The international non-governmental organization “International Centre of the Roerichs” is a non-profit corporate legal entity 
– an international public cultural organization established for the study, preservation and popularization of the Roerichs’ heritage. The Roerichs’ heritage means artistic, philosophical, scientific, literary and memorial heritage, including paintings, manuscripts, documents of Nicholas Roerich, Elena Roerich, Yuri Roerich and Svyatoslav Roerich, regardless of its location, form of ownership and owners.
The International Centre of the Roerichs is a member of Europa Nostra, the Pan European Federation for Cultural Heritage Preservation, an associate member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and an associate member of the International Organization of National Trusts. The ICR is an associate member of the United Nations Department of Public Information and takes an active part in its annual conferences. The ICR has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The International Centre of the Roerichs (until September 1991 corporated as Soviet Roerich Foundation) was founded in 1989 in Moscow by Svyatoslav Roerich. In 1990, after the collapse of the USSR, the Soviet Roerich Foundation was transformed into the International Centre of the Roerichs (ICR). By the will of Svyatsolav Roerich the International Centre of the Roerichs, under the direction of Lyudmila Shaposhnikova with broad public support, created the public Nicholas Roerich Museum in the restored with own efforts old Lopukhin Estate in Moscow – becoming the largest public museum in the Russian Federation. History of the Creation of the Museum.
The activities of the International Centre of the Roerichs (ICR) and its public Nicholas Roerich Museum are performed in accordance with the concept of its founder, Svyatoslav Roerich, who saw it as an active scientific and cultural centre. During more than 27 years of its existence the International Centre of the Roerichs has become not only the biggest, but also the leading organisation in the world in preservation, research and popularisation of the Roerichs’ heritage based upon humanistic ideas about the priority of Culture in people’s lives.
Since then, the International Centre of the Roerichs has not only been able to preserve the Roerichs’ legacy entrusted to it, but also to significantly increase it, and thus had (until April 2017) the largest art collection of paintings by Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich of global significance.
Since 29 April 2017, the work of the public Nicolas Roerich Museum has been halted due to the illegal seizure of the Roerichs’ heritage and the Lopukhin Estate by the State Museum of the East with the direct involvement of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The unique museum exposition, created over 25 years, was barbarously destroyed and part of the expensive museum equipment and exhibits were deliberately damaged and broken.
The Roerichs’ heritage, which belongs to the ICR, has fallen into the illegal possession of the State Museum of the East and the Russian Ministry of Culture and is in danger of being lost caused by the risk of theft and deterioration through improper storage and display. Link: https://save.icr.su/ru/news/
The future activities of the ICR, aimed at the promotion of peacemaking ideas of Nicholas Roerich and widely acknowledged by the country’s leadership, the UN and UNESCO, needs moral and financial support from concerned and just people. Link: #СохранимМузейРериха | #SaveRoerichMuseum
The International Centre of the Roerichs, of which the public Museum is the main unit:
– Conducts international activities aimed at the promotion of the peacemaking ideas of Nicholas Roerich, embodied in the Roerich Pact, the first international treaty for the protection of cultural property (April 15, 1935, Washington), which served as the basis for the creation and operation of UNESCO. International exhibition projects “Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” and “The Roerich Pact. Peace through Culture”. Projects of the ICR.
– held travelling exhibitions of original Roerich paintings in Russia and foreign countries, which contributes to the dialogue of cultures. From the early 1990s to 2015, over 500 exhibitions of Roerich paintings were organised in 250 cities.
– carries out extensive research work on the Roerich family archives donated by Svyatoslav Roerich. The ICR has assembled a unique scientific library in various fields of culture and science, which is an indispensable resource for the study and popularisation of the literary and public heritage, philosophical and scientific works of the Roerich family.
– Since 1992 the ICR (in the Nicholas Roerich Museum until 2017) holds annual international socio-scientific conferences in cooperation with authoritative scientific and cultural institutions, famous scientists, public and state figures and cultural figures. These conferences focus on the study of the Roerichs’ heritage, the preservation of the world’s cultural heritage and the peacebuilding ideas of the Roerich Pact. They are attended by scholars and public figures – from Russia, Europe, Asia, and America.
– publishes the works of the Roerichs, as well as books devoted to the life and work of the Roerich family and their contribution to the world treasury of culture, as well as publications devoted to the Roerich Pact and the importance of the Roerich heritage for the development of human culture and civilisation. More than 200 titles of books have been published, as well as the art and scientific-public magazine “Kultura I Vremya”, which was awarded the “Golden Press Foundation 2008” badge of honour.