A holy place is never empty

Polit.ru has obtained a most interesting document - the contents of a criminal charge against the leaders of the Sakharov Center in connection with the sensational exhibition “Beware of Religion!”, which was destroyed by people who called themselves Orthodox. Moreover, the rioters themselves were acquitted, but the organizers and artists are now being persecuted. Given the possible different assessments of the exhibition, the very fact of prosecution for artistic statements, as well as the content of the accusation, cannot but be alarming.

The full text of the document in PDF format can be viewed here.

Below we copy the argumentative part of the accusation under Art. 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, signed by the investigator for especially important cases of the prosecutor’s office of the Central Administrative District of Moscow, lawyer 2nd class Tsvetkov Yu.A.

...in the period from August to December 2002, Samodurov Yu.V., being the executive director of the international public organization “Andrei Sakharov Foundation - Public Commission for the Preservation of the Heritage of Academician Sakharov” and the director of the autonomous non-profit cultural organization “Museum and Public Center “Mir” progress, human rights" named after Andrei Sakharov" (hereinafter - the museum) entered into a preliminary conspiracy with his subordinate - the head of the museum exhibition organization group L.V. Vasilovskaya, as well as A.G. Zulumyan, N. Zolyan, and A. Mikhalchuk. A. for the joint preparation and holding of an exhibition in Moscow, the clear conceptual focus of which was to publicly express in a visually demonstrative form a humiliating and offensive attitude towards the Christian religion in general, and towards Orthodox Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church in particular, as well as towards the religious symbols of Orthodox believers , through a public display in the museum premises at the address: Moscow, Zemlyanoy Val St., 57, building 6, of specially selected exhibits that incite hatred and enmity, as well as degrading persons based on their attitude to the Christian religion in general , and Orthodox Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church in particular.

Acting in pursuance of a common criminal plan and in accordance with a previously agreed role, using his official position and the powers vested in him by virtue of Article 7 of the Museum Charter (to manage the current activities of the museum, to act without a power of attorney on behalf of the museum, to be responsible for the selection, acquisition, installation and the functioning of all exhibits and preparation of the museum exposition), Samodurov Yu.V. decided to place the exhibition in the museum premises at the address: Moscow, st. Zemlyanoy Val, 57, building 6, for the period from January 9 to February 10, 2003, included the exhibition in the exhibition plan for 2003 approved by him on December 20, 2002, provided technical support for the creation of an exhibition exposition most consistent with its criminal purposes .

Acting in pursuance of the general criminal plan and in accordance with the previously agreed role, being, by virtue of the employment contract dated December 30, 2002, the head of the museum exhibition organization group, L.V. Vasilovskaya, using her official powers, which she is endowed with by virtue of clause 3.2.3 of the said contract and her job description, approved on August 30, 2002 (drawing up and submitting exhibition plans for approval to the director, contacts and negotiations with possible performers, receiving initiative proposals from artists, curators, preliminary approval of the author’s exhibition concepts proposed for inclusion in the plan), contributed to the one she prepared draft plan for the exhibition “Caution, Religion!”, together with Zulumyan A.G. and Mikhalchuk A.A. made a selection of exhibits for placement at the exhibition “Caution, Religion!” and provided technical support during its implementation by hanging exhibits and making advertising posters by museum employees.

Acting in pursuance of a common criminal plan and in accordance with the previously agreed upon role of the curator of the exhibition, Zulumyan A.G. by persuasion, he attracted artists V.V. Shchechkin, A.N. Podosinov, A.V. Sigutin, G.I. Vinogradov, A.S. Filippov, V.L. Sazhina, A.A. Zrazhevskaya to participate in the exhibition, Sarkisyan O.R., Florensky V.P., Galstyan V.A., Batynkova K.A. and others, presented an exhibit of his own production “Forgotten Testaments”, compiled and reproduced the text of the concept of the exhibition “Beware of Religion!”, and also coordinated the actions of other accomplices: N. Zolyan, A.A. Mikhalchuk. and Vasilovskaya L.V.

