International Day of Culture (day of adoption of the Roerich Pact). International Day of Culture How to celebrate Culture Day

Translated from Sanskrit, “culture” means “reverence for light.” And these words really convey the true essence of the phenomenon: the desire to experience beauty, self-improvement, and search for ideals. Culture is what turns a person into a truly intelligent thinking being. Culture unites the human race into a single whole, despite the place of birth and native language any person.

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Our country has the most direct and immediate relation to the establishment of the holiday under discussion. For the first time such an idea was expressed by the world famous Russian philosopher and artist Nicholas Roerich. He announced his proposal in 1931 in the Belgian city of Bruges at an international conference dedicated to the development of a defense pact cultural values. Later, it deservedly received the name “Roerich Pact”, signed on April 15, 1935 in Washington. It was this day that was subsequently chosen as the date of the new holiday.

The International Center of the Roerichs, created by the descendants of the artists in 1998, proposed celebrating April 15 as a world holiday. As part of the initiative, an international movement in its support was established already in 2008. Having not yet received official recognition, World Day of Culture (that’s what it sounds like in English name of the holiday), nevertheless it is celebrated very widely almost all over the world.

Traditions

The list of actions and events taking place on April 15 all over the planet, including Russia, recognized as one of the most cultural countries on the planet, is as extensive as the cultural phenomenon itself. The cultural program includes:

exhibitions dedicated to various national cultures;
scientific conferences devoted to this topic;
educational lectures on the culture of the peoples of the world;
gala concerts;
poetry and musical evenings;
plays and theatrical performances.

An indispensable attribute of the celebration is the solemn raising of the Banner of Peace, designed by the same Nicholas Roerich - a white cloth with the image of three touching amaranth circles, symbolizing the past, present and future.

Modern humanity is distinguished from its ancient ancestors by a higher level of development. In principle, this difference can also be characterized by using the term “civilization.” However, it is wrong to think that people who lived long before us had completely wild ideas about certain things. For example, in the same Ancient Egypt, ancient Greece there was a concept of culture, and in the 19th century the development of the latter reached, one might say, its apogee. However, today every effort is being made to preserve cultural values and traditions. One of the steps taken in this direction is the annual celebration of April 15 International Day culture.

Information about the holiday International Day of Culture

April 15th International Day of Culture was established in 1998. The initiative to include it in the calendar of public events with international status belongs to representatives of the International League for the Defense of Culture. This public organization began its functioning two years earlier, having been established by the International Center of the Roerichs.

It must be said that the International Day of Culture is even more closely connected with this surname. The fact is that on April 15, 1935, the so-called Roerich Pact, which is officially called the agreement “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments,” was signed in Washington. Nicholas Roerich, whose name was named after such an important document, was famous artist. 4 years before signing it, within the framework of a conference held in the Belgian city of Bruges, the figure proposed holding a World Culture Day. Roerich bowed before this, as he believed, the main driving force improvement of society and was absolutely convinced that culture is the unifying link between people, regardless of their religion and nationality. Of course, Roerich’s proposal was supported, and as a result, those present made the appropriate decision to establish the International Day of Culture holiday. At the same time, a clear formulation of the main task appeared significant date: call of the masses to knowledge and beauty.

The Roerich Pact, based on the unofficial name of the agreement, was also proposed by the artist. First, Roerich made a corresponding appeal at the very beginning of the last century to the warring states, including Russia, with a request to do everything possible to preserve cultural values through the conclusion of a specific international agreement. However, the artist was not heard then. Roerich did not abandon his idea and in 1929 he independently developed and then published a draft of the corresponding treaty. The Roerich Pact became widely known throughout the world. He was supported by many cultural figures: writers, scientists, artists. Among them were Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Herbert Wells, Bernard Shaw, Rabindranath Tagore and others. And in many countries committees were formed in support of the famous document.

Currently, every year on April 15, a considerable number of world powers celebrate the International Day of Culture by raising the Banner of Peace. This is happening in Russia too. This tradition appeared in December 2008, when public organizations in our country, Latvia, Lithuania, Cuba, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Argentina took the corresponding initiative. “Banner of Peace” is a distinctive sign proposed and approved, just like the Pact, by Nicholas Roerich. The author intended them to mark those under protection cultural sites. The "Banner of Peace" is a banner white depicting three touching amaranth circles, representing past, present and future human achievements. The listed circles, in addition to everything else, are framed by the ring of Eternity.

