Before the opening of the contemporary photography exhibition and fair Contour.Photo, held in Nizhny Novgorod on May 14–17, works by well-known documentary photographer Alexander Gronsky were covered up. Their display and sale were banned. He reported this on social media on the eve of the opening.
According to Gronsky,
“stern men in jackets” were “looking not at the pictures, but at a list of surnames.”
Yulia Dashkevich, founder of the Open You gallery, said that the fair’s organizers
and were“received lists from Moscow”
“horrified.”
Widespread censorship
As reported by Agenstvo, the censorship affected dozens of other authors besides Gronsky. According to the outlet’s sources, they included people who had signed an open letter against the war in Ukraine or had publicly spoken out against it.
“Some galleries covered the works with tracing paper, some took them off the walls and turned them toward the wall,” one of the outlet’s sources said.
Blogger Egor Galenko said that works by 60 artists were removed from the fair, including the
works of Gronsky’s wife, Alina Glazun.“more than apolitical”
Whose works were affected
Agenstvo was able to identify several authors whose works were censored. Photographer Katya Yanova and curator Darya Epin said on Instagram that Yanova’s works had also been covered. Stories from the photo gallery PennLab indicate that works by Aleksei Korsi were also censored.
Who is said to be responsible
One of Agenstvo’s sources among photographers said he had heard that the “men in jackets” were officers of the FSB.
“The FSB came with a list, told them to cover the works, and banned their sale,” the source wrote.
According to him, this was what the fair’s organizers and participants told him.