Russian Museum Director Charged
By Staff Reporter of the Sun | May 13, 2008
The director of the Sakharov Museum in Moscow, Yuri Samodurov, has been charged with inciting religious hatred with his exhibition "Forbidden Art — 2006," according to a subpoena delivered to Mr. Samodurov last week and then faxed to the New York Times.
The March 2007 exhibition featured censored Soviet and post-Soviet art and protested the alleged infringement of artistic freedom under Russia's current administration. Some of the works contained pornographic images and poked fun at the Russian Orthodox Church.
The "Forbidden Art" exhibition protested against the artistic censorship that Mr. Samodurov and others claim has been imposed on museums and galleries since the current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, became president in 2000.
In 2003, a group of men raided the Sakharov, defacing several works in an exhibition titled "Caution, Religion!" While most of the intruders were not charged, Mr. Samodurov was convicted of inciting religious hatred in connection with the incident, and fined about $3,600.