The meaning and principles of the Roerich Pact

The Treaty “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments” subsequently served as the basis for the creation of many modern documents in the field of protection cultural heritage. For example, on the basis of the Roerich Pact, some acts of the UNESCO organization were developed: “Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict” (1954), “Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illegal Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property "(1970), "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" (1972), "Declaration on the Deliberate Destruction of Cultural Heritage", "Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity".

The principles and provisions of the Roerich Pact played a huge role in the continued formation of legal norms in the field of cultural heritage protection. This is explained general character basic ideas of the contract. Here they are:

provision on respect and protection of cultural values (any reservations are absent and unacceptable);
the obligation of states to adopt, within the framework of national legislation, norms that meet the requirements of international legislation regarding the protection of cultural property;
the principle of registering cultural property by recording them in lists specially developed for this purpose;
the principle of a national protection regime in relation to foreign cultural property.

The Roerich Pact is unique. In fact, it became the first international document entirely devoted to the protection and preservation of cultural property, moreover, not containing a clause on violation of the document due to military necessity. In a broad sense, the Roerich Pact should be understood as the entire range of measures to protect the cultural heritage of the planet. It turns out that in addition to the legal Pact, it also has philosophical, evolutionary and educational significance.

Concept of culture

On this holiday, April 15, International Day of Culture, it remains to penetrate the meaning of the hero of the occasion. In other words, to answer a seemingly banal, but in reality, answer is enough difficult question: “What is culture?” Translated from Latin, this term, derived from the verb “colo”, “colere”, means “cultivation”. Later, this word acquired a slightly different sound, while retaining its original meaning: culture is upbringing, development, education, reverence.

As a rule, the concept of culture is applicable to human activity, expressed in various manifestations. The source of culture is creativity and knowledge. At the same time, different periods of human development had their own concepts of culture. Thus, the ancient Greeks associated the latter with a sincere attitude towards everything they did, even cultivating the land. And in Russia XVIII– XIX centuries the word “enlightenment” was synonymous with culture.

Today we are accustomed to understand by culture all the best that has been created and is being created in the field of art, classical music, literature. And we associate the word “cultured” with a person who is literate, educated, and has good manners. However, there is no doubt that scientific and technological progress has a detrimental effect on the development of culture. Confirmation of this is the words of Oswald Spengler: “Civilization arises where culture dies.” The conclusion suggests itself: incredible efforts must be made to reconcile these two powerful “engines” of human development.

April 15 is celebrated as International Day of Culture. The date is associated with the signing on April 15, 1935 in Washington of the agreement “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments,” which became known in international legal practice as the Roerich Pact.

The initiative to celebrate the day of signing the Pact as the International Day of Culture was taken in 1998 by the public organization International League for the Defense of Culture, founded in 1996 by the International Center of the Roerichs.

Since that time, in many cities of Russia and around the world, on April 15, a solemn celebration of Culture Day is taking place with the raising of the Banner of Peace. In some Russian cities, International Day of Culture has been celebrated since 1995.

Since 1999, on the initiative public organizations this day is celebrated as international culture day.

In December 2008, on the initiative of public organizations in Russia, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Latvia, and Lithuania, the International Movement was created to establish April 15 as World Culture Day under the Banner of Peace.

The proposal to hold World Culture Day was put forward by the artist Nicholas Roerich in 1931 in the Belgian city of Bruges at a conference dedicated to promoting an international treaty on the protection of cultural property. Roerich considered culture the main driving force on the path to improvement human society, saw in it the basis of unity of people different nationalities and religions. At the same time, the main task of the Day of Culture was named - a broad appeal to beauty and knowledge. Nicholas Roerich wrote: “Let us also affirm the World Day of Culture, when in all churches, in all schools and educational societies at the same time, we will be reminded in an enlightened manner of the true treasures of humanity, of creative heroic enthusiasm, of the improvement and beautification of life.”

