Russian dissident artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who took refuge in France in January 2017, clearly does not like banks. This morning he was detained for setting fire to the façade of the Bank of France on the Place de la Bastille.

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing illegal about burning banknotes. But this clearly does not apply to the arson of the bank itself. Pyotr Pavlensky, who was detained on the morning of October 16 for setting fire to the facade of the Bank of France on the night from Sunday to Monday, will be convinced of this very soon.

Performance artist and pyromaniac

He became famous for his radical approach. The dissident artist was detained more than once in his homeland, where he resorted to self-torture to express his protest. In 2012, he sewed his mouth shut to protest the arrest of Pussy Riot. Inflicting physical pain on himself became a political tool in his hands. His credo: to expose the authoritarianism of the Russian government, targeting actions at various departments. So, he cut off his earlobe while sitting on the wall of the Serbsky Psychiatric Institute. Another time, he nailed his scrotum to the pavement on Red Square on police day. Like the French artist Orlan Pavlensky, he turns self-torture into protest art. But from time to time buildings also fall under the distribution.

In 2015, he set fire to the door of the FSB headquarters in Moscow. This radical performance has many similarities with the arson of the Bank of France. Subsequently, Pavlensky received political asylum in France. Apparently, the herald of protest art is angry not only at the Russian authorities. He took aim at everything that even remotely resembled dominance. He responds to state violence with his own, which is much less symbolic in nature.

Rekindle the flames of the French Revolution?

Context

The Achilles heel of the anti-Putin intelligentsia

Deutsche Welle 01/18/2017

Pavlensky's actions will continue from Paris

Marianne 10/17/2017

Pavlensky: We were warned about this

RFI Russian Service 01/17/2017 Pavlensky’s appeal was posted on Twitter by the famous Femen activist Inna Shevchenko. “The Bastille was destroyed by the rebellious people,” says the artist. - A new center of slavery was built on this same site, which betrays the revolutionaries and sponsors the gangster Versailles. The Bank of France took the place of the Bastille, bankers took the place of monarchs.”

Thus, after police repression, Pavlensky’s new enemy becomes the power of the banks, symbolized by the Bank of France. It operates under the auspices of the European Central Bank and is designed to ensure currency stability.

The bank is closed “until further notice”

The fire was extinguished in time and damaged only the external façade of the building. However, the damage was significant enough to warrant the closure of the facility. Late morning, workers were still collecting charred debris.

“The department will not be opened until further notice. The Bank of France will not be able to provide services to individuals and businesses,” a Bank of France spokesman told AFP.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky, recently a political asylum in France, set fire to the Bank of France in Paris, he was detained by the police, reports, photographer Henri Capucine. Pavlensky carried out his action at around 4 am. It is not yet known whether any charges have been brought against him.

Photos: Marc Chaumeil/Divergence

In November 2015, Pavlensky FSB building in the center of Moscow. A criminal case was opened against the artist, and in the end he...

October 16, 15:38 In addition to Pavlensky, the Parisian police also detained his common-law wife Oksana Shalygina (they received political asylum in France together).

The artist explained his actions with the desire to “fan the global fire of revolution.”

“The Bank of France took its place on the Place de la Bastille [the Bastille prison was a symbol of the French monarchy during the revolution], bankers took the place of monarchs. The Great French Revolution made France a symbol of freedom for the whole world. In 1917, thanks to this symbol, Russia rushed towards freedom. However, after a hundred years, tyranny reigns again, and this is happening everywhere. The revival of revolutionary France will cause a revolutionary fire throughout the world. In this fire, Russia will begin its liberation,” French media quote Pavlensky as saying.

According to the radio station of the newspaper Le Parisien, after the arson, law enforcement officers detained two people - Pavlensky and his 37-year-old partner. According to law enforcement officers, the violators first broke the glass on the facade of the building, after which they set fire to floor rags, with which they tried to start a fire in the bank branch.

"Interfax"

October 18, 9:41 After assessing Pavlensky’s behavior, it was decided to transfer him to a psychiatric hospital of the police prefecture, Le Figaro reports. Shalygina remains under arrest on charges of deliberately damaging the property of the Bank of France.

On the night of October 16, Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky in Paris: at approximately four in the morning, he set fire to the entrance to the Bank of France building on the Place de la Bastille. His colleague Oksana Shalygina was detained along with the artist; The police had no complaints against the photographers filming the action.

Serious damage to the bank building didn't receive. In his statement about the action, Pavlensky reasoned about a “worldwide fire of revolutions” that should sweep away “the bankers who took the place of monarchs” and lead to the “liberation of Russia.” After his arrest, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital of the Paris police prefecture, and later the court arrested both detainees.

