“The Roerichs, India, and the Himalayas” in Mariupol

Mariupol’s Palace of Children’s and Teenagers’ Creativity is currently hosting an exhibition dedicated to the life and endeavors of the famous Roerich family. The function was organized by the Dnipropetrovsk-based Roerich Society whose active members spread knowledge on the Roerich family’s spiritual heritage by means of holding mobile photo exhibitions in various cities of Ukraine. The exhibition’s visitors can see the reproductions of pictures by Nikolai and Sviatoslav Roerich as well as by old-time and contemporary Indian artists.

One of the reasons why this exhibition aroused interest among Mariupol residents is that the name of Nikolai Roerich is connected with that of our prominent fellow countryman, artist Arkhip Kuindzhi. When Nikolai Roerich was an Academy of Arts student, he was taught painting by Professor Kuindzhi. Roerich wrote in his diary, “Arkhip Ivanovich [Kuindzhi] taught me the art of life itself, not only of painting.”

India occupied a crucial place in the Roerichs’ life. In 1924-1928 N. K. Roerich went on an unprecedented research-cum-art expedition across the Himalayas, Tibet, Altai, and Mongolia. In 1928 the Roerichs set up the Uruswati Himalayan Research Institute in India. The photo exhibition, which includes more than a hundred exhibits, reveals a beautiful and enigmatic country with an age-old great culture set off by gorgeous and majestic nature. The photos illustrate the Roerichs’ stay in India and their close spiritual ties with that beautiful country. The spectators can see a panorama of the Himalayan Mountains, ancient temples, and holy places.