moscow art critic andrey kovalev
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"Caution, Religion!"

1. General sources
2.  Events in chronological order
3.  ANDREY SAKHAROV MUSEUM and PUBLIC CENTER
4.  The Social Committee 'For the Moral Revival of the Fatherland'
5. Avdey Ter-Oganjan case and other art blasphemy stories in Russia

For more information see RUSSIAN ART GAZETTE

All events in Russian>>>>>>>
Andrey Kovalev - aakovalev@rambler.ru 
and Yury Samodurov - samodurov@sakharov-center.ru

General sources

***Andrew Osborn. Two trials, one issue: the face of modern Russia // The Independent, 16.06.2004
*** Konstantin Akinsha. "Orthodox Bulldozer" // Art News, April 2004
*** Frank Brown. Watch Out, Art! A new intolerance is sweeping Russia as religious and political fundamentalists attack artists, musicians and writers whose works they view as subversive // Newsweek International, May 17 issue 
***Yuri Samudurov. Russian society is to choose: to judge art or to sue for art - 30^th December, 2003
***STEVEN LEE MYERS. Art vs. Religion: Whose Rights Will Come First? - New York Times, Sept 2, 2003

2. Events in chronological order

***Griffiths. Russian exhibition which critiques Christianity defaced  // ABC Radio National (Australia), 19.06.2004

YAKOV KROTOV:Mostly these are newcomers to the Church, people who came to the Church from the communist ideology, and who still have all the habits of those who seek, not the truth, but some means to the power. So for them Christianity is first of all the way to control the life of other people.
Anatoly Medetsky. Eye to Eye // The Moscow Times, 18.06.2004
The six orthodox believers who vandalized the exhibit claim that Samodurov, below, incited them to do it.
Prosecutors backed up this line of argument with an expert opinion from a psychologist, Vera Abramenkova, who testified in the indictment that "the sacrilegious comparison of a sanctity and a mass product, of the high and the low, contains a provocation, and causes reciprocal hostile actions on the part of the recipient, the development of affective reactions, and aggressive and intolerant relations between individuals and social groups on the grounds of their religious beliefs."
***Jeremy Bransten. Russia: Modern-Art Trial To Test Freedom Of Expression // RFE/RL, 18.06.2004
"The trial of the museum workers has not come at our initiative," Dudko said. "It is the initiative of the prosecutor's office and this cannot be interpreted as a trial of the church versus the Sakharov museum. It is a trial of the state versus the Sakharov museum." 
Judge: Errors in Sakharov Exhibit Case // The Associated Press – The Moscow Times, 17.06.2004
The Tagansky District Court acknowledged problems with the indictment and gave prosecutors five days to correct them. 
MARA D. BELLABY. Russian Rights Activists Get Reprieve // Associated Press, 16.06.2004
"For the first time since the Soviet era, we are dealing with a trial of ideology,'' Lev Ponomaryov, head of the All-Russian Public Movement for Human Rights, had said. ''The state is on the side of Orthodox radicals.'' 
***Andrew Osborn. Two trials, one issue: the face of modern Russia // The Independent, 16.06.2004
One case involves an oil millionaire, the other a respected museum. But both raise the same question: exactly what sort of liberty does Russia enjoy? Modern art often shocks, but its creators are not usually thrown into jail for any offence they cause, particularly in self-proclaimed democracies. But in Vladimir Putin's Russia, wannabe Damien Hirsts have learnt that they need to tread carefully. An ill-judged painting or installation could see the maker tried, jailed and fined if an extraordinary new court case is anything to go by. 
***Anatoly Shabad. 'Religious Hate' Trial Smacks of Bad Old Days // The Moscow Times, 16.06.2004
When you read the experts' report in this case, however, you quickly realize that the assumption of conscientiousness is unwarranted. The report reads more like a political proclamation. It lays out the authors' personal, not professional, opinions. But these opinions have no place in a court of law. The authors were consulted for their expertise, not their privately held convictions.
Anatoly Medetsky. 3 Go on Trial Over Artistic Freedom // The Moscow Times, 16.06.2004
"This is a landmark trial," said Lev Ponomaryov, head of the organization For Human Rights. "Losing it would be seen as a reason to further prosecute" artists and others for how they express themselves.
'Blasphemy' trial held in Moscow // BBC
Defence lawyers told the Taganka district court that the accusations failed to specify which artworks incited religious hatred and against whom and why.
MARIA DANILOVA. Russian Human Rights Museum Head Tried // ASSOCIATED PRESS, 16.06.2004
Inside and outside the courtroom, religious supporters held icons.
"This is absurd," said Marina Kolyada, Mikhalchuk's mother. "If they had held this exhibit inside a church, that would have been a crime, but no one should tell us what to see at a museum."
Moscow Museum Director on Trial for Inciting Religious Hatred // NEWS.scotsman.com, 15.06.2004
The director of a Moscow human rights museum went on trial today accused of inciting religious hatred for an allegedly blasphemous exhibition that provoked fury from the Russian Orthodox Church
Yuri Samodurov, who runs Moscow's Andrei Sakharov Museum, faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Human rights activists say the proceedings set a dangerous precedent. Dozens of activists gathered outside the Moscow court, holding banners that read: "No to the Inquisition." 
Frank Brown. Watch Out, Art! A new intolerance is sweeping Russia as religious and political fundamentalists attack artists, musicians and writers whose works they view as subversive // Newsweek International, May 17 issue 
"These artists are rotten, disease-carrying bacteria, and society is using antigens to fight them off," says Father Tikhon Shevkunov, a powerful church leader (and President Vladimir Putin's spiritual adviser) who backs the offensive against "Watch Out: Religion" and its "blasphemy."
