The destruction of the exhibition at the Sakharov Museum

January 14 at the center-museum named after. Andrei Sakharov's exhibition "Caution, Religion!" opened in Moscow.

According to the organizers, the exhibition, whose participants include artists A. Alchuk, T. Antoshina, K. Batynkov, I. Waldron, N. Zolyan, A. Zulumyan, A. Zulumyan-Babadzhanova, Y. Kazhdan, M. Kazhlaev, N. Kotel, O. Kulik, N. Magidova and others are “artists’ reflection on a religious theme” ( full list of exhibition participants ).

A few days later - on January 18 - six middle-aged men committed a pogrom in one of the exhibition halls of the museum. They broke glass, destroyed installations, and filled paintings with spray paint.

The caretaker of the hall locked the rioters in the room and called the police. The detained hooligans introduced themselves as “ardent Orthodox Christians” who were dissatisfied with the name of the exhibition (later the names of the participants in the pogrom were made public: Vladimir Sergeevich Sergeev, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Lyukshin, Nikolai Vladimirovich Smakhtin, Grigory Borisovich Garbuzov, Anatoly Vasilyevich Zyakin, Alexey Sergeevich Kulberg). All of them were soon released on their own recognizance, and a criminal case was opened into the attack under Part 1 of Art. 213 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Commenting on the incident, DECR chairman Metropolitan Kirill called the exhibition “a direct provocation that creates tension in our society” and expressed bewilderment as to “why such an exhibition became possible,” although he recognized the actions of the pogromists as unacceptable.

Elena Bonner also commented on the attack on the exhibition. In her interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station, she expressed regret about what happened. In her opinion, despite the fact that the name of the exhibition was quite provocative (“people get the impression that the exhibition is anti-religious”), “the destruction of any exhibition, no matter what it is, is barbaric.” “This is an indicator of growing internal aggression among people, which is very dangerous for the state and country,” concluded A. Sakharov’s widow.

Moscow City Duma deputy Evgeny Bunimovich also condemned the pogrom. He believes that such issues are the subject of legal regulation, and they must be resolved in court. “This seems longer, on the other hand, the precedent of such a court and such a decision is much more important than such a dubious action as a defeat.”

The director of the Museum named after. Andrey Sakharov Yuri Samodurov. He denied Metropolitan Kirill’s claim that the exhibition offends the feelings of believers. “I can’t imagine on what basis Metropolitan Kirill judges the concept of this exhibition and what works were presented there and what their meaning is. He wasn’t there, he didn’t see it.” According to Yu. Samodurov, one of the aspects of the title - “Caution, Religion” - implies care, caution, and respect for issues of religious worldview. On the other hand, it is a desire to draw attention to the danger of merging religion with the state or “transforming religion into a trademark and a means of extracting unworthy benefits.”

DECR Deputy Chairman Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin condemned the methods of the pogromists, but noted that “the exhibition is undoubtedly also an offense,” and “law enforcement agencies should have stopped its opening and brought the exhibition organizers to justice.”

In her commentary, the chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseeva, expressed the belief that “this exhibition was not of an aggressive nature” and “most likely its subject was the protection of religious minorities,” and also condemned the actions of the pogromists, especially since they called themselves believers.

On January 21, the all-Russian movement “For Human Rights” issued a statement expressing concern about “manifestations of clerical Bolshevism,” which, according to movement participants, is “the justification by the leadership of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church for the actions of pogromists” with the support of religious minorities, as well as fear , that relations with the Academy of Sciences, with which the Moscow Patriarchate recently concluded an agreement , will develop according to the same pattern, allowing for “clerical and xenophobic propaganda in schools,” as has already happened in the case of the Ministry of Education.

Nikolai Burlyaev, Ilya Glazunov, Vyacheslav Klykov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Valentin Rasputin and other cultural and scientific figures made an appeal in which they called the works presented at the exhibition “a blasphemous mockery of Orthodox Christian shrines,” noting that “nothing like this can be imagined in relation to Islam, Buddhism, in general any of the traditional religions, not to mention Judaism." Those who signed the appeal reproached the media for “provocative manipulation of the name of academician Andrei Sakharov,” who, not being a religious person, nevertheless spoke out in defense of those persecuted for their religious beliefs. According to cultural figures , the exhibition “Beware of Religion!” “cannot be compared even with communist analogues,” since it represents “conscious Satanism, its new stage.”