Acting in pursuance of a common criminal plan and in accordance with the previously agreed upon role of exhibition coordinator, N. Zolyan, through persuasion, attracted the artist A.A. Dorokhov to participate in the exhibition, presented an exhibit of her own making (untitled), compiled and reproduced the text of the exhibition concept “Caution, Religion” !” with the subtitle “He who knows himself is his own executioner,” and also provided assistance to her ex-husband and exhibition curator A.G. Zulumyan. assistance in coordinating the actions of other accomplices: Mikhalchuk A.A. and Vasilovskaya L.V.

Acting in pursuance of a common criminal plan and in accordance with the previously agreed upon role of the exhibition coordinator Mikhalchuk A.A. by persuasion she attracted artists O.B. Kulik, V.M. Orlov, A.Yu. Mitlyanskaya, M.B. Lyubaskina, T.K. Antoshina, N.Yu. Kamenetskaya, M.V. Obukhova to participate in the exhibition, Sazhin V.L., presented an exhibit of her own production “Where from and who?”, and also, under the pseudonym of Anna Alchuk, compiled and reproduced the text of the concept of the exhibition “Caution, religion!”, in which she staged the exhibition “Caution, religion!” on a par with the provocative antics of Mavromati O., Brener A. and Ter-Oganyan A.S., aimed at offending the feelings of believers.

After examining those selected by Zulumyan A.G., Zolyan N., Mikhalchuk A.A. and Vasilovskaya L.V. exhibits and realizing their compliance with the conceptual orientation of the exhibition, Samodurov Yu.V. gave consent to their placement and free public display on the premises of the museum at the address: Moscow, st. Zemlyanoy Val, 57, building 6, for the period from January 9 to February 10, 2003.

As a result of these joint actions, Samodrurova Yu.V., Vasilovskaya L.V., Zulumyan A.G., Zolyan N. and Mikhalchuk A.A. On January 14, 2003, a free exhibition “Beware of Religion!” was opened, at which until January 18, 2003, the listed exhibits were publicly demonstrated, the selection of which deliberately provoked viewers into aggressive rejection of the most important categories, concepts, images of Russian culture, and offended the national and religious feelings of believers , which contributed to the incitement of conflicts on religious and national grounds.

At this exhibition, the following exhibits were displayed, combined into a single exposition:

– exhibits from N.V. Magidovova: poster for the exhibition “Caution, Religion!” and his continuing work “A holy place is never empty.” The poster is a photocopied photograph of the empty frame of the “Savior Not Made by Hands” icon, where in place of the face there is a road sign “Other dangers” in the form of an exclamation mark in a red triangle. The exhibit “A holy place is never empty” consists of 12 photocopies of the same frame with various symbols inserted in place of the face, mainly from the “service sector”: a car, tape headphones, a cup of coffee, a TV, an image of a skull and crossbones;

– exhibit of Florensky V.P. “ROC”, which is a shield with three letters “R”, “P”, “C” attached to it, cut out of foam plastic and hung with Christmas tree garlands;

– exhibit of Zrazhevskaya A.A. “Do not make for yourself an idol”, which is a sheet of plywood measuring 198x122 cm, imitating the setting of the Orthodox icon “Savior on the Throne”, in which there is no face, hands and open Gospel, and instead of them there are slits where each visitor can place his face and any book. The exhibit includes a camera on a tripod, with the lens facing the image of the frame, with the inscription: “Photo. Inexpensive”;

– exhibit of Kulik O.B. “New Word”, which is a color photograph in a frame with a passe-partout, which depicts a costumed worship scene: a young man and a girl, draped in Renaissance style, kneel on one knee before a man dressed as Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns on his head, but instead his hands are the hooves of a cow, and on them lies the corpse of a pig;

– exhibit of Dorokhov A.A. “In the beginning was the word”, which is a triptych, on each part of which there is an image of a conventional silhouette of a crucified man: in the first fragment - on a cross and against the background of the text from the Gospel, in the second - on a five-pointed star and against the background of the text from the “Manifesto” Communist Party”, and in the third - on a swastika and against the background of text from “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler;

