Avdey Ter-Oganian

j_volfson wrote on September 28th, 2010 at 11:39 pm

A.Ter-Oganian. Open Letter to Curator of the Louvre Exhibition, Ms Marie-Laure Bernadac

Оriginal (Русский)

Dear Ms Bernadac!

I am writing with regard to the situation around my participation in the exhibition Russian Counterpoint.
As you probably know, the Russian Ministry of Culture banned some of my work from being shown.

This is not the first case of inadequate official assessment of the Russian art process. In 1999, I was charged with "inciting national and religious hatred" under the Section 282 (2) of The Criminal Code of Russian Federation, and faced two to four years in jail. Per my attorney recommendation, I had to leave the country before the hearing. I became an immigrant, and for over ten years live in the Czech Republic as political refugee.

In the year 2000 a similar case was brought to the artist and filmmaker Oleg Mavromatti, who was threatened to jail time under the same Section of the Criminal Code. He fled the country and currently lives in Bulgaria.
In 2003 radical religious group crushed exhibition "Caution, Religion!" at the Sakharov Center for Human Rights, where artists reflected on the relations between art and religion. After the trial, the rioters were dismissed, while the exhibition curators Yuri Samodurov and Lyudmila Vasilovskaya, were convicted and sentenced to a fine. Soon, after immigrating to Germany their fellow curator Anna Alchuk committed suicide.

In 2007, after another exhibition in Sakharov Center, "Forbidden Art-2006" the criminal case against its organizers Viktor Erofeev and Yuri Samodurov was initiated. This exhibition presented works from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery, works which were banned from different shows in this museum during the year 2006. The show included art by Ilya Kabakov, Alexander Kosolapov and other internationally renowned Russian artists.

Immediately after the beginning of criminal proceedings, Chief Curator of the New Art at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Andrei Evrofeev lost his job, and Sakharov Center Director, Yuri Samodurov was forced to resign. In 2010 both were convicted and, thanks to an unprecedented public support, were only sentenced to fines. While the prosecutor demanded a three-year imprisonment term.

All these persecutions were initiated by the radical wing of the Russian Orthodox Church, with approval of the Moscow Patriarchate, rapidly increasing its political power in Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Culture did not interfere in resolution of any of these conflicts.

These are only a few of the most outrageous and exemplifying cases directly related to art, and reflecting common trends in deteriorating human rights situation in Russia.

A month ago, along the lines of the same legal charges, a new dangerous situation was created. Russian Consulate in Sofia [Bulgaria] refused to renew a passport to the aforementioned artist Oleg Mavromatti on the grounds that he was on the 10 year old list of "All-Russia's Wanted". As the result, his stay in Bulgaria became illegal. The Embassy staff notified him of his forthcoming extradition to Russia. Under current circumstances if deported, Mavromatti is to be jailed while awaiting the trial. I would like to emphasize here, that this possible imprisonment represents a real threat to his life due to the specifics of Russian prison: the harsh living conditions, brutal attitudes between prisoners and growing popularity of the Orthodox Religion among criminals, accompanied by the increasing influence of the Church in the most primitive forms on the prison life.

My work from the Radical Abstractionism series is the artist's immediate reaction to such circumstances. The refusal of the Ministry of Culture to release these works - is very revealing. They played the role of indicator, marking the limits of idiocy in the relationship between art and power.

Therefore, despite the fact that it is limited edition work, I refuse to reproduce it by printing in France.
I do not want to take part in the neutralization of the newly manifested long-standing deep conflict.

Hence,  I have decided not to participate in this show if the following two requirements are not met by the Russian side:

1. My work must be legally exported from Russia.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation should extend the foreign passport to Oleg Mavromatti.

I published an Open Letter to all exhibition participants, asking them to support my claims and boycott the show. I hope that my colleagues will support me.

I am very sorry if my public statement disrupts the exhibition. And would like to sincerely apologize to you and your colleagues.
I would like to emphasize that to be exhibited at the Louvre is a big honor for me and my colleagues. I do not have any thoughts against you as a curator, and your French and Russian colleagues directly involved in organizing of the event.
To me it is the only possible way to draw public attention in Europe and Russia to the problems described above, and to contribute to the resolution of the critical situation around Oleg Mavromatti in his favor.

I am confident that my demands are realistic and completely fair. They are addressed to the Russian authorities, exclusively.

I hope you understand me. After all, France has always been a symbol of freedom to the world.
I ask you for your support of my statement and hope you could officially submit a congruous letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow.



Sincerely Yours,

Avdei Ter-Oganian

September 26, 2010

Oleg Mavromatti

The Petition

Raise a voice in support of freedom of speech and expression! Insist on dropping charges against artists and art-show organisers in Russia.

On September 8th, 2010 Russian artist Oleg Mavromati, currently living in Bulgaria and the US, was refused renewal of his Russian passport by the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Sofia, on the grounds that Mavromati has been avoiding trial in the Russian Federation for the performance he made in 2000. If he returns to Russia he will be put on trial and faces 3-5 years of prison.

Mavromati was prosecuted for "Do Not Believe Your Eyes" under article 282 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation with "inciting religious hatred and offending the feelings of religious believers." A legal complaint from the chairman of the local Orthodox Church community "St. Nikola" against Mavromati was disregarded by the Moscow City court as there was no evidence of crime. Through coercive measures and political connections the same complaint was sent to the General Attorney's office. Then Mavromati's home was searched and all his video and film materials were confiscated.

