Sgraffito and Soviet-era panels to be recognised as cultural heritage sites

Register of objects of modern art is being put into operation

Last summer, a group of activists, including art historians, artists, and architects, sent a letter to the rais of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, asking him to look into the situation surrounding the sgraffito “Chemistry” on Building D of the Kazan National Research Technological University. It was founded in 1966 by Rustem Kildibekov and Vasil Malikov. During the reconstruction, the upper part of the cgraffito was knocked down, and the rest was covered with panels.

At the end of last year, at a meeting in the Kazan Department of Architecture and Urban Planning with the chief artist of the city, Zhanna Belitskaya, it was decided that the reconstruction project had been carried out in violation, and therefore a new one was needed. It turned out that the crack on the facade had increased, the foundations had not been examined, and it was at least difficult to restore the sgraffito in its original form.

Also last year, local historians led by journalist Vyacheslav Kirillin compiled a register of Soviet monumental art in Tatarstan, marked “lost” and “destroyed”.

According to Olesya Baltusova, the assistant to the rais of the republic, last week she sent a memo to Rustam Minnikhanov and agreed on a way to perpetuate the objects from the collected register. They will be reviewed and approved by the interdepartmental commission for perpetuating the memory of outstanding personalities and significant events in Tatarstan under the Cabinet of Ministers, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Leyla Fazleeva:

“Work will be carried out to approve the register of monumental and decorative arts," Baltusova explained, “the working group will submit objects for consideration by the interdepartmental commission, approve them, then the path for protection will be determined, following the example of other regions.

Baltusova recalls that in recent years, objects created during the Soviet period have been destroyed, forgotten, and demolished during major repairs. This applies to all types of modern art — sculptures, paintings, mosaic compositions, sgraffito, murals. Among high-profile cases, I immediately recall the mosaic on Tyubeteyka at the Moscow market, which was partially replaced with wallpaper. On the other hand, the panel “Let's plant gardens! Spring is the affirmation of life” at the Chemists House of Culture, they were first hidden behind vent facades, and then opened.

Experience of other regions

In Baltusov's note, she points out that buildings with decorative decorations, as a rule, are not historical and cultural monuments, but in neighbouring regions there is a practice of including such works in the unified state register of Cultural Monuments of the peoples of the Russian Federation.

Among the examples — a monumental and decorative work of art on the facade of an apartment building in the city of Salavat (Bashkortostan) called “Courage” (“Salavat Yulaev”). Another identified cultural heritage site is located in Vologda — this is the “Composition of mosaic panels” on the facade of the Dormash plant. In Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo region, there is an object that has the characteristics of a cultural heritage object — the Miner's Labour panel.

A 74-page register is attached to the note. The authors agree that this is not an easy path, but it is necessary to start anyway.