Since its foundation, the International Centre of the Roerichs has been carrying out cultural and educational activities aimed at drawing public attention to the problems of preserving the cultural heritage and peace in the world and popularizing among the Russian and international publics the main peace-making idea of the Roerich Pact – Peace through Culture.

Since 1990, a number of significant international cultural and educational projects dedicated to the Banner of Peace and the Roerich Pact have been carried out: “The Banner of Peace in Space”, “The Banner of Peace on the Mountains of the World”, “The International March of Peace for Culture”, the annual “International Day of the Earth and the Peace Bell” and others. The Nicholas Roerich Museum has a special “Banner of Peace” hall dedicated to the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace, where these international projects of the ICR are presented. From 1999 to 2012, cultural and educational exhibitions of the ICR dedicated to the Roerich Pact took place:

at the Peace Palace in The Hague during the UN conference “The Hague Call for Peace”, Netherlands; at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in New Delhi, in Naggar, Mumbai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, India; at the State Duma, Russia; at United Nations Headquarters in New York; at the Russian Cultural Centre at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., United States; in Bruges, Belgium; in Mexico in Bernal, Morelia, Toluca and Saltillo; and in Buenos Aires, Argentina; at the State Agency “Archives”, the National Gallery of Foreign Art and the National Museum “Earth and People” in Sofia, Bulgaria; during the International Conference “Archaeology in Armed Conflict” at the UN Office in Vienna, at the headquarters of the Austrian Ministry of Defence; at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Berlin, Germany; in Shanghai, China; at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy.

In 2012, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, a new major international cultural and educational exhibition of the International Centre of the Roerichs “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity”, dedicated to the preservation of the cultural heritage of humanity and world peace based on the ideas of the Roerich Pact. It became the largest public initiative in this field and was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Pact, which was celebrated in 2015.

Since 2012, as part of the project “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity”, exhibitions have been shown in 17 countries of Europe, America and Asia (France, Argentina, Switzerland, Uruguay, Germany, Russia, Chile, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Kyrgyzstan, India, Belarus, Spain, Bulgaria, USA, Austria, Finland), including: UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (2012), UN Office in Geneva (2013), Peace Palace in The Hague (2014), UN Headquarters in New York (2015), UN Office in Vienna (2015). In Russia, the exhibition has been seen by residents of more than 110 cities since 2014. The project has become Russia’s largest public initiative in the field of culture and peace preservation in recent years. The International Centre of the Roerichs project brought together in cooperation public organisations from many countries and regions of the world. The project was supported by heads of state and parliaments, mayors of cities, public authorities, including the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, Rossotrudnichestvo, the Presidential Administration of Argentina and the Ministry of Education of Argentina, the Ministry of Education of Uruguay, the National Commission for UNESCO of Bulgaria, and the German Commission for UNESCO. In 2013, the Banner of Peace, provided by the International Roerich Centre, was consecrated in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A total of over 500,000 people visited the project’s exhibitions and events, and at least 30 million people in different countries know about the project through the media and the Internet.

The International Centre of the Roerichs’s peacebuilding activities are carried out in fruitful cooperation with UNESCO. Under the patronage of UNESCO, the exhibition “Peace through Culture” was held at the public Nicholas Roerich Museum in Moscow in September 2014. The exhibition presented materials on the development of the idea of peace preservation from the first peace conferences in The Hague in 1899 and 1907 to the present day. During the exhibition there was a round table on the topicv “Nicholas Roerich’s call ‘Peace through Culture’ – the way to eliminate wars and establish lasting peace”.

On May 10, 2015, Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, personally visited the public Nicholas Roerich Museum of the International Centre of the Roerichs as a sign of respect for its work to preserve culture and peace.

Feedback on the exhibition project::

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General: “UNESCO is pleased to work with institutions dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage, such as the International Centre of the Roerichs. I would like to express my gratitude to the Centre for the organisation of this excellent educational exhibition”.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “This exhibition pays tribute to the pioneering idea of the Roerich Pact and demonstrates our determination to move this idea forward. I want to thank the International Centre of the Roerichs for hosting this inspiring exhibition. I call on Governments and peoples around the world to join forces to protect our common heritage and all of humanity”.

The Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace have a profound moral and spiritual essence which is inseparably linked to the creation of Peace and Beauty and the long-standing peace-making activities of the ICR have contributed to the affirmation of these foundations in the life of humanity. The International exhibition project of the International Centre of the Roerichs “The Roerich Pact. History with Modernity” became a nominee of the 2016 “Civic Initiative Award” in Russia and was shortlisted in the “Spiritual Heritage” category.

On August 14, 2020, the new major international cultural and educational exhibition project of the International Centre of the Roerichs “The Roerich Pact. Peace through Culture” was launched in St. Petersburg in the House of Architects.

The exhibition is organized by the International Centre of the Roerichs (ICR), St. Petersburg Branch of the ICR, St. Petersburg Union of Architects, International Committee for the Roerichs’ Heritage Conservation, and the Elena Roerich Charity Foundation.

The international exhibition project “The Roerich Pact. Peace through Culture” is dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the Roerich Pact, the international treaty for the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments, and to the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. Presentation of the new International Exhibition Project Video presentation

On September 19, 2020, on the eve of the International Day of Peace, for the first time in Ukraine, the presentation of the new exhibition “The Roerich Pact – Peace through Culture”, created within the framework of the international cultural and educational projects of the International Centre of the Roerichs, was held at the Nicholas Roerich Cultural Centre in Kharkiv.

The exhibition is organised by the International Centre of the Roerichs (IRC), the Kharkiv Regional Association “Nicholas Roerich Cultural Centre”, Kharkiv Museum of Life and Work of the Roerich Family and the European Association “EURASSIM”. Read more about the exhibition opening: ICR website
Online presentation of the new exhibition “The Roerich Pact – Peace through Culture” at the Nicholas Roerich Cultural Centre in Kharkiv.

International scientific and public conferences on the webiste of ICR