Caution! Extremism // GiF.Ru, 23.04.2004
The Moscow Procurator’s Office has indicted Yuri Samodurov, Ludmila Vasilovskaya and Anna Mihalchuk under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, accusing them of actions "intended to incite hatred and hostility toward a group of people and to humiliate them on the basis of their national identity or their religion."
Edward Kline, The Andrei Sakharov Foundation (Usa). The indictment of Yuri Samodurov, Ludmila Vasilovskaya and Anna Mikhalchuk for inciting hostility toward religious believers and humiliating them // GiF.Ru, 17.05.2004
Edward Kline: Legal safeguards for freedom of expression are not needed for books, paintings and other works of art that are conventional in form and content. They are needed for works that disturb generally accepted ideas, that challenge traditional custom and practice. It is wrong to make such works the grounds for criminal prosecutions. 
*** Konstantin Akinsha. "Orthodox Bulldozer" // Art News, April 2004
Elena Bonner told ARTnews in a telephone interview from Boston, where She lives part of the time. Bonner, the widow of Nobel Prize-winning physicist and famous dissident Andrei Sakharov, is chair of the Sakharov Center, which was founded to educate Russians about their totalitarian past. "The events around the exhibition discredit the Russian Orthodox Church, just as the fatwah condemning Salman Rushdie to death discredited Islam," she said. Bonner pointed out that the vandals had come to the museum prepared to be offended, with axes, hammers, and cans of spray paint in their pockets.
TO THE CITIZENS OF SAINT PETERSBURG AND EVERYONE CONCERNED
21 February, 2004, a barbarous act has been committed in Saint Petersburg. Seven masked vandals have destroyed the exhibition Cosmopolitan Icons by Oleg Yanushevsky at the art gallery SPAS at the center of the city. They threw paint and ink on the art objects, and then they left the gallery. All exhibited artworks have been damaged, as well as the gallery space. The gallery is now closed for repairs. Legal proceedings have been instituted against the vandals.
No doubt, the pogrom at the art gallery stands in line with some notorious recent crimes committed in Saint Petersburg: neo-nazi attack at the Cemetery Of Victims at Mars Field, the defilement of the Jewish Cemetery, nationalist and racist aggression and murders. This new hooligans' act is an evidence of the rise of nationalism and chauvinism in Russia, a direct threat to the citizens' rights at religious freedom and freedom of self-expression.
If you agree with our position, you can also sign this appeal by e-mailing your name and profession or social status to: friends@ncca-spb.ru

Photos of the destroyed exhibition
art notes, St. Petersburg Times, February 27, 2004
Oleg Yanushevsky's "Cosmopolitan Icons", an exhibition juxtaposing a series of objects portraying political and mass culture idols as objects of worship, was supposed to run in St. Petersburg's S.P.A.S. gallery for several weeks until March 12th but ended up closing down in a mess just a couple of days after it opened. Several people, dressed in camouflage and armed with pots of ink and cans of white paint entered the gallery on Saturday last week to pour all their stuff onto the artworks.
Yanushevsky's icons would perhaps be better described as interactive entertainment. Images of U.S. president George Bush, Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky or Finnish commander Mannerheim are pasted on wood and provided with various buttons, handles, mobile telephones and other helpful tools.
Ikonen-Ausstellung in St. Petersburg verwüstet - www.aktuell.RU, epd/kp, 25-02-2004,   
St. Petersburg/Moskau. In St. Petersburg haben Unbekannte eine Ausstellung „interaktiver Ikonen“ des Künstlers Oleg Januschewski verwüstet. Sieben Maskierte seien in den Ausstellungsraum gestürmt und hätten die dort ausgestellten Kunstwerke mit Farbe und Tinte übergossen.
Januschewski hat seine Kunst in Deutschland bereits mehrfach in Kirchen ausgestellt. Der Künstler sagte in einem Telefoninterview, das Geschehen sei symptomatisch für die „russische Intoleranz“ und stellte den Überfall auf die Galerie in eine Reihe mit den jüngsten rechtsextremen Straftaten in St. Petersburg.
Am Dienstag hatte eine Gruppe von Bürgerrechtlern den russisch-orthodoxen Patriarchen Alexij II. aufgefordert, die Kirche müsse die Freiheit der Kunst respektieren. Das Moskauer Patriarchat hatte die Ausstellung „Vorsicht, Religion!“ scharf kritisiert und sich mit den Randalierern solidarisiert.

*** SERGE SCHMEMANN. Balancing Art, the State and Religion Without Calling the Police - New York Times - 22 Feb 2004
*** Serge Schmemann Meanwhile: Hallowed symbols face Russian realities, International Herald Tribune, France - 19 Feb 2004
For someone who had spent a few years as a reporter in the Soviet Union, it was dismaying to see artists again treated as enemies of the state. Art had been one of the major vehicles of resistance to the Soviet dictatorship.
No, countered the defender of Russia in me, this was totally different from the Soviet past.
True, state prosecutors didn't intervene in Brooklyn or Stockholm, but in the Brooklyn affair, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani matched the Russian parliamentarians huff for puff. 
But the right to free expression and the obligation to expand the horizons of art does not absolve museums - or the press, or theaters - from responsibility for what they choose to present, and where and how to present it.
