Orthodox Christians opposed M. Gelman's exhibitions in Krasnodar

On May 10, 2012 it became known that Bishop of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssky Kirill turned to the governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev with a request to prevent exhibitions of gallery owner Marat in Krasnodar Gelman.

According to the bishop, Gelman's work "has no relation to genuine culture and is aimed at inciting interreligious and ethnic strife."

"His blasphemous works against the Russian Orthodox Church and His Holiness the Patriarch in particular caused popular indignation and excitement in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Tver, Ryazan, Ulyanovsk, Perm, Novosibirsk and other cities," the appeal reads.

The bishop reminded the governor that the images of temples in the form of an enema, protection of the organizers of the Caution-Religion exhibitions and support shares of "Pussy Riot" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - "these are just a few facts from his (Gelman - Ed.) biographies.

On May 11, a similar statement was made by the Yekaterinodar diocese, declaring M. Gelman's exhibitions "spiritually pernicious" .

“Moreover, we, the Kubans, cannot be allowed to In the Cossack Orthodox region, a stationary museum of Gelman appeared, where trampling and the desecration of religion and culture would be elevated to the norm of life , ”says the statement .

15 May 2012 about twenty people blocked the area in front of the entrance to the exhibition hall with to disrupt the opening of the Icons exhibition. Cossacks chanted: Gelman! Get out of the Kuban!”, three young people holding a poster "Hands away from the Orthodox Church!”. IN leaflets are distributed in the city, stating that "Gelman's exhibitions bring death and corruption of human souls”, are associated with “desecration of sacred things”, "propaganda of drugs", "the imposition of perversions", "mockery of the history of Russia”, and everyone who sees them is “already defiled”.

May 16, 2012 year, the exhibition in Krasnodar opened despite protests.

Recall that in Moscow a group of Orthodox believers demanded a ban on the production of "The Golden Cockerel" at the Bolshoi Theater, in Novosibirsk, the Orthodox also spoke out against the exhibition of M. Gelman.

Sources

• The Church asks to ban the exhibition of gallery owner Gelman in Krasnodar // Interfax-Religion. 2012. May 10.
• At the end of March, the director of the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art "PERMM" Marat Gelman visited Kuban. For the Kuban, he proposed a project similar to the Perm // Website of the Yekaterinodar diocese. 2012. May 11.
• The opening of the Gelman exhibition in Krasnodar was overshadowed by a protest // Interfax (South and North Caucasus). 2012. May 15.
• Gelman exhibition opens despite protests // Snob. 2012. May 16.