“Pax Сultura”
In our very busy world we don’t spend much time going to the
theatres, art galleries and museums. But sometimes unpredictable circumstances grant us a
break in our daily schedule, that most people don’t know how to fill. To my mind the
best way to fill it is to visit a museum.
So, a few weeks ago I had a lucky chance to have such a break in the
middle of the day. Thus, accidentally, I dropped in to the Roerich museum that I had
dreamt to visit for a long time.
Actually I had a vague image of this personality, but this visit to the
museum helped me to lift the veil and presented Nicholas Roerich as an amazing creator and
an explorer in all possible senses (an artist, an orientalist, an archeologist, a
philosopher, etc.).
All his whole life Roerich was interested in different cultures; he
tried to find common links in their origins, their evolutions and their deaths. He lived
on the boundary of centuries when one culture was being deliberately buried and another
was being founded. He saw the crumbling walls of churches and deteriorating buildings. He
was a witness to two World Wars and could not stay indifferent to human distress. He
clearly realized that humanity is a great constructive and destructive power. So his
priority was to protect world cultural heritage from negative human influences. Under
“cultural heritage” he implied not only historical buildings and artifacts, but some
traditions kept at colleges and universities, museums, picture galleries, scientific
centers, libraries, etc. Something was required to stop the process of destruction to
preserve cultural heritage for the future generations. And Roerich clearly understood this
and actively worked on the solution of this crucial problem. At this time a priceless idea
occurred to his mind: to compose a treaty of preserving cultural heritage. He was the
first who put all his efforts to make it a reality. That was a huge step forward. This
treaty, known as the Roerich Pact, was signed by all the members of the Pan-American Union
in the White House in the USA in the presence of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In
the main body of this Pact it was stated: “The historic monuments, museums, scientific,
artistic, educational and cultural institutions shall be considered as neutral and as such
respected and protected by belligerents. The same respect and protection shall be due to
the personnel of the institutions mentioned above…in time of peace as well as in war.”
The Roerich Pact was often called the Red Cross of Culture, not only
according to its goals, but also its symbols. So the significant part of this Pact was the
design of the Banner of Peace that reflected the essence of this movement, and is supposed
to identify the monuments and institutions that had to be protected.
This distinctive flag is a red circle with a triple red sphere in the
circle on a white background. These symbols are rooted in ancient civilizations and can be
met in different cultures. That’s why they were used in the Banner of Peace.
Roerich himself explained the circle as the integrity of culture, with
the three spheres representing Art, Science and Religion – three basic components of
culture in their mutual interaction. According to another interpretation the three spheres
are as the unity of Past, Present and Future. The Present depends on the Past, the Future
is subdued to the Present, and all in all the Past comes into its own, thus explaining
cyclic recurrence in the evolution of culture. If we think over it a little, we can notice
that our reality depends on our history and the future of nations depends on our actions
and our attitude. I believe we are able to change our attitude towards the world’s
cultural heritage and to preserve if for future generations.
That was the main idea which Nicholas Roerich appealed to.
Nowadays this crisis of notions, this crisis of attitudes, exists not
only in our country but all over the world. Technical progress and innovation are often
directed in the wrong way. People prefer to ruin something and then to create something
new instead of exerting their efforts to preserve what is old. For instance, governments
prefer to demolish historical buildings and build new ones. They do not wish to
reconstruct them, to modernize them somehow; to install new equipment, as this will demand
lots of money and time. So we choose the way of less resistance, forgetting the cultural
wealth. This is a problem of current importance that requires our attention and our active
participation in solving.
But, nevertheless, in our world there are still people, some groups and
associations, who keep on spreading the ideas of the Roerich Pact, the Banner of Peace and
the principles that they contain. That means that Roerich’s motto “Pax cultura”
(“Peace through culture”) is still alive.
By Ekaterina Pigusova
Address: Maly Znamensky Pereulok 3/5
Metro: Kropotkinskaya
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 11am – 7pm, closed Monday
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