THE ICON AND THE AXE: INITIAL INFORMATION ON THE
DESTRUCTION AT THE MONTENEGRO BIANNALE

[This report, filed by Michael Benson, is based on a report in the
Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik. He would appreciate that any further
information about this event be forwarded to michael.benson@pristop.si
as it comes in.]

Monday September 29 – Apparently over the weekend a rampaging horde of
Orthodox monks attacked and destroyed a good part of the Montenegro
Biannalle, which had given itself the provocative title "New Icons."
According to a patchy account in Slovenian daily paper Dnevnik, they
were "not satisfied" with the paintings exhibited. (!)

The paper said that fourteen paintings vanished and a number were
destroyed; an installation by Montenegrian artist Anka Buric was
completely destroyed. The monks also burned down a bus station in
Cetinja where French and Belgrade student artists had exhibited their
work. According to the paper, it probably wasn't an attack directly
sanctioned by the Montenegrian Orthodox Church, because the head of that
autocephelous body had visited the exhibition opening without negative
comment. According to the paper, some of the works destroyed belonged to
"major European museums" (there were no further details). The paper also
said that the people of Cetinje apparently tried to stop "the
destructive act of the monks of the Monastery of St. Peter of Cetinski."
On friday there were rumours that those in charge of "protecting
orthodoxy and Serbian values" in Niksic and other northern Montenegrian
towns were preparing a march on Cetinja to expel foreign and domestic
artists in Montenegro for the biannalle.

The Montenegro biannalle is only three years old. It is organized by
Nikola the Second Petrovich Njegosh – a descendant of King Nikola the
First of Montenegro. Along with it's far bigger neighbor Serbia,
Montenegro is one of the two remaining republics of the rump Yugoslavia.