2 art projects were closed in Perm

In Perm, two art projects that were supposed to be shown as part of the art salon “Art-Perm” were closed. This happened after complaints that the projects allegedly offend the feelings of believers – Christians and Buddhists. Both projects used religious symbols.

The installation of the artist and designer Igor Horyachev called “The Truth Within” was a series of painted plaster sculptures in the pose of a seated Buddha. At the opening of the salon, it was littered with cardboard boxes. As reported by the Telegram channel “Govorit Nemoskva”, on the day of the opening, various authorities, from the prosecutor’s office to the governor’s administration, received calls from unknown persons who believed that “The Truth Within” offended the feelings of believers. Horyachev himself claims that he created the installation based on his spiritual experience of meditation and self-realization.

Also, the show of the exhibition project of the Ermine Gallery in Moscow called “The Return of God Home” was canceled. The request to the prosecutor’s office to ban the exhibition was submitted on behalf of the “Call of the People” public movement. Its participants also considered the exhibition blasphemous. On it, in particular, there was a picture depicting a crucifix on the background of a pack of cigarettes with the inscription “Innocent” in English.

Exhibition curators Natalya Voskresenskaya and Dmitry Plotkin said that they consider their project, on the contrary, deeply religious and spiritual. They explained that in the project, spiritual values ​​are opposed to the values ​​of the consumer society, but this is done “in a sharp journalistic way” in the language of modern art.

• Criminal punishment under the article on insulting the feelings of believers was added to the Russian legislation after the case of the punk band Pussy Riot. In 2012, three members of the group – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Ekaterina Samutsevich – were convicted of hooliganism for an action in the Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. They imitated a musical performance there, the song “The Mother of God, banish Putin” was superimposed on the video on the Internet.
• The article does not give a clear definition of what exactly can be considered an insult to religious feelings. Cases based on this article were initiated both against artists and against ordinary citizens – for example, for frivolous photos, if a church building was in the frame.