Orthodox organizations held a picket demanding the closure of the exhibition "Forbidden Art 2006" and the Sakharov Center

The Orthodox community held a picket in front of the building of the public center named after. Sakharov, where the exhibition "Forbidden Art 2006" is taking place. More than a hundred protesters held banners demanding the closure of the exhibition and the Sakharov Center.

At this time in the museum. Sakharov, there was a discussion organized by the center’s management about the admissibility of holding such exhibitions. (For reports on the discussion, see the website of the Blagovest-info agency and Portal-Credo.ru .)

According to media reports, the picket was organized by the Union of Orthodox Citizens. However, in a message published on the Internet and not signed about the upcoming action, certain organizations of Orthodox youth in Moscow are named as the organizers.

The organizers of the picket consider the Sakharov Center “not only a center of provocations, but also an ideological center of so-called subversive activities, where, along with other similar “crystallization points,” a strategy is developed for creating and maintaining social tension, provoking conflicts and riots, and developing an ideology of struggle Faith and Nation."

One of the organizers, Dmitry Terekhov ( perhaps we are talking about the publisher of the newspapers “Tsarsky Oprichnik” and “Russian Partizan” - Ed. ) said that the Sakharov Center is presumably part of the “orange project”.

Director of the Museum and Community Center named after. A. Sakharov, Yuri Samodurov, on the eve of the action, turned to law enforcement agencies with a request to ensure the protection of the center and the participants in the discussion, since direct calls for a pogrom appeared on the Internet. However, in the end there were no clashes.

Yu. Samodurov commented on the current situation. According to him, “we are turning into Orthodox Saudi Arabia, but in a softened version.”

“Various Orthodox unions say what a certain part of the Orthodox hierarchs would like to say, but due to their status they cannot. This is a mouthpiece for them through which they can declare their true ideology,” said the head of the Sakharov Center and added: “One gets the impression “that everyone who does not publicly recognize the claim of the Russian Orthodox Church to the spiritual hegemony of the people are enemies of the Russians, enemies of the state <...> God is very important, but what is happening with us is church games.”

As reported by the Youth News Agency , representatives of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods and the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers, as well as members of the right-wing radical organizations RONS, DPNI and Kuryanovich CREW took part in the action.

Sources

• Over 100 opponents of the exhibition “Forbidden Art 2006” picketed the building of the Sakharov Center // Interfax-religion. 2007. March 28.
• Samodurov believes that Russia is becoming “Orthodox Saudi Arabia” // Ibid.
• Picket against the blasphemous exhibition “Forbidden Art 2006” // Russia. Ring of Patriotic Resources.
• A picket against demonic behavior was held in Moscow // Youth Information Agency. 2007. March 28.
• In the museum. Sakharov hosted a discussion “Taboos in Contemporary Art” // Blagovest-info. 2007. March 29.
• In the exhibition hall of the Center. Andrei Sakharov held a discussion on the topic “Taboos in contemporary art” // Portal-Credo.ru. 2007. March 29.
• Sitnikov M. REPORT: “Half the country doesn’t know what water supply and sewerage are, but we have the Union of Orthodox Citizens...” In the Center named after. Andrei Sakharov, a public discussion about contemporary fine art took place // Ibid. April 2.