by Dmitry Ageev

The exhibition «Beware of religion!» opened in the exhibition hall of the Andrei Sakharov museum in Moscow on January 14, 2003, where a group of artists presented works that were meant to «draw attention to the hypocritical role of religion in the contemporary world». Among these works were: an imitation of a large icon of Christ with a road sign instead of a face; an imitation of an icon of Christ with openings for the face and hands, through which visitors were invited to place their corresponding body parts and be photographed; a billboard with a Coca-Cola logo, depiction of Christ and the inscription «This is My Blood»; a cross covered with garlands of sausages; a pornographic photograph of a crucified woman, between whose legs was placed an icon of the Virgin Mary. Depictions of naked people were placed under the exhibition hall’s ceiling. Monitors placed in various parts of the hall showed videos of naked people making lewd movements.

Little was known of the exhibition until January 17, when the «Nezavisimaya Gazeta» (Independent Newspaper) published an article on it with photos of the main works displayed. The next day several indignant believers went to the exhibition, smeared with paint and destroyed some of the works, and wrote «blasphemy», «you hate Orthodoxy» and «you are damned» on the exhibition hall’s walls. They did not even try to get away, and as a result police arrested 6 people aged 20-43. The arrested explained their actions by the fact that they as Christians «could not put up with the exhibit’s openly cynical and blasphemous character». Although they were charged with article 213, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (group hooliganism, with a prison term of up to 5 years), they were all released on the condition that they not leave their place of residence.

These events were immediately commented on. The exhibit’s organizers and participants accused Christians of backwardness and «clerical bolshevism». According to Y. Samodurov, the museum’s director, the organizers did not intend to «offend or hurt anyone’s feelings». He maintained the possibility that «some people might indeed be hurt and offended», but said that this was not the fault of the artists: the reason for this was allegedly an «incorrect understanding of the exhibition’s meaning... One must get used to this kind of thing». Ludmila Alekseeva, chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, commented: «I am convinced that the exhibit was not aggressive in character... I myself did not go to it, but most likely its aim was to defend the rights of religious minorities».

Answering journalists’ questions at a press conference at the Russian Information Agency «Novosti» on January 20, Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, communicated the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding these events. While not supporting the actions of those who caused damage to the exhibition of openly blasphemous images and considering such methods unacceptable for believers, Metropolitan Kyrill called the exhibition a «direct provocation that creates tension in our society». «We should be sensitive to the convictions of others. It is inadmissible to offend patriotic sentiments and create religious strife... Any form of provocation that offends the feelings of believers and stirs up religious hatred, according to Russian law, must be considered a crime». He expressed the hope that organizers of such events would listen to the opinion of millions of believing co-citizens and that «Moscow may no longer become the arena of religious and ethnic conflict».

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, vice chairman of the DECR, also commented in the same spirit: «Of course, it is inadmissible to use unlawful means to fight against unlawful acts. Unsanctioned violence is not a solution. Nevertheless, this exhibition was undoubtedly a violation of the law».

It should be noted that it was not the first time that the works of several exhibition participants angered believers. One of the artists, A. Ter-Oganyan, organized a «performance» on Moscow’s Manezh Square in 1998, during which he offered bystanders to hack icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary to pieces with an axe. On a piece of paper explaining this «performance» was written: «The icons of the Saviour-Pantocrator, Our Lady of Vladimir and the Saviour ‘Not made with Hands’ are excellent material for blasphemy... Desecration of icons in the client’s presence – 50 rubles». Around 10 icons were destroyed in the presence of a shocked public. Ter-Oganyan later commented on his actions: «I consciously chopped the icons to pieces and offered to do so... It’s just a form of ridicule». A criminal case against him was begun and handed over to court, but he was able to escape the law by hiding abroad. In the catalogue of the Sakharov museum exhibition he was described as a citizen of the Czech Republic. Another exhibition participant tried to gain notoriety by theatrical acts of self-immolation using Christ the Saviour Cathedral as a background.

The Russian state television channel «Kultura» condemned the exhibition «Beware of religion!». A letter written by academic and cultural leaders and signed by many Russian scholars, writers, directors, actors and sculptors mentioned the role of «provocated manipulation in the name of academic Andrei Sakharov». Its authors wrote that «although A. Sakharov, whose name the scandalously notorious centre bears, was not a religious person, even Soviet-era dissidents considered it a great merit that he, being an atheist, defended the rights of those persecuted for their religious convictions». The events at the museum were described by the letter’s authors as «the most stupid and dangerous form of extremism» and «conscious satanism».

On January 20, the Taganskaya prosecutor’s office in Moscow examined the petition of O. Lachagina, who demanded that the organizers of the exhibition be charged with a criminal offence. The statement reads, in particular: «Orthodoxy is an inseparable part of Russian national consciousness and culture. I ask that you immediately close the exhibition ‘Beware of religion!’ and bring to justice not only its organizers and participants, but also those who offered their premises for this purpose, in accordance with article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (‘Inciting of national, racial and religious hatred’). Any inactivity on the part of those charged with maintaining law and order will inevitably give rise to spontaneous actions by citizens intended to put an end to the illegal demonstration of blasphemous works of art offensive to national dignity». The Moscow municipal prosecutor’s office received no less than a thousand citizens’ declarations with the same demands over the following 10 days.

At a press conference of the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Social Centre held on January 21, its directors declared the closing of the exhibition. A notice was placed by the entrance to the exhibition hall with the words: «The Andrei Sakharov Museum and Social Centre offers its apologies to those visitors whose sincere convictions and feelings were offended by the theme and works of the exhibition. We consider this theme to be important and did not want to offend anybody».

These events brought to the minds of many Russians the age of «militant atheism», which reached its peak in the 1920s-30s, when blasphemy became the state ideology. Bolsheviks of those times did not limit themselves to hacking icons to pieces and blowing up churches: hundreds of thousands of believers, including many clergymen and monastics, were persecuted and shot to death.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, atheism as a state ideology received its final blow. This was followed by a religious renaissance that encompassed the entire country during the 1990s. Against the background of this rebirth, of the growing influence of Orthodoxy and the strengthening of other religions traditional to Russia (Islam, Judaism, Buddhism), the events at the Sakharov museum can be seen as an attempt by militant atheism to take revenge for the lethal blow it was dealt after the fall of the Soviet Union.

It is clear from the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church that «militant Orthodoxy» is not the answer to militant atheism. The Russian Church advocates the creation of a society in which the convictions of both believers and non-believers would be respected. It maintains, however, that in Russian society there should be no place for conscious, planned blasphemy that offends the feelings of believers.

A summary of these events was expressed by the participants of the Eleventh annual Christmas lectures that took place in Moscow at the end of January and counted more than four thousand visitors: «Extremism, threatening to become one of the most terrible catastrophes of the 21st century, is the direct result of a disdainful attitude toward the human personality and its spiritual essence, an attitude that has been ideologically consolidated and put into practice by the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. Therefore, the rebirth of militant atheism, as we have seen in the openly blasphemous exhibition at the museum of the well-known defender of human rights Andrei Sakharov, is a cause for serious worry. We must not forget that during and following such acts of blasphemy were murdered hundreds of thousands of priests and believers and were ruined the lives of millions of people who suffered in prisons and the Gulag. Atheist extremism is not a whit better than fascism. In our country, which has only heard of fascism’s manifestations, it should be exterminated once and for all. The exhibition’s organizers who shamed the name of A. Sakharov, himself the grandson of an Orthodox priest, should be severely punished».