Such inquiries got many people burned in the Inquisition, and led to the suppression of virtually all the best Soviet-era artists and writers.
A mature society should be able to tolerate offensive art, or at least to find ways of coping with it that does not involve thought police. That is especially true in Russia, still painfully emerging from 70 years of brutal state control over intellectual and artistic life.
That same Sakharov Museum has vast panels of small, black and white mug shots of people who perished when the Kremlin last imposed its version of cultural and political orthodoxy by force. Many of the them were museum curators and artists.

***SONJA ZEKRI. Vorsicht, Religion! Russlands orthodoxe Kirche attackiert die Kunst und träumt von der Macht - "Sueddeutsche Zeitung",  29.01.2004
Seither ist die Kunstszene in Aufregung. Das Gericht hat ein 62-seitiges Gutachten von Kunsthistorikern, Soziologen und Psychologen verfertigen lassen, das für eine Auseinandersetzung mit religiösen Themen, ja, für die zeitgenössische Kunst in Russland überhaupt das Schlimmste befürchten lässt. Das „künstlerische Kollektiv“, so heißt es in fatal vertrautem Tonfall, habe keine „ästhetischen Ziele verfolgt, sondern politische und ideologische“, es habe eine „Propaganda-Aktion“ gegen das „einfache gläubige Volk“, gegen die Kirche und die rechtgläubige Christenheit schlechthin durchführen wollen. Dabei wirke der „kulturelle Nihilismus“ in „zerstörerischer Weise auf die Psyche des Betrachters“, kurz: Die Ausstellung könne als Anstiftung zu Handlungen gegen die „russische Nation“ betrachtet werden. Diese Lesart, so fürchtet die Künstlerin – und Angeklagte – Anna Altschuk, denunziere die zeitgenössische Kunst insgesamt als verbrecherisch: „Es ist ein Symptom für die Klerikalisierung des Landes.“
Criminal Case Opened Against Head of the Sakharov Museum. The Associated Press, Friday, Jan. 9, 2004
"I realized it was a contentious topic," Yury Samodurov said Thursday. "But I thought we could discuss it openly."
Meanwhile, the State Duma petitioned the Prosecutor General's Office "to take the necessary measures" against the exhibit organizers who, it was argued, were inciting religious hatred. On Dec. 25, Samodurov was summoned to the prosecutor's office to hear the charges, and another museum employee and three of the artists have also been charged.
"The exhibition was an insult to the main religion of our country," said Alexander Chuyev, a deputy who initiated the petition and who was re-elected to the Duma as a member of the nationalist Homeland bloc.
If found guilty of inciting religious hatred, Samodurov could be sentenced to up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 rubles ($17,000).
KRISTIAN AALE. Russere risikerer fengsel for kritikk av kirken. Aftenposten - 17.01.04
Anne Penketh. Russian museum chief faces jail after show angers church. Independent, Jan. 9, 2004
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/5595-Russian_museum_chief_faces_jail_after_show_angers_church.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=479401
Most of the artists have been questioned, three have been charged, and the museum curator, Armenian Arutyun Zulumyan, is in hiding.
Mr Samodorov has always said that the exhibition was not anti-religious. "The artists spoke both about treating religion cautiously, as something that had been outlawed in Soviet times, and about being cautious so as not to become fanatics," he said. "Actually, most of those artists had been baptised and were believers."
The criminal charges against him stem from a decision made by a commission set up to decide whether the exhibition incited inter-ethnic or religious hatred.
However, many see the hand of the Orthodox church establishment behind the move, as it has strong ties with the political leadership.
*** Sophie Lambroschini. Russia: Artists Facing Prison For Controversial, Religious-Themed Work.  - RFE/RL, 7 January 2004>
Aleksandr Verkhovskii, the editor of the "Sova" religious affairs website, says the outcome of the case is uncertain. "There is a precedent in such cases -- not here [in Russia], but in the West -- cases of insulting people's beliefs. And it did happen that sometimes the artists or the organizations that organized the events would lose, even in front of the European Court [of Human Rights]. So it's difficult to say a priori what is justified and what is not," Verkhovskii said.
But the cases rejected by the Strasbourg court involved the simple banning of provocative films and exhibits -- not criminal charges. Verkhovskii says such cases in Russia usually die "a natural death" in the prosecutor's office. But now, he says, the atmosphere in Russia appears to have changed. And pro-Orthodoxy factions, which often keep close company with nationalist groups, have been on the rise since the Duma elections in early December. "Part of those people who insisted on opening a criminal case [against Samodurov] have now become Duma deputies from the Motherland [Party] bloc. And I guess [their stance] is now considered to be a more respectable public position," Verkhovskii said.
Motherland, which emerged from the relative political wilderness to come in fourth place in last month's election, is supported by a number of groups seeking a more prominent role for the Russian Orthodox Church. Motherland leader Sergei Glazev is a prominent member of a group called the Union of Orthodox Citizens, which has been a vocal critic of the Sakharov museum.
Pro-Orthodoxy trends, feeding on the nationalistic belief that faith is key to Russia's identity, have been an undercurrent in Russian affairs for over a decade. They compete with factions who believe that strict state neutrality in matters of religion is the only way for multiethnic Russia to exist.
Speaking today during a visit to a monastery outside Moscow on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, the president said that in Russia the state and church are separate, "but in the people's souls, they are one."