Lawyer Dominique Beiruter-Minkov, who represents Pavlensky’s interests, says that the activist is now in solitary confinement (isolement) Fleury Merozhi prison (Fleury Merogis) in the suburbs of Paris - Europe's largest penitentiary institution, where Salah Abdeslam, an alleged participant in the terrorist attacks that rocked Paris on November 13, 2015, is also being held. Pavlensky has no contact with other prisoners. “He reads books that his friends gave him. He does not use the prison library because he has something to read now. He doesn't have a TV. He learns news through those who visit him,” says the lawyer.

Pavlensky and Shalygina were not released due to lack of permanent residence. Beiruter-Minkov emphasizes that Peter and Oksana “not only “admitted guilt” - they spoke about what happened in every detail, defining it as an artistic action.”

Their two common children, with whom they left Russia, meet only with their mother for now: meetings last for 45 minutes once a week. According to the defense lawyer, Pavlensky has already received permission to visit the children, but so far they have not seen each other. Social services and guardianship authorities know that the children live with the artist’s friends and go to school.

Translation services are available to Pavlensky and Shalygina in prison. Oksana herself understands and speaks French quite well, and Peter has been studying the language since his arrival in France. The lawyer notes that in such cases the investigation period usually does not exceed a year.

Paris again

In May 2017, Pavlensky received political asylum in France. After this, the artist disappeared from the Russian political agenda.

A Parisian friend of Pavlensky and Shalygina, who asked not to disclose his name, told Mediazona that they both participated in the action of setting fire to the door of the Bank of France. According to him, Oksana tried to escape, but “she was spotted and captured.” Pavlensky himself stood at the burning doors, without moving, as if repeating the “Threat.” After the arrest, the activists were taken to the police station; there they spent the next 48 hours. Both Pavlensky and Shalygina were charged under Article 322-6 of the French Criminal Code: damage to property with a threat to people using dangerous or flammable substances (the maximum penalty under this article is up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to 150 thousand euros).

The artist’s friend recalls that it was not even known what time the suppression meeting would begin; the detainees were in complete isolation. “During this time, only a lawyer could be with him, and she had no right to disclose information about what was happening there. Nevertheless, something got into the press, apparently, the prosecutor’s office periodically leaked some information,” says Mediazona’s interlocutor.

Soon Pavlensky was taken to the Parisian Palace of Justice - a historical complex on the Ile de la Cité, where the offices of the prosecutor's office, criminal police and courts of all levels are located. The decision to arrest the actionist was made by Judge Natalie Turke. “In principle, a judge with a good reputation,” notes a friend of the artist. He adds that Pavlensky was outraged by the closed nature of the process: only lawyers were allowed into the hearing.

At the same time, the artist went on a dry hunger strike, demanding publicity: “Petya says that this is unacceptable for him. He has not encountered anything like this anywhere: he has already had several dozen such meetings in Russia, and they were all public.” Mediazona’s interlocutor says that, according to French law, such processes must take place in the open, but in Paris this does not happen “due to some arguments related to organization, lack of space, security measures, etc.” There were no journalists present at the selection of a preventive measure for Pavlensky and the consideration of his appeal.

Peter and Oksana are in different buildings of the Fleury Merozhi prison. There is no connection between them; their lawyer petitioned for Pavlensky and Shalygina to have the right to make telephone calls.

In prison, Pavlensky ended up in a punishment cell after an incident with a guard. “One of the guards asked him to step aside and tried to press hard on his shoulder so that he would sit down,” says a friend of the artist. - Petya pushed him away, just to keep his distance, and began to hold him by the shoulder. Naturally, no one there liked it, and they decided to put him in a punishment cell there for 29 days.”

The punishment cell, according to his description, is a cell one and a half by three meters with a washbasin, a bed and a toilet; There is a guard constantly walking behind bars, “comfort and cleanliness are, of course, relative.” On the tenth day of his imprisonment, Pavlensky was told that he would be force-fed - he would be taken to the hospital and put on an IV. The artist signed a written refusal.

According to Pavlensky’s friend, on the 13th day of the hunger strike, it became difficult for him to get out of bed due to dizziness, his speech began to become confused; then the artist was taken to the hospital. “They tied his hands and feet with handcuffs and put him on a drip. Then the handcuffs were removed. He then pulled out this IV... There blood began to flow in all directions,” says Mediazona’s interlocutor, according to the artist. “They came, tied him to a bed, like in a madhouse, and he lay there for 24 hours with a drip.” After this, the prisoner began to eat and drink, his condition returned to normal; The artist was no longer placed in a punishment cell, but “in isolation.” “This is the same room, only without bars, closed. He sits alone, he has no connection with other prisoners,” his friend describes the conditions of the actionist’s detention.

