History and culture: The exhibition “Cultural values – witnesses and victims of war” in Novgorod

April 29, 2013 in the exhibition halls of the Novgorod Kremlin is opening the exhibition “Cultural values – witnesses and victims of war.  From the collection of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve”.

The destruction of Veliky Novgorod during the World War II and the destruction of a large part of its artistic legacy can be defined as one of the greatest catastrophes of the XX century. The war has caused irreparable damage to many monuments of medieval architecture and monumental painting. Temples, formed the worldwide fame of ancient Novgorod, in the course of military operations within 29 months of the occupation were ruined.

No less tragic was the fate of the museum collections. The evacuation of sites was carried out in terms of military action in a hurry: there were not enough people, packaging materials, containers and vehicles. Unfortunately, only a part of the museum property was saved.

In the postwar decades have begun a major restoration works on the victims and destroyed monuments of architecture and monumental painting of Ancient Novgorod.

The exhibition includes artworks from the Novgorod Museum, exported by occupiers during the World War II, the pre-war copies of the destroyed mural paintings and documents of the 1940s on the restitution of art treasures - about sixty exhibits.

Many works are exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition, on television is continuously demonstrating footage of a documentary about Novgorod in 1944 and a slide film.

The slide film includes the post-war and contemporary photographs of monuments of Novgorod, pictures of the occupation period provided by B. N. Kovalev; photographs of exhibits of the exhibition - the front and back (with German markings) of their sides.

The exhibition will run until August 20, 2013 in the main building of the museum.