Russian cultural items lost if returned to Church – Museum Chief
25/02/2010
The return of religious relics to the Russian Orthodox Church will lead to their loss, Yelena Gagarina, who heads the Kremlin Museum complex, said on Thursday.
The statement comes as the government works on a bill to return religious archives, relics and buildings to their original owners. The controversial bill has never been made public, “but rumors have been swirling around that it bodes ill for museums,” Gagarina said.
“We already lost a significant number of cultural objects during the [October] Revolution, the Russian Civil War and the Great Patriotic War (WWII). We also lost numerous cultural items, which were returned to the church in the 1990s, and it seems that these losses will continue,” she added.
In a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian museum workers said last week that only 2% of all ancient Russian artifacts managed to survive through centuries, and even those may be lost forever.
They cite an example of 15-th century wall frescoes by legendary Russian icon painter Andrei Rublev in the Russian cities of Vladimir and Zvenigorod near Moscow, which were lost due to humidity, draughts and soot from candles after being returned to the church.
“We ask you to openly speak against this ill-considered and dubious legal initiative which might cause irreparable damage to Russia’s cultural heritage,” the letter says.
Museum workers are also worried by increasing reports of church robberies and fear that priests will be unable to keep thieves away from priceless objects.
Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station that cultural objects might be returned only if a church provides proper conditions “including temperature and air humidity, as well as security and insurance.”
In almost two decades since the collapse of the officially atheist Soviet Union, the Orthodox Church has through government decrees regained ownership of just 100 or so out of 16,000 churches and cathedrals.
While the Orthodox Church will not get back churches now on the UNESCO world heritage list, including St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square and the churches within the Kremlin walls, it is expected to have Moscow’s famed Novodevichy Convent returned to it later in 2010.
Most religious buildings in Russia are currently used free of charge by permission from the government, but the economics ministry has sought to change the ownership structure of property used by religious groups in a bid to cut budget spending.
MOSCOW, February 25 (RIA Novosti)
