The Erarta Museum, St. Petersburg (photo courtesy of Erarta)
The Erarta Museum in St. Petersburg, a significant repository of Russia’s modern and contemporary art, is now at the center of a controversy. This esteemed institution, housing several thousand pieces from the 1950s to the present, is being accused of displaying works that contain Nazi slogans.
A case has recently been brought against the museum regarding a painting by the Belarusian artist Sergei Grinevich called Festival. The work consists of a group of dancers in traditional Belarusian folk costumes while a trio of menacing security guards in black suits stand in front. The painting has been in the Erarta permanent collection since 2016. However, the charges against the museum pertain mainly to the slogan spray-painted underneath the painting in 2020, which has remained since then. Around that time, someone wrote Zyvie Bielarus! or Long Live Belarus! on the wall beneath the painting. While it seems rather innocuous, the phrase has certain political connotations. Much like how the phrase Slava Ukraini, literally Glory to Ukraine, has been taken up by Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s invasion of and ongoing war in Ukraine, Zyvie Bielarus has been used by certain political elements in Belarus. These political elements are typically those of the opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed Europe’s last dictator. 2020, when the slogan first appeared, was a turbulent time in Belarus. Lukashenko’s reelection was highly contested, surrounded by allegations of fraud which provoked widespread demonstrations, the largest the country has seen since Lukashenko first gained the presidency in 1994. Freedom of speech and the press in Belarus is some of the worst in Europe. He has also been a close ally of Russia under Vladimir Putin, leading to censorship of anti-Lukashenko rhetoric in Russia. It, therefore, seems that the administrative charges against the museum are likely a legal means to shut down any criticism of Lukashenko. In the past, the artist has criticized Belarusian authorities of censorship, which only reinforces this interpretation. The painting itself can also be interpreted as a criticism of strongmen like Putin and Lukashenko, who use folk imagery combined with nationalism to strengthen their rule.
However, the prosecutors are using a law prohibiting Nazi symbols and messages as a pretext. The charges against the museum claim that the phrase Zyvie Bielarus was used by several Eastern European fascist collaborationist groups who worked with the Nazis during the Second World War, namely the 13th Police Battalion and the 30th Grenadier Division, both of which worked under the SS. Given Russia’s strict stance on anything related to the Nazis, the museum may have to surrender the painting and pay a hefty fine of 50,000 rubles (about $580). This could have serious implications for the museum and the artist.