The first international legal act on the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments was also proposed by Roerich.
The idea of creating organized protection of cultural values arose from him at the very beginning of the century while studying the monuments of Russian antiquity. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904 forced the artist to seriously think about the threat that lurked in the technical improvement of military means of destruction. In 1914, Nicholas Roerich addressed the Russian government and the governments of other warring countries with a proposal to ensure the safety of cultural property by concluding an appropriate international agreement, but his appeal then remained unanswered. In 1929, Roerich prepared and published in various languages a draft treaty on the protection of cultural property, accompanying it with an appeal to the governments and peoples of all countries. The draft treaty received worldwide fame and wide response among the world community. Romain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein, Herbert Wells, Maurice Maeterlinck, Thomas Mann, Rabindranath Tagore supported the idea of Nicholas Roerich. Committees were formed in many countries in support of the Roerich Pact. The draft Pact was approved by the Committee on Museum Affairs of the League of Nations, as well as the Pan American Union.

On April 15, 1935, in Washington, the leaders of 21 states of the American continent adopted an international treaty “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments,” known as the Roerich Pact.

As part of the pact, the distinctive sign proposed by Roerich was approved, which was supposed to mark protected cultural objects. This sign was the “Banner of Peace” - a white cloth on which three touching amaranth circles are depicted - the past, present and future achievements of mankind, surrounded by a ring of Eternity. The pact contains general principles regarding the protection of cultural property and the respect due to it. The provision on the protection of objects is unconditional in the pact and is not weakened by clauses on military necessity, which reduce the effectiveness of the protection of cultural property in armed conflicts.

Roerich Pact

Information about the holiday April 15 International Day of Culture

This date was established in 1998. The initiative to include it in the calendar of public events with international status belongs to representatives of the International League for the Defense of Culture. This public organization began its functioning two years earlier, having been established by the International Center of the Roerichs.

It must be said that the International Day of Culture is even more closely connected with this surname. The fact is that on April 15, 1935, the so-called Roerich Pact, which is officially called the agreement “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments,” was signed in Washington. Nicholas Roerich, whose name was given to such an important document, was a famous artist. 4 years before signing it, within the framework of a conference held in the Belgian city of Bruges, the figure proposed holding a World Culture Day. Roerich admired this, as he believed, the main driving force for the improvement of society and was absolutely convinced that it was culture that was the unifying link between people, regardless of their religion and nationality. Of course, Roerich’s proposal was supported, and as a result, those present made the appropriate decision to establish a holiday. At the same time, a clear formulation of the main task of the significant date appeared: the call of the masses to knowledge and beauty.

Currently, every year on April 15, a considerable number of world powers celebrate Culture Day by raising the Banner of Peace. This is happening in Russia too. This tradition appeared in December 2008, when public organizations in our country, Latvia, Lithuania, Cuba, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Argentina took the corresponding initiative. “Banner of Peace” is a distinctive sign proposed and approved, just like the Pact, by Nicholas Roerich. The author intended them to mark protected cultural sites. The “Banner of Peace” is a white panel with the image of three touching amaranth circles, personifying past, present and future human achievements. The listed circles, in addition to everything else, are framed by the ring of Eternity.

The meaning and principles of the Roerich Pact

The Treaty “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments” subsequently served as the basis for the creation of many modern documents in the field of cultural heritage protection. For example, on the basis of the Roerich Pact, some acts of the UNESCO organization were developed: “Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict” (1954), “Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illegal Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property "(1970), "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" (1972), "Declaration on the Deliberate Destruction of Cultural Heritage", "Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity".

The principles and provisions of the Roerich Pact played a huge role in the continued formation of legal norms in the field of cultural heritage protection. This is explained by the general nature of the basic idea of the contract. Here they are:

provision on respect and protection of cultural values (any reservations are absent and unacceptable);

the obligation of states to adopt, within the framework of national legislation, norms that meet the requirements of international legislation regarding the protection of cultural property;

the principle of registering cultural property by recording them in lists specially developed for this purpose;

the principle of a national protection regime in relation to foreign cultural property.

Concept of culture

It remains to penetrate into the meaning of the hero of the occasion. In other words, answering a seemingly banal, but in reality, quite complex question: “What is culture?” Translated from Latin, this term, derived from the verb “colo”, “colere”, means “cultivation”. Later, this word acquired a slightly different sound, while retaining its original meaning: culture is upbringing, development, education, reverence.

