Community right

A group of artists, curators, and other representatives of the artistic and intellectual community signed an open letter in connection with the dismissal of Marat Gelman from the post of the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art PERMM.

The letter says:

“Many of you visited the PERMM museum and praised it. Among those who participated in the projects of the PERMM museum are many well-known artists, architects, curators, musicians, writers, and intellectuals in Russia and abroad. An even larger number of citizens have heard about the PERMM Museum. This was one of the few places where artists and curators could afford, and the museum administration gave them the opportunity, to speak out on socially significant, pressing issues. Artistic and political projects did not constitute the entire activity of the museum, but they certainly played an important role in it.

To dismiss the director of the PERMM Museum, Marat Gelman, WITHOUT EXPLANATION OF REASONS, on the basis of the relevant article of the Labor Code is the legal right of the Administration of the Perm Region. She took advantage of this right.

But the artistic and intellectual community of Russia has a moral right and an UNDOUBTED moral OBLIGATION to demand that the administration and the governor of the Perm region publicly explain and justify the reasons for the dismissal of Marat Gelman from the post of director of the PERMM Museum.

And one more question. We must not allow political censorship in contemporary art to spread and take root in Russia under the banner of “the fight against extremism.” Judging by media reports, one of the reasons for the dismissal was the display in the museum of a series of works by the artist Slonov, previously prohibited from showing at the White Nights festival, in which the author ridicules the absurd, in his opinion and the opinion of many people, decision to hold it in Sochi Winter Olympics. Anyone interested in the issue has seen or can see these works on the Internet. We are convinced that Marat Gelman, by virtue of the official powers of the museum director, had the right to show this series of works at the PERMM museum, since contemporary art cannot and should not avoid politically sensitive topics and issues, and the museum director has the right to decide for himself what to exhibit - This is why he was invited; this is his area of ​​professional competence. Without professional independence and responsibility, no development of art is possible. The prosecutor's office must immediately stop the "checking of Slonov's works for extremism" that it has begun, and the leadership of the Perm region must publicly declare that their showing of a series of Slonov's works had nothing to do with Gelman's dismissal, and if it did, then the decision to dismiss Gelman SHOULD BE CANCELED.

In the absence of a substantiated, convincing and public response to this appeal from the Administration of the Perm Region, participants in the artistic, intellectual and scientific life of Russia have an undoubted right to stop cooperating in the field of culture and science with the Administration of the Perm Region, in order to at least in this way contribute to the protection of intellectual freedom in our country.

We hope that this appeal will be supported by famous artists, architects, curators, scientists, musicians, and intellectuals.”