They raided the Manezh in Moscow, where there was an exhibition of contemporary art, and vandalized the works of the sculptor Vadim Sidur, exponent of the Russian Avant-garde. Thrown down from their plinths, trampled and damaged in the name of god. Just like the Isis did in Mosul. But they are protected by the Russian law.
Their leader calls himself Enteo and looks like a Rasputin in color. On his Vkontakte page he has just 3,400 fans. Not so many. But the press across the world is talking about him, and with good reason. Not really because he, with a handful of followers of the Will of God – the Orthodox fundamentalist group founded by him -, raided an exhibition of contemporary art destroying some “blasphemous” works, but mostly because the Moscow court decided not to prosecute him.
In the state-owned exhibition hall “Manezh”, close to the Kremlin, there was the exhibition “The sculptures we don’t see”. Enteo and his fellows entered the gallery and vandalized some works by “the Soviet Henry Moore”, the sculptor Vadim Sidur, died in 1989. A couple of linocuts depicting a naked Christ. They torn them from their plinths, thrown to the ground and trampled them.
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The law
To be frank, there has been a conviction. Against a damage amounting to more than 1.1 million rubles, the group was sentenced to a fine of 1,000 rubles, something like $14. To give an idea, the Pussy Riot have pecked two years in prison for singing in a church. And, in fact, two weeks after the attack was repeated.
It is all because of the law making “offending religious feelings” a crime, invoked by the same Enteo while vandalizing the works. A law passed in the same session of the Duma that voted against gay propaganda, promulgated in the aftermath of Pussy Riot show, to nip any possible emulation. A law that clearly demonstrates how the Orthodox Church goes hand in hand with the Kremlin and how Putin feels comfortable with it.
Enteo is not new to this kind of exploit. After having attacked gays, abortionists, evolutionists, Communists and even pastafarians – on their website there is a video that verges on comedy – he has targeted art. Showing his ties with the so-called liberal democratic party, the (in)famous LDPR of the (in)famous far-right, extremist and xenophobic Zhirinovsky.
Selective justice
To be fair, visitors to the exhibition raised in defense of the works. And the spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate said that “What so-called Orthodox activists do, as a rule, has nothing to do with religion.” And the police arrested the vandals. And the Union of Russian museums condemned the action and demanded that Enteo and others are punished.
But the decision of the Moscow prosecutor’s office not to take legal action against them silences any liberal voice in defense of art. In a country with a judicial system that sentenced to 20 years for throwing a Molotov cocktail or 15 for an unfounded accusation of espionage, the sentence against God’s Will fundamentalists is a clear sign of wich values Putinism wants to protect. It is not certain either pluralism or freedom of expression.
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They raided the Manezh in Moscow, where there was an exhibition of contemporary art, and vandalized the works of the sculptor Vadim Sidur, exponent of the Russian Avant-garde. Thrown down from their plinths, trampled and damaged in the name of god. Just like the Isis did in Mosul. But they are protected by the Russian law.