Aleksandr Chuev, a Motherland deputy, says Russia needs to do more to punish what he calls religious blasphemy, and that the Duma should adopt an amendment specifically aimed at punishing those who insult religious beliefs. "You know, if we judge and send people to jail for inciting war, if we judge and send people to jail for racist propaganda, and if we think that is a normal and democratic thing to do, then why aren't religious believers also protected in our country? I don't think that's right. It shouldn't be like that," Chuev said.
Stephanie Prochnow. Sacharow-Museum verklagt. 08-01-2004 
http://www.russland-aktuell.ru/mainmore.php?tpl=Kultur&iditem=265
Die Ermittler kamen jetzt zu dem Schluss, dass „Vorsicht Religion“ in "demonstrativer Form erniedrigende und beleidigende Beziehungen zur christlichen Religion im allgemeinen und zur orthodoxen Kirche im besonderen fördert." Museumsdirektor Juri Samodurow erklärte die Anschuldigungen für falsch.
Bereits kurz nach dem Anschlag hatte Metropolit Kirill, der Vorsitzenden des kirchlichen Außenamtes, die Schau eine „direkte Provokation“ genannt, die „die Gefühle der Gläubigen verletze“. Das Patriarchat bezeichnete „Vorsicht Religion“ als eine "eindeutige Gotteslästerung". Christliche Symbole seien geschändet worden.
Seit dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion erfreut sich die orthodoxe Kirche wachsender Beliebtheit. Viele Menschen suchen nach einer neuen Identität. Die Wiedergeburt der Orthodoxie ist aber auch Resonanzboden für nationalistische Puristen, die Rückbesinnung auf russische Kultur und Moral predigen.
„Wir haben ein fundamentales Problem“, kommentierte der Leiter der Abteilung für aktuelle Kunst in der Tretjakow-Galerie, Andrej Jerofejew, die Ereignisse um die Ausstellung „Vorsicht Religion“. „Die Kirche akzeptiert nicht, dass ihre Vorstellungen von der Gesellschaft kritisiert werden. Aber genau das macht eine Zivilgesellschaft aus.“
***Marina Ovsova. VICTIMS OF POGROM THREATENED WITH FIVE YEARS IN JAIL; HAS A NEW INQUISITION BEGUN? Moskovskii komsomolets, 6 January 2004
An insult? Absolutely not. In the past decade ministers of the church provided many occasions for such artistic ridicule.
This story has yet another continuation. Approximately a month ago this same committee "For the moral rebirth of the fatherland" also "went after" one of our greatest museums, the Russian Museum. Its director, Vladimir Gusev, received from the committee a warning that he should not exhibit sixty works given to the museum by a single Moscow gallery. That was simply because, you see, the painters of some of the pictures participated in the scandalous exhibit in the Sakharov museum. Judging by everything, history is beginning to repeat itself in accordance with some invisible laws.
When in the USSR the church and believing people were subjected to persecution, rights defenders (including me) always were on their side," says the director of the Sakharov museum, Yury Samodurov. "But, it seems, this has been forgotten. We agree that there may exist various kinds of prohibitions and taboos in the area of art, but they should be defined and regulated by law and by the ethical codes of the profession or by decisions of the administrations of museums and galleries. But what is most important is that these 'restrictive' laws should not contradict fundamental constitutional principles of freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, and freedom to disseminate and receive information. As well as the secular character of Russian society and the state."
Yahoo! Nachrichten - Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur 
Yuri Samodurov, Director of Moscow's Sakharov Museum, speaks during an interview at his office in the museum in Moscow, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2004. Samodurov had just been charged with inciting religious hatred and faces up to five years in prison for organizing an exhibit called Caution, Religion. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
Veronika Wengert. Kirche zeigt sich modern. Religiöse Ausstellungen präsentieren und provozieren - MDZ, 31-01-2003 
http://www.mdz-moskau.de/Religion/2003/01/31/12.22.12.htm
Doch nicht immer zeigen sich Gläubige tolerant: Vor wenigen Tagen musste die umstrittene Ausstellung "Vorsicht, Religion" im Sacharow-Zentrum vorzeitig ihre Pforten schließen, da extremistische Besucher fast sämtliche Kunstwerke zerstört und mit Parolen besprüht hatten. Auf den Bildern und Fotografien waren meist moderne Interpretationen des Glaubens abgebildet, die rund 40 russische und internationale Künstler entworfen hatten. Als Begründung für ihre Zerstörungswut gaben die Vandalen an, sie hätten die Objekte als Provokation ihres orthodoxen Glaubens empfunden. Auch Metropolit Kirill hatte die Ausstellung stark kritisiert.
Nikolay Dzis-Voinarovsky. Spontaneous Orthodoxy. - Pravda, 12/25/2003
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/364/11641_church.html
The faithful strongly criticized the exhibition, the same way as Christians often receive typical projects. In 2001, during the exhibition Art-Moscow-2001 children under 18 were not allowed to one of the exhibition halls. An icon with the image of a soldier killed in Chechnya and standing with his decapitated head in the hands and an icon with the Vladimir Mother of God dressed in camouflage uniform were exhibited in the hall. In 2002, a group of Orthodox students of the Russian State Humanitarian University brought an action against the university management because they posted a picture representing Christian apostles together with Egyptian gods. The court rejected the suit.
These are not the only examples of interaction between the religion and the society. A public committee "For moral revival of the society" has been recently created to fight against organization of "bad" exhibitions on the legal basis. Unification of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Orthodox Church abroad is being actively discussed. This is important that today the Russian Orthodox Church can exert much influence upon the leadership of the country as compared with Boris Yeltsin"s epoch.
