The National Gallery–Alexandros Soutsos Museum in Athens decided to remove four damaged artworks by Greek artist Christophoros Katsadiotis from a group exhibition less than a week after a far-right politician pulled them off the wall and damaged them, alleging blasphemy. In a statement, the museum said the decision was made for “the safety of the [museum], the artworks, the employees and the visitors, as well as the restoration of the smooth functioning of the institution,” and done with permission from Katsadiotis.
Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a conservative Parliament member representing Greece’s far-right and ultra-religious Niki Party, accessed the group show The Allure of the Bizarre late Monday morning, March 10, and took down four of Katsadiotis’s etchings depicting Saint Christopher, Saint George, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ. Papadopoulos shattered the protective glass of two etchings, claiming that the works slipped from his hands. He was temporarily detained and questioned onsite before ultimately being released.
The incident came days after Papadopoulos penned a letter demanding that the National Gallery de-install the “blasphemous” exhibition, alleging that Katsadiotis’s works “distort and desecrate the most sacred symbols of our Orthodox Christian tradition.”
Complaining that the show was funded by Greek Orthodox taxpayers, the politician specified that he holds the museum “responsible for any legal consequences, and [he] reserve[s] the right to exhaust all legal means to restore order and respect for our faith and tradition.”
One day after the incident, Katsadiotis stated to Hyperallergic that “it is worth considering how society (politics) uses religion as a tool to control and corral the masses with threats, fear and obscurantism,” and the museum underscored that it “unequivocally condemns” any act of vandalism, violence, and any attempts at censorship that threaten the freedom of artistic expression.
A press conference ensued at the museum, during which the institution’s director clarified that Katsadiotis’s works were not from the permanent collections, that school visits did not include the exhibition, and that Papadopoulos and his accomplice visited the exhibition twice, consciously waiting for a crowd to dissipate before vandalizing the art.
As a Parliament member, Papadopoulos was penalized through a one-time 50% reduction of his monthly parliamentary allowance, amounting to about €2,550 (~$2,785) — reportedly the harshest disciplinary measure that can be administered to a politician. He will not be removed from his post.
Neither Katsadiotis nor the museum immediately responded to Hyperallergic‘s request for comment regarding the decision to remove the artwork from the exhibition.