"Do Not Believe Your Eyes" was not meant to offend the religious feelings of anyone, or the Orthodox faith in particular. It was also not meant to mock the Christian crucifixion or to represent any religious symbol, but rather to represent an archetype of pain. The performance was a scene of a film directed by Mavromati and called "Oil on Canvas." Mavromati played the main role, for which he performed the crucifixion. The story was based on the biography of the young Russian painter Oleg Golosiy, who was tragically killed by another artist because of envy. Mavromati was playing the role of the artist who killed Golosiy. The character repented and in order to prove his sincerity he changed the traditional artistic medium he used (oil on canvas) with direct action and physical expression. As a true evidence of his repent the character decided to crucify himself by that representing his personal guilt.

Now there is a new urgent situation: Mavromati was just notified by the Russian Consulate in Sofia that they will not renew his passport. According to the Russian Consulate the passport renewal was refused because Mavromati has been avoiding trial in the Russian Federation for the performance he made in 2000. If he returns to Russia and put on trial Mavromati faces 3-5 years of prison.

Mavromati currently lives in Sofia with his wife, Bulgaria artist Boryana Dragoeva. The couple are internationally exhibited video artists, Boryana is also currently a PhD student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY department of Electronic Arts.

This is not an isolated case. Amnesty International had made a statement about other Russian artists being prosecuted under article 282 : http://bit.ly/c5GeGk

Attention : réligion !

Foul Amusement

By Masha Charnay
Special to Russia Profile
07/21/2010
Last week the legal case of free speech versus the Russian Orthodox Church came to an end when Moscow’s Tagansky District Court convicted two prominent museum curators of “inciting hatred and denigrating human dignity” by staging a controversial art exhibit. In what appears to be a gesture of clemency, the court allowed Yury Samodurov and Andrey Yerofeev to avoid the jail term that the prosecution insisted on, instead ordering them to pay a total of 350,000 rubles ($11,500) in fines. The outcome spurred vehement reaction at both ends of the ideological spectrum and has raised concerns about the forces shaping the Russian Zeitgeist.

Attention : réligion !

Russia must halt prosecution of exhibition organizers

Both men are facing charges of "inciting hatred" by organizing an art exhibition

© Amnesty International

9 July 2010

Amnesty International and ARTICLE 19 are urging the Russian authorities to drop the charges against the organizers of Forbidden Art 2006, an exhibition which featured Soviet and post-Soviet art works, some of which used religious symbolism.  

Andrei Yerofeev, the exhibition curator, and Yuri Samodurov, then director of the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Centre, were accused of "inciting hatred or enmity" and "denigration of human dignity” over the exhibition, which was hosted at the Museum in Moscow in 2007.

The verdict is due on 12 July and the two defendants are facing three years imprisonment.

“A guilty verdict against Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev would further undermine freedom of expression in Russia. It will send a strong signal to artists that they could be hounded by the authorities on arbitrary charges simply for exercising this fundamental right,” said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.

Forbidden Art 2006 brought together a number of censored art works that had been refused public display at other exhibitions.

The exhibition featured pieces by some of Russia’s most well-known contemporary artists, such as Ilya Kabakov, Alexander Kosolapov, the group “Blue Noses”, Aleksandr Savko and Mikhail Roginskii.  The exhibits included works that included Mickey Mouse instead of Jesus Christ in paintings portraying scenes from the Bible.

The prosecution claims that Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev, then head of the department for contemporary art at the State Tretyakov Gallery, had arranged the exhibition in such a way that it incited enmity and hatred and also denigrated the dignity of Christian groups, in particular Orthodox Christians.

Trial observers stressed that out of 134 prosecution witness statements only three witnesses had admitted to having seen the works.

One of them admitted in his own words, he had only "glanced" at the exhibition. None of the witnesses could name an individual who had been incited to hatred or enmity against the Orthodox faith after visiting the exhibition.  

Anna Stavitskaya, the defence lawyer, told Amnesty International and ARTICLE 19 that no law had been violated. She said: “The prosecutor could not explain against whom ‘hatred or enmity’ had been incited and whose dignity had been denigrated. People should not be put on trial for organizing an exhibition.”

Dr Agnes Callamard, Executive Director ARTICLE 19, said: “At international meetings, the Russian President Dimitry Medvedev claims that Russia is changing. Sentencing Samodurov and Yerofeev for exhibiting art is reminiscent of a Russia where artists were persecuted for their beliefs and views.“
“Freedom of art is an integral part of the right to freedom of expression. This right is applicable not only to “information” or “ideas” that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the state or any sector of the population. Such are the demands of pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is democratic society,”.


Neither Russian, nor international human rights law permit freedom of expression to be restricted or prohibited simply on the grounds that some people find the views expressed offensive or disagreeable.

Moreover, laws forbidding incitement to hatred should not be used to limit freedom of expression in order to protect or support a particular religious group or point of view as such. Rather, they should seek to limit forms of expression which have the potential to cause harm to individuals and which are incompatible with the underlying  values of human rights.

Some of the leading Russian cultural figures and human rights activists are declaring their support for Andrei Yerofeev and Yuri Samodurov.

A well-known Russian gallery owner, Marat Gelman, has already said that if a guilty verdict is handed down, he will immediately exhibit "Forbidden Art 2006" in his gallery.

Yurii Samodurov, together with curator Ludmila Vasilevskaia, had previously received a conditional sentence after a conviction for inciting hatred following the organization of exhibition entitled Caution! Religion! in 2003, also at the Sakharov Museum in Moscow. Yuri Samodurov and Ludmila Vasilevskaia took the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

It has been communicated to the Russian Government in January 2010. Amnesty International and ARTICLE 19 considered that this earlier exhibition did not incite hatred either, and that Yurii Samodurov and Ludmila Vasilevskaia were sentenced solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Centre opened in May 1996 to commemorate victims of political repressions in the USSR and also to promote human rights and democratic values in Russia.