Maria Kravtsova. - The Voice of Russia,  24.01.03
http://www.vor.ru/German/Spektrum/Theme_293.html
 Allem Anschein nach verstehen die Organisatoren der Ausstellung unter Religion nicht bestimmte Konfessionen, sondern einen rücksichtslosen Glauben an irgendetwas. Darüber, wie diese Idee in den ausgestellten Werken wiedergespiegelt ist, erzählt uns der Kurator der Ausstellung Arutjun Zulumjan:  
Aus unserer bitteren Erfahrung folgt, dass einige von uns Russen sich fürchten, rücksichtlos an Ideen zu glauben, auch wenn es um die Idee des Christentums geht. Und wie die meisten Werke DIESER Ausstellung gezeigt haben, haben wir vor allem Angst davor, dass die Religion zu einem Teil der Staatsideologie wird:  
„Der Staat soll nicht versuchen aus dem Glauben eine Art Stütze für die Stabilitätsstärkung Russlands zu machen – sagt Artjun Zulumjan. Der Staat will dem Westen zeigen, dass wir auch in die Kirche gehen, dass wir auch so sind wie ihr. Ich meine, dass das eine Spekulation mit der Religion ist. Und die Kirche nimmt diese Spekulation an um daraus ihren eigen Profit zu ziehen. Mir scheint es absurd , dass bei uns die Kirche das Recht auf zollfreien Zigaretten-und Alkoholhandel hat. Und es ist nicht weniger unerhört, wenn ein Priester eine Bank oder ein U-Boot einweiht“. 
Dazu Anna Alchug, eine der Künstlerinnen der Ausstellung:  „Das ist eine Art von Rebellion gegen den Standpunkt der Russischen Ortodoxen Kirche, die durch Konservatismus und Intoleranz gegenüber allem Anderen gekennzeichnet ist.“ 
SAKHAROV MUSEUM UNDER ATTACK FOR CONTROVERSIAL ART EXHIBIT. - Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, November 2003 | Volume LII | No. 6
To Western eyes bombarded by provocative images, the items in the Russian exhibit might appear tame. But they were perceived as highly offensive by some believers. A poster by Aleksandr Kosolapov, a Russian emigre artist naturalized in the U.S., shows Jesus on a Pepsi advertisement announcing, "This is my blood." Sculptor Alina Gurevich used vodka bottles to create a church, a reference to the tax-exempt status the Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed in the 1990s.
The court announced the formation of a commission of experts to determine whether the works incited hatred, a commission characterized as unfair by museum director Yurii Samodurov because it was not made up of art experts. If found guilty, under Article 282 of the criminal code ("incitement of ethnic, racial, or religious enmity"), the organizers could face heavy fines and up to three years of probation or even three to five years in prison if aggravating circumstances of a crime committed by an "organized group" are found.
WHEN TWO FREEDOMS COLLIDE. Artists and the Russian Orthodox Church Have Different Ideas about Their Rights. - BIGOTRY MONITOR. A Weekly Human Rights Newsletter on Antisemitism, Xenophobia, and Religious Persecution in the Former Communist World and Western Europeю - Volume 3, Number 35, Friday, September 5, 2003
http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/090503Russia.shtml
In post-Soviet Russia, everything has changed and nothing has changed. One may advance the two arguments with equal justification when examining the case of the Sakharov Museum -- an institution dedicated to the spiritual legacy of the Soviet era's great dissident -- which may soon be tried for the crime of spreading interethnic or inter-religious hatred.
Under the communist regime and its totalitarian ideology, both artistic freedom and religious freedom were suppressed, often violently, and those who defied the regime were thought of as belonging to the same camp. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, both freedoms have been exercised. But it appears that the Orthodox Church has been more successful in reasserting the special role of the country's pre-eminent faith and in calling for a return to the ways of Old Russia. Besides gaining mass support, the Russian Orthodox Church has secured the enthusiastic backing of the head of state, Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly pronounced himself a believer and who visibly enjoys playing a part in Orthodox ceremonies. Not surprisingly, most politicians cater to the demands of the Russian Orthodox Church rather than to the wishes of those who practice or appreciate artistic freedom, which remains the domain of a tiny elite.
The contest is unequal, and only the courts can resolve the case of the attack on the Sakharov Museum. There is no law against sacrilege per se, but judges can argue that when some provocative artists offend a religion, a rise in communal tension may result, and the law considers inciting religious or ethnic hatred a criminal act. The pressures of the increasingly domineering majority church and the mob violence it stimulates take courage to resist, and, just like in pre-Soviet times, the legal system is low in its supply of courage.
Vladimir Putin has endorsed the Church's spiritual role
http://www.loper.org/~george/trends/2003/Sep/975.html
The Russian Orthodox Church has condemned insults against religion as "criminal", following an attack on Saturday of an exhibition in a Moscow museum deemed by some to be anti-religious.
Mr Samodurov added that the exhibition was not intended to be anti-religious but said more explanatory notes could have been included. "Some were fairly revolting works which could shock people," he told AFP news agency. "It's modern art." 
But Viktor Malukhin, head of communications at the Moscow Patriarchate, told BBC News Online that the exhibition encouraged extremism and intolerance. The head of the Orthodox Church external affairs department said the authorities should have recognised that the exhibition was in breach of laws on extremism and offended religious people. It should not have been allowed to go ahead, said Metropolitan Kirill.
But it has undergone a revival in Russia in recent years as the dominant religion, with political leaders endorsing its spiritual role. Some nationalist groups have been pushing for more Church influence on State affairs. It has been targeted by protesters before - last May, a mural of Sakharov outside the museum was sprayed with anti-Semitic and obscene slogans.
