Sud nad iskusstvom“ or How the Case against the Prohibited Art 2006 Exhibition turned from a Legal Trial to a Moral one

The Moscow trial of the organizers of the exhibition Forbidden Art 2006, who were charged with incitement to religious and national hatred, in various respects resembled a theater play, starting with a “casting” of the witnesses, scripts for their testimonies in the courtroom to the applause of the audience. Herein one can discover significant parallels with the theatrical features of the Soviet show trials. But, most notably, a comparison of the Forbidden Art 2006 trial with the mock trials of early soviet times reveals its moral impact. This trial was not merely a trial of certain defendants but served the propaganda of new orthodox traditionalistic artistic standards. It was manufactured to make an example and to manifest aesthetic categories of art production as contemplated under the law.