IZO

The pamphlet entitled Magi by Alexei Dobrovolsky (aka Dobroslav), the dissident leader of Russian neo-paganism, has been pronounced extremist by a court in Kirov (Lenta.ru, in Russian).

The Moscow authorities insist that in place of the Central House and the Artist a park will be constructed, not flats and offices (gzt.ru, in Russian). The architect of the building, Nikolai Sukoyan, died in late December, aged 89 (gazeta.ru, in Russian).

Mr Bychkov, head of the Central House of the Artist, wants to take the fight against its destruction (IZO) international (Sophia Kishkovsky/NYT).

Information received about a demonstration in opposition to demolition of the Central House of the Artist (thanks, DM):

On February 24th, there will be a demonstration against the commercial development of land that should belong to art and to the public!

The demonstration will take place from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. at the entrance to Gorky Park.

The State Tretyakov Gallery, the nation's premier museum, along with the Central House of Artists, are in grave danger. 

Both Moscow municipal government and the federal government are actively lobbying in favor of a plan to demolish the building that houses both institutions and build on its foundation a 17-story building designed for commercial purposes. The plan proposes to move the museum off to the side, placing it directly on the curb of the Garden Ring Road and almost putting it beneath the Krymsky Bridge. 

The plan of this barbarous "reconstruction" will, in effect, deprive members of the public of access to the masterpieces of our visual arts for many years to come. Yet every attempt is being made to push it through quietly and quickly, so as to put all of us before a decided matter. 

It is precisely because of this that each of us who values the great traditions of Russian, Soviet and world cultures should force those in power to hear a powerful voice of protest. We demand that the existing cultural complex on the Krymsky embankment be declared by law as the territory of art. We demand that attempts to put on that territory facilities that have nothing to do with art be legally prohibited! 

The Committee for the Protection of the Territory of Art Phone numbers of the organizers of the demonstration: +7-916-678-82-42, +7-916-148-83-26, +7-910-436-22-32, +7-909-150-32-38

Also: Veronika Sukoyan, daughter of the architect of the Central House of the Artist Nikolai Sukoyan, has called for the building to be come a protected monument (Lenta.ru, in Russian). And leading architecture critic Grigori Revzin has withdrawn his earlier support for the demolition and redevelopment (Kommersant, in Russian).

Diana Machulina displays the scheme for the reconstruction of the Central House of the Artist: the planned location of the new Tretyakov Gallery building and new House of the Artist is right next to the Krymski bridge and Garden Ring road (1, 2): 5x dirtier than most of the territory put aside for commercial construction (3, 4) (melanholerik). Details of a picket and other protests (mahlrah, in Russian). Kirill Ass is also on the job (Open Space, in Russian).

In the latest iteration of the plans, the Central House of the Artist will be demolished and replaced with commercial space; and a new building for the Tretyakov Gallery will be erected, tucked away in the shadow of the Krymski Bridge (Vesti, in Russian). Not a good result from the art world's point of view.

Neither the Tretyakov Gallery nor the artists' union which jointly occupy the Central House of the Artist are happy with the proposed reconstruction plans (Fellton, in Russan).

The new plans for the Central House of the Artist and surrounding territory may be ready by the end of November (BN.ru, in Russian).

A committee has been formed to prevent the demolition of the Central House of the Artist by developers; among its members: historian Nikolai Zvanidze, writer Viktor Erofeev, fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, politician Irina Khakamada, critic Artemi Troitsky, head of the Moscow artists' union Ivan Kazansky (gazeta.ru, in Russian).

More on what may replace the Central House of the Artist (ANN, in Russian).

Predictably, we're not going to get Foster's orange: the Central House of the Artist will be demolished to make way for a "presidential centre", something like New York's Lincoln Centre, and a nearby lycee will be the site of a rebuilt House of the Artist, I hear.

Plans are afoot to demolish the Central House of the Artist and replace it with a vast segmented orange by Norman Foster (Moscow Times). It looks lovely, but... we've seen lots of projects in Moscow by Sir Norman now: when will one actually materialise?