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Stalin consolidated his 1950's post-war power by declaring all modernist art “decadent” and “bourgeois.” Those caught practicing it were sent to the gulag, or executed.
So archaeologist Igor Savitsky began his heroic quest to save 44,000 pieces of forbidden art from the masters of Russian modernism by squirreling them away in an Uzbek museum, far from the eyes of the KGB.
When the USSR disintegrated, it seemed the collection would endure. But under an increasingly autocratic Uzbek regime, the museum’s newfound notoriety may be double-edged. Can these masterpieces survive their second threat in a century?
To learn more about the museum and art works, watch The Desert of Forbidden Art on Independent Lens.
The Plight of the Nukus Museum
The Plight of the Nukus Museum
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Nukus Museum director Marinika Babanazarova describes how the future of Savitsky's legacy seems grim as its aging, low-paid staff ...
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The Greatest Art You've Never Seen
The Greatest Art You've Never Seen
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Back in the USSR, one man created a secret collection of suppressed masterpieces. The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the ...
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Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Stalinist, or Anti-Establishment?
Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Stalinist, or Anti-Establishment?
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The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the incredible story of how one man -- Igor Savitsky -- stashed a treasure trove of ...
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The Road to Uzbekistan
The Road to Uzbekistan
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The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the incredible story of how one man -- Igor Savitsky -- stashed a treasure trove of ...
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Savitsky Collection Faces Uncertain Future
Savitsky Collection Faces Uncertain Future
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A priceless collection of modern art faces its second political threat in a century.
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The Savitsky Collection
The Savitsky Collection
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Igor Savitsky’s single-handedly created the State Art Museum of the Republic of Karakalpakstan in Nukus, Uzbekistan. He began his ...
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