The threat of destruction looms over the Central House of Arts Workers

Larisa Bravitskaya, actress, screenwriter, writer

The beginning of this lawlessness was laid in the 90s, when, as a result of arson, the building of the WTO (All-Russian Theater Society) burned down to the ground. The allocated building on Arbat for the needs of the renamed from the WTO into the Union of Theater Workers (STD) did not become a home for the actors. And then, as they say, it started...

Last year alone, Moscow lost 23 historic buildings.

About the confrontation between the residents of Ivanovskaya Gorka and Khokhlovka and the developer, who is trying to destroy the historical appearance of the last stronghold of Old Moscow, this legendary patch, you can compose legends, shoot films, tell descendants.

Residents are desperately fighting for their area as 28 Panfilov's men fought for Moscow. "The enemy is ahead, Moscow is behind, there is nowhere to retreat!"

I didn't make a reservation. Somehow imperceptibly we crossed the line, leaving behind the line trust in the authorities, respect, moreover, mutual. Now the residents of the city and the city authorities are in irreconcilable confrontation, confrontation, in an undeclared war.

As for the Central House of Arts, it is located in the building of the former Moscow German Club, the house of Torletsky-Zakharyin.

You can write a separate, fascinating book about the history of this house, about its contribution to world culture and art.

I will only remind you that in this room of the Moscow German Club, 24-year-old Konstantin Stanislavsky played Ikharev in an amateur performance based on Nikolai Gogol's play "The Players." 1898).

It was in this building that Stanislavsky first appeared as a director.

So, on the stage of this club, the play "The Fruits of Enlightenment" was successfully held, where the young director KS Stanislavsky invited the daughter of the famous singer F. P. Komissarzhevsky, Vera, to the role of Betsy.

Thus, on this stage, another legend of the world theatrical art, the great actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya, was born.

Five or six of his first performances were staged in this building by the novice director Stanislavsky, as evidenced by a memorial plaque installed on the wall of the house.

On February 25, 1930, on the initiative of the People's Commissar of Education Lunacharsky, the Central House of Arts was created.

And in 1938, the Government of the Soviet Union allocated this magnificent building to the Central House of Artists, with a luxurious forged front staircase, halls, and stucco.

Interestingly, the restoration of the building was carried out with contributions from artists and with their direct participation.

The artists gave concerts, the proceeds of which were used to renovate the house. Artists K. Rotov, K. Eliseev, M. Cheremnykh painted the foyer, Kukryniksy, N. Musatov and B. Rodionov decorated the auditorium.

People's Artist of the RSFSR Rina Zelenaya recalled: “All the offices were buzzing like hives. They rehearsed there, renovated there; shouted the artists; meetings, conferences were boiling violently ...

Evenings are even better: two, three, four events at the same time.

There - a dispute, here - readers, above - a university, below - a meeting with a writer who came from abroad ...

We spent days and nights at the club, inventing and composing, experimenting and generalizing excitedly. And then, the audience educated. When, you know, Mayakovsky, Moskvin, Katchalov are sitting in the hall, you can't play here without full dedication ... "

Since the official opening of the House in 1938 and up to the present day, the doors of the Central House of Arts have never been closed, not for a single day, even during the years of the Great Patriotic War.

It was from here that the front-line acting brigades left for the front.

In 1942, a hospital and concert department was organized at the Central House of Arts. The artists gave 80-100 concerts a month for the wounded.

But the Central House of Arts is associated with the names of not only K.S. Stanislavsky, Vertinsky, Komissarzhevskaya, artist Vereshchagin and others. Almost all popular, famous artists, musicians, singers, writers, poets visited the Central House of Artists. It hosted the Central House of Arts, culture and foreign countries: Louis Aragon, Elsa Triolet, Yves Montand, Dean Reed , Simone Señore, Bertold Brecht, Elena Weigel, conductor Leopold Stokowski, Greek poet Yannis Ritsos, Danish artist Herluf Bidstrup, English writer James Aldridge, etc.

Central House of Arts was one of the few cultural centers in Moscow, where in the era of totalitarian Soviet censorship, viewers could get acquainted with the "unofficial" domestic and foreign art.

It hosted exhibitions of "informal" artists, screenings of films that were not released for wide distribution, and so on.

For example, Andrei Tarkovsky and Alexander Sokurov showed their films in the Central House of Arts, which were not allowed on the big screens.

In the gangster 90s, the Moscow Government re-registered this building on itself, imposing rent on the Central House of Arts.

Today, this monthly rent has reached an unprecedented figure of 3.5 million rubles per month, excluding VAT! It's a month!

Where did this rental price come from? Unclear.

But one thing is clear: behind this catastrophic figure there is a desire to quickly throw art workers out of their homes, to put the building itself under the knife.

A very attractive location for business near this house, Rozhdestvenka St., Pushechnaya, Kuznetsky Most ...

And the Central House of Arts, a unique building, culture, art, traditions, historical memory, as well as heritage - these are too subtle concepts for developers, builders and Moscow officials.

Two days ago, the director of the Central House of Arts, Smirnova, driven to despair, recorded a video address to President Vladimir Putin.

This is not even an appeal, but a cry from the heart: “They are trying to evict us from this building !!! Save! Help! Return the House to artists !!! " - A fragile woman says excitedly on camera against the background of the Central House of Arts building, for the fate of which she has been fighting alone for several years.

Will E.V. Smirnova is our Guarantor? Will he read my column, or will one more voice crying in the desert also drown in the roar of jackhammers finishing the torn and raped body of Old Patriarchal Moscow? I do not know…

But the Russian man has always lived by faith in the sovereign, the justice of the court and the hope that "when the master comes, the master will judge us".