Has anyone brought back.....

[ChrisB]

...a framed picture from Russia? My In-Laws want to bring us three pictures. These are not anything special, except one is for my wife.

We were told by one of her girlfriends that Russian Customs will not allow them to leave with out having the Russian Ministry of Culture, certify it. They want to be sure that they are not of Russian historical history.

I don't know what the pictures are of, except for one. It is someone's painting that looks like the style of Salvador Dali.

I need to be able to tell them if it is wasting there time and money to even try to bring them, or will a basic receit from a store work.

Any experience about this?

Thanks

Chris

[davet]

... in response to Has anyone brought back....., posted by ChrisB on Oct 17, 2002

My wife brought back a framed church icon -- about 12x16.  No problem.  It was not old or valuable but it was very important to her.

[ChrisB]

... in response to Re: Has anyone brought back....., posted by davet on Oct 18, 2002

We went on a trip to visit my wife's friend in Wisconson. Before starting the trip, my wife put one of the small icons on the dash of our car. After 10 months, it's still there.

Chris

[don1]

... in response to Has anyone brought back....., posted by ChrisB on Oct 17, 2002

Chris ,
I met another American guy over there who wanted to take a framed picture home with him . It was a painting that had been done by the daughter of the woman he was visiting . He just stuffed it in between some clothes in his suitcase so it wouldn't get damaged . No one in Customs noticed or asked him about it .
I think that if you follow the advice given by robobond or BubbaGump you'll probably be OK .
I think that the type of pictures that your wife's girlfriend might be talking about are the ones sometimes referred to as Icons . You've probably seen them , they're often done in a heavy style frame , sometimes like a 'shadowbox' kind of thing . The theme is usually religious or historical in nature . Those are considered to be of historical value and aren't usually allowed to leave the country . The government is pretty possesive and paranoid about these items in particular . There was a big flap about these things about 6 months ago I think ; some guys tried to smuggle a bunch of them out of Belarus or Russia ( sorry can't remember which it was ) on a train . They'd stuffed them inside the ceiling panels on some train compartments . They were worth quite a bit of money . Anyways , these guys got caught , got sent to prison , there was a big crackdown on smuggling ; and a lot of government attention given to these  types of Icons.
So if they're just ordinary paintings your in-laws are bringing out ( and not icons ) you probably won't have any troubles .
Don

[robobond]

... in response to Has anyone brought back....., posted by ChrisB on Oct 17, 2002

Chris,

I have some but it's pretty rudimentary.  Twice coming back from Volgograd via Moscow I had some smallish sized, framed, behind glass original "street art" which I had bought.  I just packed it in my luggage and sent it on through.  I did not declare it or itemize it in any way.  While the purchase value was minimal -- artistic value is in the eye of the evaluator - it definitely was NOT in the price category of Salvador Dali.  I mention this because it COULD have been some small Salvador Dali's but no one gave a diddly squat...  

If this had been something of a higher value, maybe I would have sweated a lot.  But it probably would not have changed the probability of me going through without a major search -- I was mostly sweating getting caught with a lot more fine black caviar than I was supposed to have (a few hundred $'s) -- I held my breath, nothing happened, and that cavier, with a story behind it, went from being very fine to the finest!   I literally savored every roe of it all!  Hell, I'll go back to Russia and suffer more of their life style just for more of that caviar!

Bob

[robobond]

... in response to Re: Has anyone brought back....., posted by robobond on Oct 18, 2002

PS.  don't even ask about my last trip in 1-02 -- I am having right now a sliver of the finest hard suasage I've ever experienced - I keep it refrigerated and vacuum sealed -  since it's a meat product, you can't readily import it.  Again, limit your exposure, act normal, be prepared for a fine and confiscation if you get entangled in customs, I doubt if they'll shoot you!  Just pay the ongoing bribe amount.  You'll be bending the rules less than the citizens of that country!  Oh, don't forget russian Gouda cheese -- it's awesome and cheap over there.

[Quick Fix]

... in response to Re: Re: Has anyone brought back....., posted by robobond on Oct 18, 2002

true

[robobond]

... in response to Re: Re: Has anyone brought back....., posted by robobond on Oct 18, 2002

PS. PS. I can't stand it - I'm gonna sign off now and go make me a Russian sardine sandwich and a potato pancake with cabbage.  Goodnight - I'm about to have a Maalox moment...

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Has anyone brought back....., posted by ChrisB on Oct 17, 2002

[This message has been edited by BubbaGump]

Stuffed it my suitcase and nobody noticed.  It was only about 8x10 inches and was obviously no masterpiece.  Just one of the stupid paintings tourists buy then toss when they realize the painting really sucks.  Do the same with your wife's pictures.  Maybe get receipts from a store for 3 other pictures and show that to the customs guys.  Or bring them back one at a time starting with the least sentimental picture first and see how that goes.