"Desert of Forbidden Art" is the incredible story of how one man, Igor Savitsky, saved a treasure trove of art worth millions of dollars by hiding it in a small museum in the desert in Uzbekistan. A tireless collector of paintings, Savitsky traveled thousands of miles scheming, plotting, and pleading for works of art he so passionately wanted to preserve, as the encroaching Soviet government sought to destroy them. Independent Lens "Desert of Forbidden Art" premieres Tuesday, April 5, at 11 PM on KUED Channel 7.
Igor Savitsky was working as an archaeologist when he became fascinated by the indigenous cultures of western Uzbekistan. He began to collect jewelry, coins, handmade clothing, and other items in danger of being lost as the Soviets sought to destroy these ethnic artifacts.
"I found these paintings rolled up under the beds of old widows, buried in family trash, in dark corners of artists' studios, sometimes even patching a hole in the roof. I ended up with a collection that no one in the Soviet Union would dare to exhibit," recalls Savitsky.
Successfully convincing government officials to provide funding for a museum in Nukus, Uzbekistan, far from Moscow's prying eyes, Savitsky discovered his true calling. Pretending to buy state-approved art, he daringly rescued more than 40,000 works by artists banned during the Stalin era for speaking out against authority, for being gay, or for simply refusing to paint in the style they were told. Risking torture, imprisonment, and death, this small group remained true to their artistic vision.
Savitsky managed to cajole the cash to pay for the art. His greatest discovery was an unknown school of artists who settled in Uzbekistan after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. There they encountered an Islamic culture as exotic to them as Tahiti was for Gauguin, and they developed a startlingly original style that fused European modernism with centuries-old Eastern traditions. To Savitsky, the paintings were a revelation.
"Desert of Forbidden Art" weaves the fascinating cultural and political context of Savitsky's journey while juxtaposing beautiful and colorful images from the art collection with rare Soviet archival film and stills. Ben Kingsley, Sally Field, and Ed Asner voice the diaries and letters of Savitsky and the artists, bringing to life a dramatic journey of sacrifice for the sake of creative freedom.
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Igor Savitsky Download |
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