– Elagina E.’s exhibit “Ixisos”, presented in the form of a photograph depicting a wooden cross on a “mountain” symbolizing Golgotha. Instead of an image of the crucifixion, Soviet warning posters such as “Beware of injury to your hands” are pasted across the entire surface of the cross, and a garland of sausages is suspended from the sleeves of the cross in a semi-ring;

– exhibit by Kosolapov A. “Coca-Cola”, representing a color advertising poster, the composition of which includes the face of Jesus Christ and the inscription in English: “Coca Cola. This is my blood,” which translated means: “Coca Cola. This is my blood”;

– exhibit by Ter-Oganyan A.S. “Icons on cardboard”, representing eight icons of Christ the Savior and the Mother of God, produced by the Moscow production plant “Sofrino”, on seven of which, completely crossing horizontally or vertically, the inscriptions are made in large, rough letters: “REVOLUCIA”, “VODKA” , “KALASHNIKOV”, “RUSSIAN ART”, “50%”, “LENIN”, “1917”, and on one of the icons there is an image of a hammer and sickle.

– exhibit by Batynkova K.A. “Seven Deadly Sins”, which consists of seven color photographs measuring 50x70 cm, which are placed in wooden frames under glass, depicting a family in everyday life. The photographs depict the family's time spent during the day. The sin of gluttony represents a family feast, the sin of idleness - watching TV, the sin of idolatry - a room hung with photographs and posters of idols. The sin of murder is represented by a boy with a toy gun;

– exhibit of Galstyan V.A. “Adam's Rib”, consisting of an animated film that repeats for “1 hour 1 minute 48 seconds” on a monitor acting as an altar, located at the bottom of the exhibition against a background of gray fabric. In front of the monitor there is a plane with recesses in which “metal tags with numbers embossed on them and pieces of clay” are inserted;

– exhibit of Orlov V.M. and Mitlyanskaya A.Yu. “The Last Supper,” consisting of two parts: a video showing a severed, agonizing fish head, and three photographs depicting bloody fish heads and fins lying on a platter;

– exhibit Mikhalchuk A.A. “Where from and who?”, representing a sheet of plywood measuring 37.7x42 with five photo medallions attached to it - samples of ritual photographs of the deceased, made specifically for graves;

– exhibit Sargsyan O.R. “The “HB!” Action, Held in 1999,” representing six color photographs measuring 15x10 cm, in which the dome of the Moscow Planetarium depicted an Easter egg with the letters “HB!” On the podium, “a man dressed up as an Orthodox priest with a cross on his chest, smiling mockingly, shouted something to the crowd standing below”;

– exhibit Pozharitskaya M.G. “In the temple”, consisting of four curved figured blue walls, against the background of each of which is a gilded angel on a cloud; three walls with images of saint dolls, each on a figured purple stand; and two praying dolls and all this on a pink and blue pedestal;

– exhibit by Antoshina T.K. (untitled) in the form of an empty icon frame;

– exhibit of Kazhdan Ya. “Clothes for the Messiah”, representing an imitation of the great Christian shrine - the Robe of the Lord;

– exhibit of Shchechkin V.V. “Non-resistance to evil through violence”, representing three cardboard canvases with a photographic reproduction of a portrait of Dostoevsky F.M., a metal birdcage, a bust of the writer L.N. Tolstoy. Three photocopies from a famous painting by Perov depicting a portrait of Dostoevsky, to which in one portrait the gray webbed wings of a bat were added to the back, in the second an ax was attached to the hands, in the third Dostoevsky was holding a cage with a bird;

– exhibits of Sigutin A.V. “Note to the artist”, representing a piece of white cotton

fabrics measuring 75x120 and the text of the Council Epistle of the 18th century “It is proper for a painter to be humble, meek, reverent, not idle, not a laugher, not a drunkard, not a robber, not a murderer, and most of all, to maintain purity of soul and body with all possible fear.” “Words Like a Hammer” presents 8 sheets of A-4 format, which contain texts of fragments from the New and Old Testaments typed on a computer. These links are printed on narrow strips of paper, like advertisements. So, each person who is interested in a specific quote can tear off a strip of paper containing the link;

