Kissing policemen inflame row at Russia’s Culture department

A nasty row at the top of the Russian art establishment, involving a photograph of two policemen kissing, has just got nastier. Russia's Culture Minister, Alexander Sokolov, is being sued by the director of the prestigious state-run Tretyakov Gallery who is deeply upset that the Minister attacked art works due to be shown in Paris as "pornographic" and "corrupt". Valentin Rodionov, the Tretyakov's director, told Agence France Presse: "The minister has offended the Tretyakov Gallery when he notably accused us of corruption... On Monday, I filed suit against him."

Sokolov made the comments last month when he banned the Tretyakov from showing several works it intended to display at an exhibition of so-called Sots-Art - an originally clandestine movement that began in the 1970s when Russia was still under Soviet rule - at the Maison Rouge in Paris.

The Minister singled out for special vilification a photograph of two uniformed policeman kissing (above), produced by a pair of irreverent artists who call themselves the Blue Noses. He said such works would "bring shame" on Russia.

As reported on The First Post at the time, Alexander Shaburov, one of the two Blue Noses, commented: "We were inspired by Banksy's iconic image of two constables kissing."

Paradoxically, many of the banned works were shown in Moscow earlier this year at New Tretyakov Gallery as part of the Second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, to good press reviews. While some of the works were barred from display by gallery bosses themselves, Muscovites were able to see them in a separate exhibition of 'Banned Art'. ·