RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


 

Vigilantism incident not going away quietly

POLICE SEND DAMAGED SCULPTURES FROM MANEZH FOR EXPERT ANALYSIS

RIA Novosti, 18 August 2015

 

Police sent sculptures that were damaged during a pogrom of an exhibit in the Manezh by "Orthodox activists" for expert analysis, on the basis of whose results the question of opening a criminal case will be decided, the director of the press service of the Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the capital, Andrei Galiakberov, told RIA Novosti.

 

"Today personnel of the Moscow police transferred displays that were damaged as the result of an incident in the exhibit in the Manezh to representatives of the I.E. Grabar All-Russian Art Restoration Center for conducting an expert analysis. A procedural decision will be made, taking into account the results of the expert analysis," he said.

 

He said that the preliminary investigation ordered a technical expert analysis in order to determine the value of the damage caused to the displays. Four linographs and a sculpture in the form of a head were sent for expert analysis.

 

"The experts are awaited to clarify whether there is damage to the submitted displays and to what degree and nature they are damaged and whether that affects the value of the displays," Galiakberov explained.

 

The leader of the public Orthodox movement God's Will, Dmitry Tsorionov, nicknamed Enteo, along with his colleagues, on 14 August smashed sculptures of the 1960s and 1970s at an exhibit in Moscow, "Sculptures that we do not see," declaring that they hurt believers' feelings. After the incident, the press service of the Manezh told RIA Novosti that several sculptures by Vadim Sidur had been damaged and several works were smashed. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2015)


 

MANEZH LEADERSHIP FEARS SECOND ATTACK BY "ORTHODOX ACTIVISTS" ON EXHIBIT IN MOSCOW

Portal-credo.ru, 18 August 2015

 

The leadership of the Manezh museum and exhibition association does not rule out a repeated attack on the exhibit "Sculptures that we do not see" going on in Moscow, in connected with statements by the leader of the public movement God's Will, Dmitry Tsorionov (Enteo), about a5,000-person rally against its showing that is being prepared. The director of the Manezh, Irina Tolpina, told TASS about this.

 

The representatives of the movement God's Will who intruded on 14 August into the exhibit declared that the displays hurt believers' feelings and they also tried to destroy several works. According to preliminary information, five works of art—the bases for the linographs by Vadim Sidur and a Megasoma Mars installation—were damaged.

 

"The incident, which occurred in the Manezh central exhibition hall in the exhibit 'Sculptures that we do not see," is monstrous, illegal, provocative, and a cause of horror and disgust. As a result of the action of a group of persons calling themselves activists of the movement God's Will, several works by Vadim Sidur from the Manezh museum collection, included in the museum collection of the Russian federation, were damaged. We are afraid that the attack may be repeated," Tolpina noted.

 

Earlier it was reported that the incident in the Manezh was condemned in the Union of Museums of Russia and the Russian committee of the International Council of Museums.

 

"We are very thankful for the support and endorsement of the opinion of the museum community about the impermissibility of acts of vandalism on the territory of cultural institutions, and we consider it important to protect the cultural heritage of the country from acts of aggression, but exclusively by peaceful means and within the bounds of legal procedure," she declared.

 

Tass was told in the press service of the capital headquarters of MVD that the police are conducting an investigation on this incident. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2015)


 

CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES ASK PROSECUTOR TO EXAMINE EXHIBIT IN MANEZH

RIA Novosti, 18 August 2015

 

The international foundation Christian Solidarity asked the prosecutor general of the Russian federation to conduct an inquiry and give a pertinent legal assessment of the exhibit "Sculptures that we do not see" in the Manezh. This is said in a statement from the director of the foundation, Dmitry Pakhomov, sent to the office of the prosecutor general of the RF, Yuri Chaika, a copy of which was obtained by RIA Novosti.

 

"Upon viewing a number of displays, my religious feelings as an Orthodox Christian were offended by their clear pornographic contents, since the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and a whole series of saints were portrayed using clearly pornographic elements," the statement says.

 

The head of the Christian Solidarity foundation asked the prosecutor, in the event of discovery of violations of current legislation, "to take legal measures for closing this exhibit and to hold its organizers accountable to provisions of the legislation of the RF."

 

The leader of the public movement God's Will, Dmitry Tsorionov (Enteo), along with his colleagues, on 14 August smashed sculptures from the 1960s and 1970s at an exhibit in the Manezh, declaring that they hurt believers' feelings. After the incident, the press service of the Manezh reported that several sculptures by Vadim Sidur had been damaged and several works were smashed.

 

In turn, as the Christian Rights Protection Center stated, even if the fact that the exhibit in the Manezh hurts believers' feelings is confirmed, "in such situations it is necessary to write a declaration to law enforcement agencies, and not engage in vigilantism."

 

"It should also be noted that this act of vandalism was committed on the first day of the Dormition fast, when true Orthodox believers think about their sins and weaknesses. We will hope that spiritual health returns to Dimitry," the center's statement says, which was written by its coordinator, Alexander Alikhinov.

 

Yesterday, the head of the State Duma Committee on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, Yaroslav Nilov, also sent an inquiry to the prosecutor general of the RF. The deputy asks for conducting an examination of whether there are violations of the law by persons who staged the pogrom in the Manezh and by organizers of the exhibit.

 

Nilov notes that activists of God's Will went outside the bounds of the legal field and delivered a blow to the church's reputation. At the same time, the statement says, "a number of displays of the exhibit may be interpreted ambiguously, since it contains representation of recognizable biblical stories in a grotesque, even caricatured form," and "since the exhibit is being conducted publicly, this may be regarded as offense." (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2015)


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