Russia rejects nomination of jailed artist Pyotr Pavlensky for state art prize

A file picture taken November 10, 2015 shows Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky, accused of vandalism after torching the doors to the headquarters of the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB, the previous day, standing inside a defendants' cage during a hearing at a court in Moscow. A Russian court on December 3 ruled against releasing radical artist Pyotr Pavlensky from prison as he awaits trial over the torching of the doors of FSB security service headquarters. AFP PHOTO / DMITRY SEREBRYAKOV.

MOSCOW (AFP).- The organisers of Russia's top state art prize on Tuesday rejected the nomination of artist Pyotr Pavlensky for his performance setting fire to the headquarters of the Russian security service. Pavlensky has been held behind bars since November when he set fire to the wooden door of Moscow's notorious Lubyanka headquarters of the FSB security service in a performance protesting against the powers of the secret police. The state-owned National Centre for Contemporary Arts which organises the annual Innovation prize said Tuesday it had rejected the nomination of Pavlensky's "Threat" performance in the visual art category. The general director of the arts centre, Mikhail Mindlin said in a statement that Pavlensky's performance was dropped because its creation involved "breaches of the law and caused material damage." He said that nominating a work whose making involved breaking the law "to a competition which is held by a state organisation and under the aegis and with the support of the culture ministry seems impermissible to us."

Art critic Anna Tolstova, who is a member of the prize's advisory board, told The Art Newspaper Russia that she nominated the performance with Pavlensky's consent and it had got the most votes from the experts. The decision sparked a walk-out by three members of the advisory board, including Tolstova and Dmitry Ozerkov the head of the contemporary art section of the world-renowned Hermitage museum, the state art centre said. Ultimately the organisers decided to drop the visual art category altogether. Pavlensky's partner Oksana Shalygina wrote on Facebook: "Pavlensky has triumphed and forced the state machine to creak and collapse. The only way is ahead!" Pavlensky is currently incarcerated in a Moscow psychiatric hospital, ostensibly to assess his mental capacity. He has been detained in custody until March 6. The 31-year-old artist whose previous radical performances have included nailing his scrotum to Red Square has been charged with vandalism over the performance and faces up to three years in prison. The Innovation art prize has previously been known for its support for risky protest art. In 2011, it awarded the 400,000-ruble (then $14,000) prize went to street art group Voina, or War, for painting a phallus on a drawbridge opposite the headquarters of the FSB security service in Saint Petersburg. The culture ministry at the time condemned the work titled "A cock captured by the FSB" as "disgusting" but said it would not interfere with the jury's decision.

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