Now Pavlensky is trying to understand the prison supply system; prisoners can buy their own food, shampoo, envelopes and other goods. “A couple of times it happened one way or another: they brought coupons that he wrote out to buy food, then he gave them away at the wrong time, and as a result the money was lost. This is also a game, a struggle for wear and tear. It lasts for wear and tear. He says: “I’m here, I knew that after the action something would happen. Well, the circumstances turned out this way, so I’ll continue.”

According to Mediazona’s interlocutor, Oksana Shalygina did not go on a hunger strike, and in general, “everything is more or less normal”; In addition, she was faced with a lack of contact lens fluid in the prison. “He complains that it’s not just that it’s boring... it’s a closed space. She was isolated until November 21, but then a neighbor was added to her. They didn't seem to have much contact. She is no longer alone, but, to be honest, she already regrets that she was not left alone.”

Corrected at 00:00 December 7.The original version of the note statedthe erroneous statement that Pavlensky is accused under an “administrative” article - the French Criminal Code talks about different types of crimes and offenses, but the concept of “administrative punishment” is not there. The charges against the artist under Article 322-6 of the French Criminal Code provide for up to 10 years in prison. Information about the criminal case for the “Fixation” action on Red Square has also been added.

The notorious actionist artist Peter again found himself in the center of public attention. According to the French radio Radio France Internationale, on the night of October 16, a 33-year-old man set fire to the doors of the local Banque de France, which is located on the Place de la Bastille in the center of Paris.

Photos of the bank's burning doors were spread on Twitter by several of the artist's acquaintances: Femen member and former employee of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Sarah Constantin and photographer from the Divergence agency Mark Schomel.

The photographs show Pavlensky setting the bank doors on fire with some kind of flammable liquid (presumably throwing a bottle of Molotov cocktail), and then standing next to the Banque de France office. At the same time, flames rage on both sides of him.

Later on Constantin’s Twitter, the burnt wall of this institution is visible in the light of day. In addition, the photo shows police officers armed with automatic weapons.

“The renaissance of revolutionary France will cause a series of revolutions in other countries of the world. Banks took the place of the monarchy,” this is how the artist himself explained the meaning of the action, according to Pavlensky’s friend Shomel. According to the French press, after the arson of the French Central Bank, Pavlensky was detained by local police. Along with him, a certain woman was taken to the department, whose name and other personal details are not reported.

In May 2017, Pyotr Pavlensky received political asylum in France after another criminal case was opened against him in Russia. As French newspapers write, he, his common-law wife and the couple’s two children currently live in Paris.

As the artist’s Russian lawyer Olga Dinze told Gazeta.Ru, after the arson of the French Central Bank, the actionist could be deported from the territory of the French state.

“I’m not familiar with French law, but theoretically, if a criminal case is opened against him and he is found guilty, he could be expelled from the country,” she explained. Dinze added that she does not know the details of the incident itself. “He never informs anyone in advance about his actions,” the lawyer noted.

Let us remind you that the Russian police opened a case against Pavlensky under the article “Battery” after the incident that happened on October 31, 2016 near house No. 12 on Kazenny Lane. Then the artist and his friends beat up the Teatro.doc artist Vasily A. As Berezin himself told Gazeta.Ru, “in the fall of 2016, this artist began to pester my girlfriend Nastya. I didn’t like it, and I wrote to him on the Internet to tell him not to do it again. Then Pavlensky made an appointment for me on October 30, 2016 in the courtyard of Theater.doc to “talk to me.” I came there alone, and Pavlensky came with friends and his friend Oksana Shalygina.

All together they beat me, threw me to the ground and kicked me. It’s unpleasant for me to remember, to be honest. Because of this I had a concussion. Then I recorded the beatings, received a certificate of my injuries and wrote a statement to the police.”

According to him, the Basmanny district police officer accepted the artist’s statement, but whether a criminal case was opened or not remained a mystery. “Pavlensky has not contacted me since then and has not tried to reconcile in any way. I haven’t communicated with him since then, I don’t want to see him either,” said Vasily. Acquaintances of the victim assured Gazeta.Ru that Pavlensky had been molesting Vasily’s girlfriend for several months.

The second statement - about an attempted rape by Pavlensky - was written by the 23-year-old artist at Theater.doc.

According to a close friend of the victim, on the evening of December 3, 2016, Pavlensky invited the girl to visit the apartment in which he lived. There, the action artist attacked the girl with a knife, cut her several times and tried to rape her. “She herself asked me not to give details of the incident, but I can say that a criminal case has been opened in connection with this under Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Violent acts of a sexual nature,” a friend of Anastasia told Gazeta.Ru. One of the victim’s friends noted that during the struggle with Pavlensky, Anastasia almost lost a finger.

Under Article 132, the artist faces up to ten years in prison. Pavlensky himself later told Russian media that the criminal prosecution against him was a provocation on the part of the security forces because of his opposition views.

