"Forbidden Art' Forbidden

On May 13, 2008, Yuri Samodurov, director of the Sakharov museum in Moscow, was charged on the basis of Paragraph 2, Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code (incitement to national and religious hatred), for the 2006 exhibition "Forbidden Art'.

The case against the organizers of the exhibition began in June 2007, and originated in the publicly manifested outrage of the Orthodox Community who had deemed the works exhibited as provocations of anti-Christian, anti-Orthodox, and even anti-Russian sentiments. Among the paintings considered unfit by the Orthodox community were two crucifixes with Jesus having in the place of the head first a Lenin insignia and then Mickey Mouse's head.

The exhibition was however not designed to be an expression of extremism. The very name of "Forbidden Art' was assigned to illustrate the fact that the works exhibited had been refused by other museums, and the purpose of the exhibition was thus to study :the nature and tendencies of institutional censorship in the area of culture;. The paintings were covered with sheets with small holes through which the visitors could peek at the art. The event was furthermore not heavily advertised, and it only became "famous' after the protests of the Orthodox community began.

In January 2008 searches were conducted in the museum by the officers in the Division for Fighting Political Extremism of the Taganskaya District Attorney's Office. The inspectors had intended to confiscate the exhibits, but these had long before been returned to the owners. Instead, they removed a folder containing the publications about the exhibition and some shorthand reactions to the "Forbidden Art' written by visitors.

The defense attorney stated that the defendants do not consider themselves to be guilty and that they consider the charges to be "unspecific'.

This is not the first exhibition at the Sakharov museum which attracts the attention of the prosecutors. On the basis of the same article from Criminal Code, the 2005 exhibition entitled "Attention, Religion!' which contained, according to the prosecutors, works of "a blasphemous and cynical character', brought upon two organizers fines of 100,000 Rubles (┬3,000) each.