The purpose of the conference was to outline the most actual problems of the cultural space of Ukraine, stress the importance of preserving the integrity and originality of the Ukrainian culture and protecting the name and creative heritage of cultural figures of national and international scope and illustrate the conformity of the Roerichs' idea of deep spirituality and culture of the Ukrainian nation. It was to emphasize the topicality of these ideas for the contemporary cultural space of Ukraine and the importance of the Roerichs heritage for the revival of the national culture, to raise a word to protect cultural and social movement from the encroachment of clericalism and globalism.

Everybody who cares about the future of the nation, the country and its national culture worries about the situation which formed in the cultural space of Ukraine. The Ukrainian culture is one of the best branches on the world culture tree, but its integrity and originality has been exposed to a ruinous effect. The Ukrainian society is losing its culture at an alarming rate. Consequently, the young generation turns out aloof from centuries-old cultural heritage of the nation containing a powerful value vector which helped people withstand the most difficult periods of their history. Cynicism as a style of behavior and narrow-mindedness are imposed instead. We are worried about the attempts of cutting off the cultural space of Ukraine of its deep sources and totally annihilating it. The change of values and notions leads to demoralization of the society and finally to the loss of spiritual and moral reference points. The aggressive and cynical attitude to outstanding figures of the national and world history and culture such as Yaroslav Mudryi, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Olga Kobulyanska and others increases. Their lives and activity are presented in a deliberately distorted way to create a negative image, with some material monuments and relics connected with the above names being vandalized. Mykola Kostyantynovych and Olena Ivanivna Roerich together with their sons Yuriy and Svyatoslav Mykolayovych, world-renowned scientists, creative and public figures who dedicated all their lives to studying cultures of different nations and protecting the world cultural heritage could not avoid it. M.K. Roerich was an outstanding world humanist and the initiator of the international treaty on the protection of cultural values, known as the Roerich Pact, which laid the foundations of the Hague Convention of 1954. Ukraine was among those countries which signed it as a subject of the UNO.

Roerich was connected with Ukraine by deep creative and intimate links. M.K. Roerich took an active part in Shevchenko movement in Petersburg; he was a co-founder of the first T.G. Shevchenko Society. The energy of the melodious language, the severe simplicity of Shevchenko's poetry, public bravery and morality made a great impact on young Mykola Roerich rousing his love to the Ukrainian culture that he carried through all his life. The importance of the cultural space of Ukraine and Kyivan Rus in the creative fate of Mykola Roerich has not been completely realized yet. Fruitful cooperation of the Roerichs with the Ukrainian artists, scientists and funds was on during all their lives.

The Roerichs' ideas are much akin to the Ukrainian mentality, our historic experience and the system of values used herein. The above ideas which are in line with the philosophic Doctrine of Living Ethics are now extremely topical for the world on the whole and Ukraine in particular. They show possible ways out of the deadlock of man-caused civilization, help solve such vital problems as harmonization of heart and mind, counterpoising culture and civilization, reconciling global and local models of the development of mankind and increase in ethical responsibility in scientific, public and civil life. The value of the Roerich's heritage is of a particular importance to Ukraine and the whole world due to its insights into the nature of such phenomena as unity of religion, art and science in the process of knowledge and creativity, which is of paramount importance at the time of a threat of religious fundamentalism and confrontation of religions and return to the old forcible methods of management.

Ardent attacks on the Roerichs and the movement of the public culture they initiated, which is highly humanistic in its nature, are anti-cultural, disgraceful, and inadmissible for our time. Unfortunately, we live in the world where predatory, primitive and aggressive appeals are able to influence a great amount of people. These social dangerous phenomena refer to the Roerichs movement as well as other public movements and the society on the whole. They represent a challenge to the whole humanity: the threat Culture and the danger of personal violence, not to mention narrowing the sphere of people's free coexistence.

One by one there are anti-sect conferences in Ukraine arranged by foreign missioners, among whom are A. Kurayev and O. Dvorkin. The representatives of the Ukrainian public clerical organizations participate in them actively, with a growing representation of state structures. At these conference the followers of the Roerichs' ideas and worshippers of their creative work enter into list totalitarian sects and destructive cults rather persistently. Under the cover of the remedial and religious activities some forces strive for getting people's trust to impose on them dictatorship ideology having the exclusivity to condemn people and even movements.

The Roerichs were always Orthodox and never changed their creed. Like all other great men, they approached religious matters from broad outlook positions. Having a deep respect to the Orthodox spiritual tradition as an integral part of the national culture, the Roerichs' organizations in Ukraine insist on their right to act within the framework of cultural and secular spirituality as cultural public organizations.

The Representatives of the Society called "The World through Culture - Europe" headed by Willy Ogustat have become rather active lately. They found their branches in the cities of Ukraine, held meetings and conferences where profiteering in the Roerichs' ideas they develop pseudo humanist ideas of the cosmopolitan nature discarding the national culture that is the core of M.K. Roerich's concept of culture and announce Roerich a citizen of the world and cosmopolitan, which is essentially wrong.

The heritage of the Roerichs is not only a part of the cultural property of the world and Russia, but Ukraine as well. Therefore realizing all the personal responsibility and public duty for keeping the heritage, the Roerichs organizations of Ukraine have made a proposal to convene a conference which would allow them to coordinate their efforts with other public associations and figures for the protection of the name and heritage of the Roerichs in the cultural space of Ukraine for the sake of the protection the space of the Ukrainian culture itself from the foreign expansion of phenomena and ruinous tendencies which flourished on belittling national pride.

We are sure that the Ukrainian society has the only opportunity to protect itself from ruining and this chance is our integral, colorful and lyrical and romantic Culture, which is both rich and profound, since it is closely connected with numerous world cultures. It is synthetic in its character and developed as a result of influence of the best epochs of the spiritual experience. Therefore we ought to protect it.

The following issues were to be considered at the conference:

• The cultural space of Ukraine: the most acute problems and possible ways of resolving them;
• The ideal and organizational potential of the Roerich's Pact and the protection of the national culture;
• The topicality of the creative heritage of the Roerichs' ideas in the context of the development of the Ukrainian culture;
• The Roerichs movement in the dynamics of the cultural life in Ukraine;
• Cosmopolitism and clericalism as the threat to the national Ukrainian culture.

Our contact addresses and phones:

The Organizing Committee of the Conference

Translated by T. Ivanova.