Russian Orthodox fundamentalists and animal rights activists have targeted an exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg that features road kill displayed in installations by the Belgian multidisciplinary artist Jan Fabre.
Jan Fabre: Knight of Despair/Warrior of Beauty (until 30 April 2017), which opened in October to a social media storm demanding that it be shut down, is part of the Hermitage 20/21 program to bring contemporary art to one of the world’s most famous classical museums. Over 200 of Fabre’s works, ranging from whimsical cat and carnival scenes to stuffed rabbits, birds, dogs and cats are dispersed among the Hermitage’s Flemish Old Masters in the Winter Palace and its Modern art quarters in the adjacent General Staff building on Palace Square.
The museum labels for The Carnival of Dead Stray Dogs (2006) and The Protestation of the Dead Alleycats (2007) stress that Fabre intended the works as a statement decrying cruelty to animals: “Abandoned, starving, hanging around near busy roads, these animals are afforded a final accolade in this art. Like an exorcist, Jan Fabre tries to bring them back to life in a carnivalesque set-up.” The artist previously faced the ire of animal rights activists in his native Antwerp, Belgium in 2012, after a performance in which he threw cats into the air.
Mikhail Piotrovsky, the general director of the Hermitage, tells The Art Newspaper that: “Everything is completely clear with Fabre. You don’t have to be a genius to understand what he’s saying, so he definitely does not deserve any accusation of mistreating animals.”
Piotrovsky also says that the level of personal vitriol in condemnations of the exhibition “has shown the overall level of hatred that exists in Russia, hatred for the other”.
Although some, such as the outspoken singing star, Elena Vaenga, have been quick to condemn the Fabre show, others have stepped up to defend the museum.
The Hermitage has not backed down and has been bolstered by official support. The Ministry of Culture, which is usually known for its conservative stand, issued a statement confirming the right of the Hermitage and other museums to choose their own exhibitions.
Piotrovsky says that the Hermitage, which is known for sheltering cats, is now working with animal rights activists on educating the public.