Orthodox believers have declared that a work of art has once again insulted their feelings

In early July 2012, Orthodox activists in Perm said that the figure of the three-armed Christ presented at the exhibition of sand sculptures "insults their feelings and humiliates the Orthodox religion."

Recall that the sculpture was created by Perm artists specifically for the White Nights festival at the end of May 2012 and represents a figure of a blessing Christ. With one hand he holds the Gospel, with the other he blesses, and behind his back with a third hand he shows the “fig” to the sheep surrounding him and to all spectators.

The believers were outraged not only by the image, but also by the fact of state funding of the festival, in which the sculpture is exhibited.

Answering journalists' questions, Vsevolod Averkiev, curator of the exhibition of sand sculptures, emphasized that the state financed the creation of thirty works of a certain size, but did not approve the sketches of the sculptures. According to him, this is not a protest or a provocation, but the artistic intention of the author. He also recalled that "it is written in the constitution that there is freedom of speech and freedom of conscience." "The Jesuit campaign against culture seems wrong to me," he said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy journalists.

Sources

• A “sandstorm” is brewing in Perm: a religious scandal erupted at the White Nights festival: A sculptor who depicted Christ can be accused of extremism // Evening statements. 2012. July 12.
• Christ with a fig. Boeing case closed // Echo of Moscow. 2012. July 11.
• Perm believers offended by the sand figure of Christ // Rosbalt. 2012. July 3.