***STEVEN LEE MYERS. Art vs. Religion: Whose Rights Will Come First? - New York Times, Sept 2, 2003
http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000438.php
The lower house of Parliament passed a resolution condemning the museum and the exhibition's organizers. The criminal charges against four of the six men were dropped early on for lack of evidence - even though they had been detained inside the building. Then on Aug. 11, with several hundred Orthodox believers holding a vigil outside, a court here threw out the charges against the others, Mikhail Lyukshin and Anatoly Zyakin, saying they had been unlawfully prosecuted. 
The court made it clear that an investigation should continue - not against those who attacked the exhibit, but against the museum itself.
The men who attacked the exhibit are members of his church in Moscow, St. Nikolai in Pyzhi. Some of them work there, and Father Aleksandr organized the campaign for their defense and against the museum. He compared the exhibition to a rape or a terrorist act.
Aleksandr B. Chuyev, a member of Parliament and, like Mr. Sakharov, a dissident during the Soviet period, disagreed. Closely allied with the Orthodox Church, he sponsored the resolution calling on prosecutors to investigate the museum. He defended the men who destroyed the exhibition, saying they had acted within their rights to prevent a crime. Democracy, he said, necessitates respect for the beliefs of others.

Art vs. Religion: Whose Rights Will Come First?
This example of Orthodox fundamentalism in Russia is categorically not dissimilar to the Sunni fundamentalism in Afghanistan that blew up the art of an ancient Buddhist civilization or the Evangelical fundamentalism in the United States that decries the latest Marilyn Manson album or Harry Potter book. all of these acts are undertaken in the name of God for the express purpose of violently (physically or ideologically) imposing a particular identity position. i want prints of these pieces from the Caution! Religion show. unfortunately, the authorities in Russia have seized all of the pieces and they will likely be destroyed. if any of you find pictures of them on the Internet let me now. I think that it would be an excellent thing if some of us took 10 minutes to write a hand-written letter to the Russian embassy or consulate closest to us on behalf of the artists and curators of Russia. Elsewhere, religious respect for freedom of speech and art can be seen. In the Sakharov museum of all places, it is ghastly to note a transition from Soviet repression to Orthodox repression. Personally, I think the "Caution: Religion" slogan is really quite sweet.

***Aleksei Lampsi. BLASPHEMY MUST BE PUNISHED. - NG-religii, 20 August 2003
Archprist Alexander Shargunov, rector of the church of St. Nicholas in Pyzhi, who heads the "For the moral rebirth of the fatherland" public committee:
Under the mask of freedom of speech and freedom of conscience, at the present time the formation of a Russian "church of Satan" is underway.
The holy prelate Ambrose of Milan wrote of two forms of evil: "committing evil and not protecting others from evil." There was good reason for the use of the words "tools of crime" with regard to the exhibited works.
Evil is growing in the world, becoming outrageous, and beginning to act openly. It has become more organized.
But in principle life has shown that it is necessary to pass a legislative standard "on offending believers' feelings." Even the atheistic government considered this a crime. Who can be against such a law? Only satanists, for sure. With maniacal persistence they continue their blasphemies.
ORTHODOXY HAS BECOME AGGRESSIVE. - NG-religii, NG-religii, 20
http://fb02.uni-muenster.de/fb02/oekfried/anlagen/abt2/03082801.htm#3
The pendulum has swung to the other side. There have appeared the preconditions for the creation of such an unpleasant phenomenon as Orthodox totalitarianism that discriminates against atheists and believers of other confessions and religions. Aggressive proclamation of the idea that only a believing person is a moral person and only he is a bearer of the spiritual and cultural heritage of the country is for me absurd and pretentious. 
From my point of view, the most interesting and talented works were the ones subjected to the greatest criticism.
It is possible that I and our museum will be condemned for sacrilege. The question is whether in modern, secular society people can be convicted of sacrilege. 
However I do not know of such restrictions. Indeed could they exist in a society where the church is separated from the state? If they introduce them, they will put prohibitions on the use of meaningful cultural, national, and other symbols.
SAKHAROV MUSEUM UNDER ATTACK FOR CONTROVERSIAL ART EXHIBIT... - RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies
Even long-time supporters of the Sakharov Museum and its related programs have expressed concern about the wisdom of displaying art works that, in their emotional intensity, were roughly equivalent to the hostility stirred by Andres Serrano's 1989 photograph of a crucifix in a jar of urine for some believers and officials in the U.S.
The incident may have been indicative not only of the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, but what Kremlin advisor Gleb Pavlovskii recently called a "quasi-Orthodox leftist populist movement" in describing the war for influence over President Vladimir Putin between two factions in the Kremlin. There is no direct evidence of any government sanctioning of the raid on the Sakharov Museum, but the attack is part of a pattern of increased attacks on liberals, using demonstrative acts such as the museum action to score political points. 
***Lera Arsenina. Secular court supports religious zealots. - Gazeta.ru, 12 august 2003
A Moscow court on Monday threw out a case against two Orthodox believers who in January this year trashed an exhibition entitled ''Beware: Religion!'' organized by an influential human rights group in the capital. The court said criminal persecution of the vandals was unlawful, ruling that there was no indication they had committed a crime. The organizers of the exhibition intend to appeal the ruling, which was hailed by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Lyukshin and Zyakin, along with four other young men, smeared artworks with paint, destroyed several exhibits and wrote obscenities on the walls. The accused said the exhibits were blasphemous and offended their religious feelings.
