Tretyakov Gallery to Build Children's Artistic Center in Grozny - 28 March, 2003

The State Tretyakov Gallery has advanced an initiative to rebuild the Grozny Museum complete with a Centre of Children's Artistic Education, Vitold Petyushenko, the Secretary of the Academic Council of the Tretyakov Gallery, told journalists on Thursday.

An exhibition called "Drawings of Children from Chechnya" opened Thursday in the Tretyakov Gallery's premises in Krymsky Val, where the drawings in question are displayed side by side with a project called "The Image of a Revived National Museum of the Chechen Republic in Grozny." The project, which features the works of students from the Moscow Architectural Institute, involves the ministries of education and culture, the government administration of the Chechen Republic, and the government of Moscow.

The sketches made by young architects are being displayed in advance of a contest for the best layout of the Grozny Arts Museum.

As of today, according to Chechen Culture Minister Movlan Osmayev, Chechnya has around 30 supplementary artistic education schools, which educate approximately 3,000 children. The Chechen authorities have also restored the republican Arts School.