The editors of "Portal-Credo" in their commentary drew attention to the fact that not a single radical Orthodox public organization took responsibility for the pogrom at the exhibition, although such an action would have allowed them to strengthen their positions in the church-public environment. Later, by the way, information appeared that the blessing for the pogrom was given by Archpriest Alexander Shargunov, head of the public committee “For the moral revival of the Fatherland.” “Portal-Credo” also noted that the court in this conflict, apparently, is closer to the position of the clergy than to human rights organizations, and therefore proposes that the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate “sign agreements on interaction not only with the legislative and executive authorities, but also with judicial power" so that judges have the opportunity in the process of work "to rely on the spiritual and moral values ​​of Orthodoxy."

On January 21, the management of the Sakharov Museum announced the early closure of the exhibition “Caution, Religion!”, emphasizing that the organizers did not want to offend visitors “whose conscientious beliefs and deep feelings are hurt by the theme of the exhibition and the works presented at it.” In addition, the museum’s management emphasized that the museum remains an open platform for discussing controversial problems of modern society, and the organizers now intend to accompany exhibitions that may cause an inadequate reaction with the following announcement : “The Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Center apologizes to visitors whose conscientious beliefs and deep feelings We are offended by the theme of the exhibition and the works presented at it. We consider this topic important and did not want to offend you."

On January 22, on the air of Radio Radonezh, the participants in the pogrom gave an interview in which they stated that they acted consciously in order to stop the “gross mockery of a people of many millions.” “We defended our society, we defended our faith, and there is precisely no crime in our actions,” said one of them, Nikolai Smakhtin.

Meanwhile, on January 23, Strana.ru published an article by Maria Sveshnikova, “The naked woman on the cross as a symbol of the human rights movement. The anti-Orthodox exhibition at the Sakharov Museum was destroyed by its organizers.” In it, the organizers of the exhibition themselves were blamed for the pogrom of the exhibition. The following arguments were given in favor of this version: firstly, few people know where the museum is located; secondly, the exhibition participants are not professional artists, but shocking figures seeking to attract attention to themselves at any cost; thirdly, “not a single believer would ever come to such an exhibition,” etc.

On January 27, on the air of Radio Radonezh, Archpriest A. Shargunov fully approved of the actions of the pogromists. “What happened in the Sakharov center seems to accumulate all the satanic corruption that we are witnessing today. And this event, indeed, requires a living Christian, Orthodox reaction - from believers and non-believers,” he said, calling pray for the pogromists.

In February, Literary Gazeta joined the discussion of events related to the exhibition. The article by Kapitolina Koksheneva, “Malicious Mockery,” expresses unequivocal approval of the actions of the pogromists and the same unequivocal censure of the organizers and authors of the exhibition, as well as human rights activists. K. Koksheneva expresses confidence that the events associated with the exhibition will serve as a good lesson for modern artists, and such exhibitions will no longer be held in Russia. In the very fact of holding the exhibition, the author sees an argument in favor of introducing the “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” at school “so that there would be fewer new barbarians in a country with a thousand-year-old Orthodox culture.”

Meanwhile, on February 6, the exhibition of Avdey Ter-Oganyan “Non-normative painting” was opened at the Marat Gelman Gallery. According to the Vremya Novostei newspaper, the gallery has already received calls threatening the organizers. However, so far no one has encroached on the exhibition, for which a policeman was invited to guard. According to the gallery owner , if the works presented at the upcoming exhibition are damaged, the organizers of the action will sue the rioters. According to M. Gelman, such a reaction to works of art is “a manifestation of obscurantism on the surface of our social life,” since, even if the artists’ works are capable of offending someone’s feelings, viewers always have a choice whether to attend the exhibition or not. On the gallery’s website Meanwhile, an appeal “against obscurantists” was posted.

On February 10, Anatoly Koryagin addressed a letter about the exhibition to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The letter contains a call to “respond and actively react to what happened, because only in close unity in relation to such events we, Christians of the entire planet, are able to counteract any encroachment on our shrines by the forces of Darkness.”

Sources

• Exhibition of contemporary art "Beware of religion!" opens at the Andrei Sakharov Museum Center in Moscow // Portal-credo.ru. 01/14/03
• One of the halls of the Sakharov Museum was destroyed. Vandals released // Newsru.com. 19.01. 03
• Orthodox radicals destroyed an exhibition at the Sakharov Museum // Portal-credo.ru. 01/19/03
• He called the attacked exhibition “Caution, Religion!” a “direct provocation.” Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad // Portal-credo.ru. 01/20/03
• The organizer of the exhibition "Caution: Religion!" convinced that his soul is pure // Newsru.com. 01/20/03
• Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad spoke out against the organization of an exhibition that offended the religious feelings of people //
• Document: On clerical Bolshevism. Statement of the NGO "For Human Rights" regarding the destruction of the exhibition "Beware of Religion!" // Portal-credo.ru. News feed. 01/21/03
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• Text of Marat Gelman’s statement // Lenta.ru 02/04/2003 *