The collapse of the USSR, many Soviet leaders have fallen from their pedestals. Never before has it been dismantled many monuments. But after 30 years in Russia, the monuments are not destroyed, but rather, establish. And, if possible, and bring from other countries. This is what he wants to do a millionaire and philanthropist Andrey Filatov: to bring to Russia an equestrian statue of President Theodore Roosevelt. It was installed in front of the American Museum of natural history in new York, and it is now going to be demolished amid rallies of the movement “black Life is important” (Black Lives Matter) against racism and police brutality.
Filatov wants to buy the statue with the help of the Art Fund Russe. He also would like to acquire a monument to Alexander Baranov, the first Governor of Alaska, Russian America, who held the position in 1790 and 1818. It is located in the city of Sitka and now, too, came under threat as a symbol of racism and colonialism.
Sheep was the owner and main Governor of Russian settlements in America. He opened trade routes to China and the American continent.
Theodore Roosevelt, in turn, acted as a mediator in peace talks between Russia and Japan after the war of 1905. It was the first war in modern history, when European power was defeated by non-European nation (Japanese). The peace Treaty was signed in Portsmouth, new Hampshire. Russia lost southern Sakhalin, among other things, but the end result was not so humiliating for the Russian Empire, as expected. Roosevelt was the organizer of the peace talks, which he received in 1906 the Nobel peace prize.
Fund Art Russe was founded in 2012 in order to “pursue educational projects for support and promotion of Russian art”. We are talking about works of art that appeared in the era of communism.
Baranov founded the city of Sitka in 1799. Until 1867, when the Russian Empire sold Alaska to the United States, the city was called new Archangel and was the capital of the Russian possessions in North America. Sitka is located on Baranoff island, which is part of the Alexander archipelago, named in reminder of the Russian Tsar Alexander II. That’s when it was sold to Alaska.
Filatov has not yet received a response from new York city, and the authorities of Sitka said that the future of the monument Baranov is not yet resolved. About money speech did not go. Shipping costs must be paid Filatov.
Unlike what happened 30 years ago, today in Russia, the monuments set. This, for example, the figures of the middle Ages: for example, Prince Vladimir the Great, a monument which was set in 2016 next to the Kremlin; Tsar Ivan the terrible, whose memory was honored, by 2015, equestrian statue in the city of Orel. The installation of the monument caused a lot of controversy. There are contemporaries: in 2017, Moscow was opened a monument in honor of the Creator of the AK-47 Kalashnikov.
Want to take monuments from other countries is not new. In April, the Ministry of defense of Russia has proposed to the government of the Czech Republic to send the monument to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev in Russia. The dismantling of the monument, formerly located in the centre of Prague, led to tension in relations between the two countries.
Although it is too early to rejoice, Filatov believes that the statue of FDR can be installed in Saint-Petersburg and the monument of the Baranov — the Museum of the Arctic.
