Mayoralty of German Kassel bans exhibition on Sochi Olympics

Without specifying the reasons, the Mayoralty and the Ministry of Culture of the German city of Kassel cancelled the exhibition "Welcome to Sochi-2014", said Vasily Slonov, the author of the works, a painter from Krasnoyarsk. The opening of the exhibition of satirical posters about the Winter Olympics in Sochi had been scheduled for January 31.

The "Welcome to Sochi-2014" is a part of a larger project dedicated by the painter to largest cities of the world. According to his story, initially the city bosses and the curator approved the idea of the exhibition, but a few days before its opening they announced that it was banned.

The German painter Arthur Klose, who supports Slonov, said that the city authorities explained their refusal to present the works of his Krasnoyarsk colleague by the fact that they only expose local artists. However, according to Klose, last year Chinese artists were exhibited in Kassel; thus, the ban of Slonov's exhibition was caused by censorship, the Lenta.ru reports with reference to the German website lokalo24.de.

Let us remind you that in November 2013, Russian authorities tried to buy out the rights on the film about corruption at construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi, to prevent it from being screened in other countries, as reported by the producer of the film Simona Baumann.