Work Avdyei Ter-Oganyan not allowed to be exhibited in the Louvre

[SergeiSK]

The exhibition "Russian counterpoint» (Le contrepoint Russe) at the Louvre will not be the artist's works Avdyei Ter-Oganyan. Told OPENSPACE.RU CEO of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) Michael Mindlin.
NCCA, along with the Louvre is the initiator and organizer of the exhibition, which will take place in the Year of Russia in France October 14, 2010 to January 15, 2011. Co-organizer is also a fund of Stella Art Foundation.
It will feature the works of Alexander Brodsky, Eric Bulatov, Emilia and Ilya Kabakov, Andrei Monastery, Paul Pepperstein and other artists.
The decision to withdraw works Ter-Oganyan, the head of the NCCA has been adopted as a result of negotiations between representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Rosokhrankultura from the Russian side and the president of the Louvre and the French Ambassador to Russia from the French side.
"Ministry of Culture and Rosokhrankultura not miss these works in relation to their content. President of the Louvre, it was absolutely correctly taken and done with his consent "- told Mindlin.
He also suggested that the initiative belonged to the president of the Louvre, Henri Loirette (Henri Loyrette).
According to CEO of NCCA, confiscated works were "unfriendly, provocative nature. It is not just about the insult to the Russian authorities, but there was still work that stirs up religious strife: there was an abstract image of a green background, and it can be read as a negative statement against Islam. "
Michael Mindlin also noted that Russian officials would not interfere exhibiting works Ter-Oganyan abroad, if they were taken private. "Because they are taken by government agencies, it becomes an unwanted political overtones", - explained the CEO of NCCA.
As reported by journalist Maria OPENSPACE.RU Kravtsov, curator of the exhibition "Russian counterpoint, chief curator of the Louvre, in charge of contemporary art, Marie-Laure Bernadak (Marie-Laure Bernadac) apprised of the decision.
Ter-Oganyan was scandalous glory thanks to the action "Young atheist" 1998: Then he chopped with an ax cardboard copies of icons in protest against the commercialization of spirituality. Against him was prosecuted for inciting religious hatred, after which the artist emigrated to the Czech Republic.
(Lenta.Ru & OpenSpace.ru)