The artist held his first art preference in the summer of 2012 in front of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. He sewed his mouth shut in solidarity with Pussy Riot. After that, he organized several scandalous actions: for example, he wrapped himself in barbed wire in front of the building of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, and after a while he nailed his scrotum to the paving stones of Red Square in Moscow.

In 2014, Pavlensky and several of his comrades set fire to car tires on the Malo-Konyushenny Bridge in St. Petersburg. According to the authors of this performance, it was timed to coincide with the events on Independence Square in Kyiv in 2013-2014. The court sentenced Pavlensky to 1 year and 4 months in prison, but released him from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations in the case.

The artist’s most famous action was the burning of the doors of a building on Lubyanka. Because of this, he was charged under the article “Vandalism,” and he ended up in prison for several months.

The Moscow Meshchansky Court found Pavlensky guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 500 thousand rubles. As Russian media wrote, Pavlensky behaved impudently in the pre-trial detention center: he broke the light bulbs in his cell and also threatened one of his cellmates, which is why he was subject to administrative punishment in the form of being placed in a punishment cell for violating internal regulations.

Irina Alksnis, for RIA Novosti

The hero of the day on the RuNet, without a doubt, was the artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who, having left Russia, did not abandon his eccentric (let's stick to this very mild definition) beliefs and actions. The actionist, who received political asylum in France, remained faithful to his creativity, which shocked ordinary people, and this time he set fire to the Bank of France building, as a result of which he was placed in police custody.

In principle, such a course of events could have been expected. In a recent interview for Deutsche Welle, Pavlensky shared with journalists such details of his life in France as seizing other people’s real estate and stealing food from supermarkets, and also clarified to them the peculiarities of the life of the French: “In France, if you live like a Frenchman, then life is easier than in Russia. I can speak for the Parisians - they deny work. They, in principle, take the position that migrants should work, and tourists should pay. We have assimilated and identify ourselves with the French, that’s why we live like the French: we don’t work. and we don't pay."

Nevertheless, the effect of the artist’s new action turned out to be extremely impressive.

The reaction of one seventh of the land was quite natural: countless witticisms turning into friendly laughter. Moreover, the main target of the wits was not so much Pavlensky himself, whose nervous and mental state always raised questions, but rather a large-scale support group that for many years stood up in his defense during his uncompromising struggle against the “bloody regime.”

And how can one not laugh if this situation has revealed the full depth of deceit, hypocrisy and cowardice of the unbending fighters against the “totalitarian Kremlin”?

For example, the gallery owner and publicist Marat Gelman, widely known in narrow circles.

On November 9, 2015, a few hours after Pavlensky’s action with the arson of the FSB door on the Lubyanka, he said: “The doors of the Lubyanka are the gates of hell, the entrance to the world of absolute evil. And against the backdrop of the hellish flames stands a lonely artist, waiting to be captured. A very strong artistic image."

And on October 16, 2017, a few hours after Pavlensky’s action with the arson of the Bank of France building, the same Marat Gelman said on the Ekho Moskvy radio: “As long as he is in prison and no charges have been brought against him, it is inappropriate to evaluate the artistic qualities of the action ".

It is amazing how assessments of the same action change when we are talking not about “the watchdogs of a bloody regime”, but about “the beacons of freedom and democracy.” It’s also funny that they are actually afraid of the latter.

The funny thing is that Pavlensky really evokes a certain sympathy in this whole situation. In recent years, situations have become so commonplace when radical opposition and loud actions are simply a way for people to secure social capital from which they can then cut coupons, becoming the embodiment of bourgeois integrity and law-abidingness in the West (hello to some members of the Pussy Riot group). Against this background, any manifestation of sincerity (even in the form of mental illness and foolishness) involuntarily generates sympathy. Albeit with a tinge of disgust.

In the end, Pavlensky continues to be true to himself. His latest Paris action is completely in line with the same leftist nonconformism that he declared in Russia: “The arson of the Bank of France is the illumination of the truth that the authorities forced us to forget. The Bastille was destroyed by the rebellious people, the people destroyed it as a symbol of despotism and power. In this same place, a new center of slavery was built, which betrays the revolutionaries and sponsors the gangster Versailles. The Bank of France took the place of the Bastille, the bankers took the place of the monarchs."

Another thing is that, as it immediately became clear, all this radicalism subverting authority was welcomed exclusively in relation to Russia, but nevertheless this does not cancel the holy fool’s sincerity of the actionist.
In fact, Pavlensky found himself in exactly the same rut into which the founder of the Voina art group Oleg Vorotnikov had previously found himself, who fled with his wife and children from terrible Russia abroad and very quickly discovered that nonconformism in Europe is perhaps the worst of sins .

As for France, which sheltered the artist who fled from terrible Russia, I don’t even want to laugh at her. I only want one thing: that she does not deprive Pavlensky of his political asylum and deport him to his homeland.