Police Probe Pro-Pussy Riot Art Exhibit in Moscow

RIA | NOVISTIA 

Yevgenia Maltseva and Viktor Bondarenko

RUSSIA---Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a probe into an art exhibition dedicated to punk band Pussy Riot over concerns it could incite religious hatred, the committee said on Tuesday. The "Spiritual Abuse" exhibit of paintings of jailed Russian punk rockers Pussy Riot by artist Yevgenia Maltseva opened in late September at the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art in Moscow. The show immediately drew criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church and sparked protests by religious believers, as large-scale paintings combine Orthodox imagery with Pussy Riot slogans and their infamous balaclavas. As part of the probe, Maltseva and Viktor Bondarenko, the project manager, have been summoned for questioning. [link]