– exhibit of Podosinov A.N. (untitled), presenting three black and white photographs. The first photograph, which is a fragment of a reproduction of an old photograph from the early 20th century: on the right side of the fragment there is a boy, and the rest of the photograph is a row of hands of sitting Orthodox priests. In black cassocks with crosses, priests beheaded (by the photographer’s technique), and therefore killed (in the viewer’s mind), sit in a row, and next to them is an ordinary living boy. A series consisting of two photographs are images of demonstrating, protesting Orthodox citizens, and the shape of the space is formed by the line of a very long multi-meter poster (a manifestation of believers against the screening of Martin Scorsese’s film “The Last Temptation of Christ”);

– exhibit Waldron I. “Hello Dolli!”, representing a large panel with the image of a sheep and the inscriptions in English: “Hello, Shrine! Heil, Dolly, lamb of God”;

– exhibits of Vinogradov G.I. The first, “Anima,” consists of three canvases on which a photographic image of a girl is applied using computer printing. A color projection of a cross made of two wide stripes is placed on the girl’s face. The work is done in dark brown, white, gold and red colors. The second exhibit is “Porfiry Ivanov – DrahuYAYAYA – MahuYAYAYA”, which is an installation related to the activities of a preacher from the island of New Guinea, made with the help of “pornology” - a technique from the arsenal of Moscow conceptualism (speech slipping into obscene language);

– an exhibit by I. Zautashvili (untitled), consisting of the following composition: a knife with the word “RELIGIA” engraved in Latin letters stuck in a cardboard box and four photographs located on the wall. In photograph (1) in the upper left part of the composition, the viewer saw a woman in an obscene pose, with her legs spread and her face covered with something. An icon is placed between the woman’s legs in place of the genitals; the next photo (2) is the profile of a boy wearing headphones, whose gaze is directed in the opposite direction; photograph (3) below showed an abstract space composition; and (4) - part of a naked female thigh with the inscription “Love” and a heart drawn in lipstick;

– exhibit by Zulumyan A.G. “Forgotten Testaments”, which is a panel and a box with compartments where letters are laid out, from which any “testaments” can be laid out;

– exhibit of Mamyshev V.Yu. “Beware of religion!”, which is an image of a man similar to V.V. Putin reclining in an imposing pose against the backdrop of the Temple. He is wearing a mantle in the form of a monastic robe with the “Wind Rose” stars scattered on it. The index finger of the person’s left hand is raised up, and an Orthodox cross is drawn in place of the finger;

– exhibit by V. Kruglikov (no number), representing a lemonade label, where next to the image of fruit there is an image of the Mother of God and Child;

– exhibit of Turetskaya A.V. (untitled), representing a photo collage, on the first page of which there is a painting with a scene of the crucifixion of Christ on Golgotha. Instead of the figure of Christ on the cross, there is a color photograph of a naked woman, as if crucified on the cross. The second photo collage is a photograph of Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper”. Instead of the figure of Christ, a mirror was glued in, so that everyone approaching the work could see their face in it;

– exhibit by Obukhova M.V. “New Religion”, located on the ceiling, above the heads of visitors, consisting of several panels in the shape of a cross. These panels depict naked women in obscene poses, surrounded by angels and cherubs;

– an exhibit of the group “Blue Soup” called “In the Hour of Trouble”, which is a video film of the group of 18 episodes. The action performed in these episodes has apparent significance and complete meaninglessness: the sound of a hammer, the movements of hands pressing the bell button, the spinning of balls;

– exhibit-performance by V.L. Sazhina (untitled): in the center there is a lump of earth, into which a stake is stuck. A naked woman, painted with paint, makes obscene movements that have a ritual meaning;

– exhibit N. Zolyan (untitled) which is a TV set standing on a black box;

