Belarusian who dug up Van Gogh's grave to be deported to his homeland

French authorities are planning to deport Belarusian performance artist Alexei Kuzmich Jr. to his country of origin. The decision of the court in the northern suburbs of Paris was published by the artist's supporters on his Facebook page.

The performer was detained on July 29 during the performance "Renaissance" at a cemetery in the French city of Auvers-sur-Oise. Kuzmich tried to dig up the grave of Vincent Van Gogh, explaining to the witnesses of the action that "it is unbearable to live in a world where there are no more artists." The author of the performance was dressed all in white and accompanied the digging with cries of "Artist, get up!"

The police arrived and detained Kuzmich. The court ordered him to pay a fine of three thousand euros and sent him to the deportation center Le Mesnil-Amlo. Here, the native of Belarus will await deportation. According to the court decision, the performance artist will not be able to visit France for the next two years.

In the deportation center, Kuzmich was given the nickname "Putin," the activist told his supporters. The story, published on the artist's Facebook page, begins with the words: "Van Gogh didn't get in touch: no "thank you" or "fuck you."

On the day of the trial of the author of the performance, a video entitled "Renaissance. Epilogue" was released on Kuzmich's YouTube channel. In the video, the performance artist called on viewers to "get busy and grab a shovel," listing the names of eleven deceased people: Guy Debord, Andre Breton, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Tristan Tzara, Dalida, Antonin Artaud, Leonardo da Vinci.

Alexey Kuzmich Jr. is the son of a full namesake, a Soviet artist of the 1970s-90s. Kuzmich Jr. held several performances in his homeland, Belarus. During the country's presidential elections in 2020, he took part in protests. After being detained and tortured in prison, the activist managed to leave first for Ukraine and then for Europe.

In 2021, Kuzmich held the "Imitation" action at the Elysee Palace in Paris, dedicated to the "victims of peaceful revolutions who died in vain." The performer climbed over the fence of the French president's residence with a bottle filled with liquid, from the neck of which a burning rag was sticking out. Kuzmich was wearing a white coat with a red target painted on it. The Belarusian was detained by the police. The performer was released a day later. Kuzmich left France, saying that the Paris criminal police warned him: "A repeated precedent within the next six years could lead to prosecution."

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