MMTR: plans for the future.
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On June 3, 2010 a scheduled meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT) was held in Shimla, the capital of the mountainous Northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
It is in this State, in the picturesque Himalayan Kullu valley, that the Estate of the outstanding Russian painter, philosopher, traveller and writer, Nicolas Roerich, is situated. There he settled down in 1927 and spent 20 years with his brilliant family – his spouse Elena, a famous writer, and sons – Yuri, a prominent Oriental scholar, and Svyatoslav, a well known painter and cultural figure, and his daughter-in-law, Devika Rani-Roerich – the first megastar of the early Indian cinema. Since 1992, within the premises of the museum estate, the Indian-Russian Memorial Complex, the Gallery of N.K.Roerich, Helena Roerich Arts College and exhibition halls in the buildings of the former “Urusvati” Himalayan Research Institute have been successfully functioning. At the meeting of the Executive Committee the matters of current activities of the Trust and future tasks of its development were reviewed.
On the same day a meeting between the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and, concurrently, the President of the IRMT, Prof. P.K.Dhumal, and his Russian Deputy in the Trust, IRMT life trustee and founder, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in India, Mr Alexander Kadakin, took place.
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Prof. P.K.Dhumal, in all his political and governmental capacities over years has done a lot for the consolidation of the Roerich Trust, its development and for converting it into a cultural center of international repute, visited yearly by about one hundred thousand of Indian, Russian and other foreign tourists and admires of the creative oeuvre of the brilliant Russian family. In the course of substantive discussion a number of prospective plans for future development of the Museum and Estate were outlined. It was reaffirmed that the Government of Himachal Pradesh will do its best to preserve and memorialize the Roerich heritage in the Himalayas, which will forever remain a cultural and spiritual bridge connecting the peoples of India and Russia.
The importance of the recent decision on honorary patronage of the Roerich Trust by the Co-Chairmen of the Russian-Indian Inter-Governmental Commission on economic, trade, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, respectively, the Vice-Premier of the Russian Government, Sergei Sobianin, and the Minister of External Affairs, Government of India, S.M.Krishna, was emphasized.