– exhibit from Kamenetskaya N.Yu. “Saint Sebastian” is an object made of silk fabric measuring 50x70 cm, into which a painting is sewn in a special way. The painting depicts fragments of paintings by various artists. The center of the work is the image of Saint Sebastian from a painting by Titian, on which are superimposed works of various artists from different times (Titian, Andy Warhol, etc.) depicting Saint Sebastian. All this is enclosed in a circle. The silk fabric on which the image is printed has metal tubes inserted from the bottom and top. A rope is threaded through the top tube and the work is hung on the wall;

– Gurevich exhibit (untitled), representing a composition of vodka bottles on which bulbs in the form of domes are placed. Under the bottles are the attributes of drinking alcohol: a half-eaten roach, three slices of bread. The Temple is made from vodka bottles;

– exhibit of Dragoeva and Mavromati “Fountain”, representing a photograph of the head of an ermine figurine. Next to the photograph there was a sheet of paper with explanations for the work: “there is a new zoomorphic symbol of God, “approved” by the Orthodox Church - whoever wants can cross himself, and whoever wants can spit.”

The images, objects, texts used in the exhibits of this exhibition are significant for the historical and social memory of the peoples of Russia and, above all, for peoples professing Orthodoxy, as well as for other Christians, they contain objects and texts that have a cult purpose and religious meaning, in in particular: setting of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands (in the works of Antoshina, Magidova Zulumyan); setting of the icon “Great Bishop” (work by Zrazhevskaya) imitation of bell ringing (work by Galstyan); crucifix (works by Dorokhov, Turetskaya); prayer (group “Blue Soup”), abbreviation ROC (work by Florensky); cross (works by Elagina, Vinogradov, Podosinov Mamyshev); the words of Jesus Christ from the Gospel: “This is my blood” (work by Kosolapov); the symbol of Christianity is a fish (work by Orlov, Mitlyanskaya); the name Last supper, translated as “The Last Supper” (work by Orlov, Mitlyanskaya); crown of thorns (work by Kulik); Robe of the Lord (work by Kazhdan); icons (work by Ter-Oganyan); Gospel texts (work by Sigutin); words from the Gospel “lamb of God” (work by Waldron); Gospel commandments (work by Zulumyan); image of the Mother of God (works by Zautashvili, Kruglikov); Saint Sebastian (work by Kamenetskaya); Church domes (work by Gurevich); Orthodox church (works by Mamyshev, Mavromati).

The verbal and visual means used in the listed exhibits contained humiliating characteristics, negative emotional assessments and negative attitudes that incited hatred and hostility towards Christianity, Orthodoxy, the Russian Orthodox Church, and degrading the dignity of people on the basis of nationality and religious affiliation.

The goal of the exhibition was achieved through the use of special linguistic (verbal), visual, sound means, methods of hidden psychological manipulation of consciousness and other psychotechnical methods in the exhibits presented to convey offensive and humiliating characteristics, negative emotional assessments, negative attitudes and motivations for action against Christianity in general and Russian Orthodoxy in particular: desacralization of sacred images through the creation of associative connections between the sacred and the low, disgusting, comic, terrible; conditioning images with sexual and disgust stimuli; the creation of depressive associative connections with the help of visual and verbal means in video films, with the help of which the religious feelings of believers and non-believers who have an idea of ​​the sanctity (sacredness) of the main symbols of the Christian religion were insulted and humiliated.

The public demonstration of the exhibition exhibits in the museum at the indicated address took place from January 14 to 18, 2003 and caused a wide public outcry, aroused hatred and enmity, and also humiliated the national dignity of a large number of believers due to their belonging to the Christian religion, especially Orthodox Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church, which violated the principles of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, enshrined in the provisions of Part 5 of Article 13, Article 14 and Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and guaranteeing the principle of religious tolerance as a guarantee of civil peace and stability of a democratic society.

Thus, Mikhalchuk A.A. together with Zulumyan A.G., Zolyan N., Vasilovskaya L.V. and Samodurov Yu.V. committed a crime under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.