15.06.2023

International World Heritage Day and the Festival “Russia-India: from Heart to Heart”

at the Roerich Estate

The traditional spring children’s painting competition was held at the International Roerich Memorial Trust on April 18, 2023.

It was dedicated to several dates at once: the International Day of Monuments and Sites, the 115-th birth anniversary of Devika Rani Roerich and also the start of the new phase of the Children and Youth Festival of Russian-Indian Friendship “Russia - India: from Heart to Heart”.

On this day all the participants of the contest who came to the Roerich Estate had a unique opportunity to see the work of a group of artists who are members of the S. Sobha Singh Memorial Chittarkar Society (Regd.) in Punjab. An exhibition of the artists’ paintings was on display at the Contemporary Art Hall of the IRMT. The artists, in their turn, took part in the jury’s work at the conclusion of the competition.

Before the contest began all the guests and participants of the Festival offered flower garlands to the bronze busts of Nicholas and Helena Roerich and to the sculptures of Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani, honoring the outstanding Russian-Indian family who laid the bricks of the strong bridge of friendship between our countries.

The competition was held in the classrooms of the Helena Roerich Academy of Arts for Children, which recently opened its doors to the children of the Kullu Valley after the winter break on April 2. The IRMT curators Mrs Larisa Surgina and Mr Suresh Kumar warmly welcomed all those who gathered there: the young artists, their teachers and parents, and the guests and teachers of the Children’s Academy. They reminded the audience that protection and preservation of cultural heritage is our common priority on the path to the Future. Architectural monuments and works of art, temples and museums, institutions and libraries bring beauty, knowledge and spirituality into our lives, filling them with the subtle energy of the Higher Worlds. It is no coincidence that Nicholas Roerich, when preparing the draft of the International Treaty for the Protection of Cultural Property, world-famous as the Roerich Pact, developed also the symbol of this Pact – the Banner of Culture, which should fly over all cultural objects, saying to destroyers: “Don’t touch! Here is the nation’s patrimony!”

About seventy children took part in the competition: pupils of schools of the Kullu Valley and students of the Helena Roerich Academy of Arts for Children. The theme of the competition was “Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani – Heralds of Beauty and Culture”. The children’s works reflected the cultural monuments of Himachal Pradesh and India, the beauty of paintings by Russian artist Svetoslav Roerich, and the charm of the “First Lady of Indian cinema” Devika Rani, as well as the symbols of Russian-Indian friendship and cooperation.

This joyful spring day, filled with the joy of creation, was also the first day of the Russian-Indian Roerich Cultural Festival, the main events of which took place on May 6-7. The award ceremony for the winners also took place on that day.