Lyukshin and Zyakin considered the investigators’ action against them unlawful and filed a complaint to the Zamoskvoretsky court of Moscow. Last week the court began examination of the complaint, which attracted some 500 believers who thronged outside the court building expressing their support for the two men. Lawyer Mikhail Kuznetsov, representing Lyukshin and Zyakin in court, said that the investigators had made a mistake by qualifying their actions as hooliganism.
A spokesman for the Za Prava Cheloveka (For Human Rights) group Yevgeny Ikhlov believes that the court has passed an ''ignominious decision'', by ruling an act of vandalism lawful and thus giving its ''blessing for defacing everything that that fails to conform to the ideas of Orthodoxy and nationalism''.
Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) hailed the Monday ruling by the Zamoskvoretsky court, though at the same time they maintain that the believers could have expressed their protest in a different way.
In the opinion of an ROC spokesman Rev. Mikhail (Dudkov), the court has ruled that what the young men did was not an act of hooliganism; it was a move to cut short a breach of public order, which is the duty of every citizen.
Civil rights group wants higher court of review pogrom decision - NÖK - Nachrichtendienst Östliche Kirchen, Ausgabe 12/03, 28.08.
Moscow Helsinki Group, 20 August 2003 
The court's decision has created a dangerous precedent. It has opened before citizens the possibility of committing violence under the guise of statements that this violence is a response to actions that offend their religious or other feelings. 
Substituting violence for legal forms of protest and protection of one's interests is, from our point of view, nothing more than a manifestation of extremism. Thus the decision of the Zamoskvorechie court in the case of the ransacking of the "Beware, Religion!" exhibit facilitates the expansion and justification of extremist actions. 
The Moscow Helsinki Group perceives here a manifestation of an extremely dangerous tendency and it calls higher judicial instances to take note of the decision of the Zamoskvorechie district court and to initiate procedures in the case of hooligan actions with regard to the "Beware, Religion!" exhibit.
Scott Hogenson and Sergei Blagov. American Detained in Moscow Accuses Orthodox Church of Meddling
CNSNews.com Reporters, July 21, 2003
http://www.aclj.org/news/international/030722_moscow.asp
The exhibit, entitled 'Beware: Religion!' sparked outrage among the Russian Orthodox clergy for its portrayal of the church. Cleric Alexander Shargunov, minister at the St. Nicholas Church in Moscow, said July 17 that it was the "Satanic organizers of the exhibition (who) committed hooliganism."
Shargunov said, "The investigation team turns the situation upside-down by finding hooliganism in Orthodox Christians' rightful reaction" to the exhibit, and said pursuing legal action against the six men would amount to putting the church on trial.
The Public Committee Demands the Sakharov Center and Museum to be Shut
On February the 3rd The Public Committee for Moral Revival of the Homeland addressed a letter to the President suggesting to shut the Sakharov Center and Museum. "Dear Mr. President: In the course of these years this institution has been propagating anti-social principles, defending bandits and criminals, those from Chechnya primarily. The activity of the center is obviously directed towards moral disintegration of the Russian society and the army.
In January 2003 the anti-social activity of the Center reached its culmination in the blasphemous exhibit DANGER: RELIGION. 
As we know, in 2000 this institution was scheduled for liquidation, and only Boris Berezovskii's donation of several million dollars saved it from closing.
Moscow's Sakharov museum attacked by vandals. AFP, January 19, 2003
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/7024-1.cfm
Six individuals entered the museum on Saturday and poured red paint on the walls and paintings and smashed windows in a room housing a temporary exhibition entitled "Look out religion!," said Yury Samadurov. Police were called and within a short time arrested the group, but most of the exhibition of works by some 40 artists was already damaged, he added.
"Nearly all the works were destroyed. They explained their actions by saying that the exhibition offended Orthodox beliefs," he said. "Some were fairly revolting works which could shock people," the director conceded, but added: "It's modern art."
***Otto Latsis. The church in search of an ally. The Russian journal. 21 Feb 2003
The Duma approved a resolution to send this appeal to the prosecutor’s office on Feb. 11. None of them stopped to think that it would be simply absurd for the Sakharov Center, which continued the work of the great human-rights activist, who often stood up for the rights of believers in the most difficult moments, to foment religious hatred.
Only two deputies voted against it, both from the Union of Right Forces (SPS), though even this faction had four deputies supporting the resolution and 26 who did not vote. Deputies from the Communist Party and from Fatherland-All Russia voted unanimously in favor of the resolution.
The deputies and vandals, meanwhile, following Soviet propaganda stereotypes, seized upon the second interpretation. But who prompted the Duma to take time from its many genuinely important state affairs to deal with one small exhibition, one of hundreds taking place every month in Moscow? And who prompted the vandals, some of whom were not from Moscow, to visit an exhibition born of complex intellectual thought?
For example, Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s foreign relations department, and his deputy, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, both publicly regretted that the exhibition wasn’t banned. Chaplin even said it would be good if such events first had to get permission, like in the Soviet years when nothing happened without Party permission and bulldozers were sent in to demolish an unapproved exhibition of abstract art 40 years ago.
These events are just one of many signs that religious fundamentalism is rising in Russia. Religious fundamentalism in Russia is not just a case of certain Muslim radicals becoming more active, but the state has so far been reluctant to address the issue of Orthodox fundamentalism and has even tried to use it as a political resource.
