle in magenta colour on a white background.

The promulgation of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace was the behest of time. It had been conditioned by the necessity to guard the worldwide cultural heritage as the problem of irretrievable losses of cultural values in the case of armed conflicts and in peacetime in the XX century intensified appreciably and assumed a global character. The treaty of protection of cultural and scientific institutions and historical monuments (the Roerich Pact) was signed on April 15, 1935 in Washington by representatives of twenty one states of American continent. Unfortunately in European countries, where the II World War was approaching, the Pact was not adopted. The Roerich Pact was the basis of the Hague Convention of 1954. Since that time as history witnesses the cultural evolution significance of the Pact and the Banner of Peace has been even growing.

In spite of the active promotion of the idea of the Pact and the Banner of Peace by N.K. Roerich and all the members of his family and the support of the Pact by the World Community, the monuments of culture go on to be ruined or losing their cultural functions in the cases of their reprofiling. The present - day state of cultural heritage of Russia and the attitude of the State to it suggests the most serious apprehensions, taking into consideration that:

- the actions of State officialdom are directed on the seizure of the Roerichs heritage and the destruction of the Public Nicholas Roerich Center-Museum;

- there takes place unjustified and in many cases unlawful demolition of historical buildings and new development of historical areas;

- there takes place the archeological heritage despoilment;

- there are no regulations concerning museums - national parks and also the regulations of attribution of the acres of cultural heritage objects to the acres of historical cultural appropriation. (E.g. the acres of the Borodino field, the Kulikovo field and the Prokhorovka field are regarded as the lands of agricultural appropriation but not historical - cultural ones);

- there spreads the practice to treat the monuments of history and culture exclusively as the objects of ownership though the privatization of monuments doesn’t solve the problem of their safe custody.

The Government of the RF made decision on clearance of the considerable part of monuments of culture, i.e. the conversion them into commercial settings.

Meanwhile cultural values constitute the permanent spiritual treasure of man, people, countries, the whole mankind as Culture is one of the main foundations of Cosmic Evolution of man.

The Conference provides:

1. To recommend public organizations, Roerich societies to popularize the ideas of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace with the purpose of their wider dissemination and practical application by people and Governments of different countries of the World.

2. To entrust the organizers of the Conference to address the community to combine efforts for conducting joint actions to protect cultural values; to form the commission of representatives of regions with V.V.Frolov as its Chairman to prepare the address in question.

3. To recommend the International Center of the Roerichs to address the Government of the RF with the proposal to adopt the Provision to use the sign of the Banner of Peace for protection of cultural values.

4. To recommend the International League of Culture to conduct in regions of Russia investigation and cataloging of cultural values, necessary to guard them and to organize their active protection.

5. In the name of all the participants of the Conference to demand the Agency of Culture and Mass Communications to return to the ICR the collection of 288 paintings of N.K. Roerich and S.N.Roerich unlawfully retained.

6. To adjudicate the position of the State Duma of the RF conveyed in taking down without any grounds and authorization the Banner of Peace, universally acknowledged symbol of protection of cultural values, from the lobby of the Conference hall of the State Duma.

7. To recommend Roerich societies to give universal support to museums, libraries, public, social and state cultural organizations in conducting cultural and educational work connected with popularization of the Roerich heritage, ideas of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace.

8. The Conference addresses patrons, Russian and International public organizations a request to promote financing the programs, connected with the popularization of the Roerichs heritage and the support of cultural initiatives aimed at spiritual revival of Russia.

9. The Conference addresses museums with proposal to create independent association of museums for cooperation in protection of Culture.

10. To create on the basis of the ICR the Public Fund of the Roerich Pact for regular and day-to-day protection of objects of culture and cultural values.

11. The Conference participants express indignation by the destruction of monuments of culture in Serbia, Iraq, Chechen Republic and other hotspots of the planet and insist on creating the International Commission to investigate crimes against Culture with calling the culprits to account.

(Published in the magazine “Kultura I Vremya” N 4, 2005)