RUSSIA: Exhibition of paintings and drawings by Georgian artist Alexander Dzhikia destroyed by a group of men in masks

A group of young men in masks destroyed an exhibit of paintings and drawings by an ethnic Georgian artist. The seven attackers, described as tall and physically fit, ransacked the Marat Guelman Gallery located in a residential area in the city downtown. The exhibit of 24 works by the artist Alexander Dzhikia, an ethnic Georgian with Russian citizenship, opened on October 19. The gallery is considered one of Moscow's leading contemporary art galleries, and it has a reputation for displaying art works critical of the Russian political establishment. "We were told to face the wall, and then another three or four people started to take the the art works off the wall, smash them and stomping all over them, breaking the glass frames,'' said Yevgenia Klaskova, a curator at the Guelman Gallery. Gallery officials would not offer an explanation why they think the attack took place, but the fact that the artist was an ethnic Georgian has Russian media speculating this could be a factor. Tensions between Russia and Georgia have been simmering since the end of March when Russia banned imports of Georgian wine and mineral water. Relations worsened when on October 5, Russia launched a campaign to rid the country of alleged illegal aliens from Georgia. As of October 16, about 1,250 Georgians had been deported, said Russia's Interior Minister, Rashid Nurgaliyev. The deportations are Moscow's reply to Georgia's arrest of four Russian army officers at the end of September on spying charges. The scandal has sent relations between the two neighbours to their lowest level in more than a decade. "A group of young men dressed in black jackets and hats, young men who were obviously strong, tall and well-built, without saying a word to each other they quickly spread throughout the gallery obviously already familiar with its interior layout, and systematically destroyed all the works hanging on the walls,'' said Sergei Serebrinnikov, manager of the Guelman Gallery. "Currently we have an exhibit by the artist Alexander Dhikia. Practically all his works have been destroyed. They also destroyed our offices, and destroyed all computers, phones and other equipment. They took away employees' cell phones and left us without any means of communication.'' The Guelman Gallery has a long history of confrontation with the authorities, and was denounced in January 2005 by 36 State Duma deputies for displaying art works at the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art that the parliamentarians deemed "unpatriotic'' and "offensive.'' The Guelman Gallery's latest confrontation with the state came on Friday (October 20) when Moscow customs, irked by the unorthodox representation of Russian and U.S. leaders, prevented an English art dealer from taking several pieces of modern art out of the country. The five art photographs were from the Guelman Gallery, and had images of semi-naked Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President George W. Bush and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden sitting in lewd poses on a sofa. The works were scheduled to be shown in an exhibition in London's Matthew Bown Gallery. "Matthew Bown was taking four photographs [by the Blue Nose Group] for an exhibit at his gallery in London which is planned to open on November 9,'' said Marat Guelman, owner of the Marat Guelman Gallery, one hour before his gallery was ransacked. "Suddenly, the Russian customs unexpectedly decided that these works denigrate President [Vladimir Putin]. For us this is a huge surprise because it means that the customs, instead of checking the legality of Culture Ministry documents for taking art works out of Russia and checking whether we are taking antiques out of the country illegally, they've now taken on the role of censor.'' The gallery owner, Matthew Cullern Bown said customs officials at Sheremetyevo airport detained the art photographs because of doubts about the authenticity of Culture Ministry documents authorising their travel abroad. "But of course I don't believe that was the real reason," Bown told Reuters by telephone. "From talking to various customs and policemen I get the impression that what they are worried about is the satirical representation of heads of state, Mr Putin and Mr Bush," he added. Mr Guelman said that police were mulling whether or not to open a criminal case under article 130 of the Russian criminal code, which calls for a punishment of up to one year for actions that "denigrate the honour and dignity of another person.'' Airport and customs officials were not available for immediate comment. After Putin, the former KGB spy, came to power in 2000, the Kremlin sent strong signals to media that mocking pictures of the Kremlin leader, popular under his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, were not welcome anymore. Within months, the most popular puppet show of independent NTV television where Putin featured as a key character disappeared. Other media obediently followed the lead. Kremlin officials have said they did not like the president to be humiliated by the media, but were equally opposed to some bizarre initiatives by hyper-vigilant grassroots officials. Earlier this year, prosecutors in the central Russian town of Ivanovo charged a local journalist with "abuse of an official" for publishing an article headlined "Putin as a Phallic Symbol of Russia".

ITN Source | October 22, 2006

Tags:. .speculating. .satirical. .rid. .nose. .familiar