THE SAKHAROV MUSEUM HAS URGENTLY CLOSED ITS "BEWARE OF RELIGION!" EXPOSITION AND APOLOGIZED TO BELIEVERS
http://www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/ne301234.htm
The Board of Directors of the museum and the Andrey Sakharov Public Center decided on January 22 to close before time the scandalous exhibition called "Beware of Religion!" The exhibition was originally planned to last till February 9.
This exhibition insulting for believers was closed because of the ravage made by a group of the Orthodox angered by its openly blasphemous and profane nature.
According to the director of the museum, most of the exhibits were severely damaged. A notice has been put at the museum's entrance, saying, "The Museum and the Andrey Sakharov Public Center make their apologies to the visitors whose sincere and profound feelings have been hurt by the theme of the exhibition and the works presented at it. We believe this theme to be important and did not want to insult you".
Believers deface 'anti-religious' display. BBC NEWS, 20 January, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2676119.stm
Museum director Yuri Samodurov said nearly all the works were destroyed, but that the exhibition would continue until the end of the month with the damage done by the protesters included in the display.
Mr Samodurov added that the exhibition was not intended to be anti-religious but said more explanatory notes could have been included.
The head of the Orthodox Church external affairs department said the authorities should have recognised that the exhibition was in breach of laws on extremism and offended religious people. It should not have been allowed to go ahead, said Metropolitan Kirill. "I am deeply convinced that in any society, and notably in Russia, we should be sensitive to people's religious feelings, and any insult to religious feelings should be qualified as a crime," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
The Orthodox Church was partially suppressed under the Soviet Union, which had an official doctrine of atheism.
But it has undergone a revival in Russia in recent years as the dominant religion, with political leaders endorsing its spiritual role. Some nationalist groups have been pushing for more Church influence on State affairs.
Dmitry Ageev. «Beware of Religion!»: a Rebirth of Militant Atheism in Moscow
Little was known of the exhibition until January 17, when the «Nezavisimaya Gazeta» (Independent Newspaper) published an article on it with photos of the main works displayed. The next day several indignant believers went to the exhibition, smeared with paint and destroyed some of the works, and wrote «blasphemy», «you hate Orthodoxy» and «you are damned» on the exhibition hall’s walls. They did not even try to get away, and as a result police arrested 6 people aged 20-43. The arrested explained their actions by the fact that they as Christians «could not put up with the exhibit’s openly cynical and blasphemous character». 
These events were immediately commented on. The exhibit’s organizers and participants accused Christians of backwardness and «clerical bolshevism».
Answering journalists’ questions at a press conference at the Russian Information Agency «Novosti» on January 20, Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, communicated the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding these events. While not supporting the actions of those who caused damage to the exhibition of openly blasphemous images and considering such methods unacceptable for believers, Metropolitan Kyrill called the exhibition a «direct provocation that creates tension in our society». «We should be sensitive to the convictions of others. It is inadmissible to offend patriotic sentiments and create religious strife... Any form of provocation that offends the feelings of believers and stirs up religious hatred, according to Russian law, must be considered a crime». He expressed the hope that organizers of such events would listen to the opinion of millions of believing co-citizens and that «Moscow may no longer become the arena of religious and ethnic conflict».
A letter written by academic and cultural leaders and signed by many Russian scholars, writers, directors, actors and sculptors mentioned the role of «provocated manipulation in the name of academic Andrei Sakharov». The events at the museum were described by the letter’s authors as «the most stupid and dangerous form of extremism» and «conscious satanism».
It is clear from the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church that «militant Orthodoxy» is not the answer to militant atheism.
A summary of these events was expressed by the participants of the Eleventh annual Christmas lectures that took place in Moscow at the end of January: «Atheist extremism is not a whit better than fascism. In our country, which has only heard of fascism’s manifestations, it should be exterminated once and for all.»
Alexander Kosolapov
Top-left: Kosolapov's painting before the attack, bottom-left: the same painting after
Dan Bergin. Moscow: angry protest at 'anti-religious' art exhibition. - Independent Catholic News, 22 January 2003
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/moscart.html
The Russian Orthodox Church has condemned the show as "criminal." Viktor Malukhin, head of communications at the Moscow Patriarchate, told the BBC that the exhibition encouraged extremism and intolerance.
The head of the Orthodox Church external affairs department said the authorities should have recognised that the exhibition was in breach of laws on extremism and offended religious people. It should not have been allowed to go ahead, said Metropolitan Kirill.
I am deeply convinced that in any society, and notably in Russia, we should be sensitive to people's religious feelings, and any insult to religious feelings should be qualified as a crime," he told Interfax news agency.
Cleric Describes "Beware, Religion!" Art Exhibit as Downright Provocation. - Pravda.RU, 2003-01-20
http://english.pravda.ru/culture/2003/01/20/42283.html
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who is in charge of the Moscow Patriarchate's external relations department, has described the art exhibit "Beware, Religion," unveiled in Moscow Friday, as "downright provocation" aimed at creating societal tensions.
Valery Gribakin, spokesman for the federal Interior Ministry's Moscow branch, says the detainees are facing hooliganism charges. They have now been temporarily released from custody, but a travel ban has been imposed on them, he says. An investigation is currently underway to establish the motives and the objectives of the offense.
Metropolitan Kirill expressed bewilderment at the fact that the exhibition, so offensive to the religious feeling of the faithful, had been permitted at all. This provocative event was not prepared on the sly, but with ample preview material available online, and it could have therefore been easily prevented by authorities, the clergyman believes.

Andey Kovalev - kovalev@artinfo.ru