As a rule, the concept of culture is applicable to human activity, expressed in various manifestations. The source of culture is creativity and knowledge. At the same time, different periods of human development had their own concepts of culture. Thus, the ancient Greeks associated the latter with a sincere attitude towards everything they did, even cultivating the land. And in Russia in the 18th – 19th centuries. the word “enlightenment” was synonymous with culture.

Today we are accustomed to understand by culture all the best that has been created and is being created in the field of art, classical music, and literature. And we associate the word “cultured” with a person who is literate, educated, and has good manners. However, there is no doubt that scientific and technological progress has a detrimental effect on the development of culture. Confirmation of this is the words of Oswald Spengler: “Civilization arises where culture dies.” The conclusion suggests itself: incredible efforts must be made to reconcile these two powerful “engines” of human development.

The date is associated with the signing on April 15, 1935 in Washington of the Treaty “On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments,” which became known in international legal practice as the Roerich Pact.

At the XXII International Congress of Space Flight Participants in Prague, held in October 2009, the world’s cosmonauts signed an Appeal for approval World Day Cultures.

The proposal to hold World Culture Day was put forward by Nicholas Roerich back in 1931 in the Belgian city of Bruges at a conference dedicated to promoting an international treaty on the protection of cultural property. At the same time, the main task of the Day of Culture was named - a broad appeal to beauty and knowledge. Nicholas Roerich wrote: “Let us also affirm the World Day of Culture, when in all churches, in all schools and educational societies at the same time, we will be reminded of the true treasures of humanity, of creative heroic enthusiasm, of the improvement and beautification of life.”

On April 15, 1935, in Washington, in the office of President Roosevelt, the leaders of 21 states of the American continent adopted an international treaty for the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments, named after its creator, the Roerich Pact.

This first international legal act on the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments was proposed by the artist, an outstanding figure of Russian and world culture of the twentieth century, Nicholas Roerich, who considered culture the main driving force on the path to improving human society, saw in it the basis for the unity of people of different nationalities and religions.

The idea of creating an organized protection of cultural property arose in his mind at the very beginning of the century while studying the monuments of Russian antiquity. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904 forced the artist to think seriously about the threat that lay in the technical improvement of military means of destruction.

In 1914, Nicholas Roerich addressed the Russian government and the governments of other warring countries with a proposal to ensure the safety of cultural property by concluding an appropriate international agreement, but his appeal then remained unanswered.

In 1929, Roerich prepared and published in various languages a draft treaty on the protection of cultural property, accompanying it with an appeal to the governments and peoples of all countries. The draft treaty received worldwide fame and wide response among the world community. Romain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein, Herbert Wells, Maurice Maeterlinck, Thomas Mann, Rabindranath Tagore supported the idea of Nicholas Roerich. Committees in support of the Pact were formed in many countries. The draft Pact was approved by the Committee on Museum Affairs of the League of Nations, as well as the Pan American Union.

The Roerich Pact was the first international act specifically dedicated to the protection of cultural property, the only agreement in this area adopted by part of the international community before the Second World War. Within the framework of the Pact itself, the distinctive sign proposed by Roerich was approved, which was supposed to mark protected cultural objects. This sign was the “Banner of Peace” - a white cloth on which three touching amaranth circles are depicted - the past, present and future achievements of mankind, surrounded by a ring of Eternity.

The Roerich Pact played an important role in the further formation of international legal norms and social activities in the field of cultural heritage protection.

This treaty has been used as the basis for many documents of modern international cooperation in the field of cultural heritage protection. Including such UNESCO acts as: “Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict”, adopted in The Hague on May 14, 1954 by the intergovernmental conference of UNESCO member states, and two protocols to it; "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property", adopted in Paris on November 14, 1970 by the 16th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, and the "Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" , adopted in Paris on November 16, 1972 by the 17th session of the General Conference of UNESCO.

Those adopted in 1950-1970 are important. UNESCO recommendations: on regulation archaeological excavations; measures to ensure the general accessibility of museums, preserving the beauty and character of landscapes and areas; prohibition and prevention of illegal import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property; preservation of cultural property endangered as a result of public or private works; national protection of cultural and natural heritage; international exchange of cultural values; preservation and modern role ensembles; protection of movable cultural property; protection and preservation of moving images.

These UNESCO acts have exceptional authority and are designed to influence the development of national legislation, as well as the activities of countries to preserve cultural heritage.