Update Thursday 19 October: Pyotr Pavlensky and his partner Oksana Shalygina have been detained, and placed in pre-trial detention, in Paris, following Monday’s Performance Art/arson attack on a branch of the Bank of France. Pavlensky had been initially admitted to a police psychiatric unit, but a judge decided on Wednesday the pair should be placed in a pre-trial holding facility.
The infamous Russian performance artist Piotr Pavlensky, has been arrested after setting fire to a branch of the Banque de France in central Paris. Pavlensky was granted asylum in France in May 2017.
A spokesman said, that the incident was of “criminal origin”
Reports stated that Firefighters arrived around 4:00 am (0200 GMT) on Monday to extinguish two fires on the outside of the building located in Bastille square. A spokesman said, that the incident was of “criminal origin”.
Twitter photos show the 33-year-old dressed in black, standing in front of the shuttered front door flanked by fires burning outside two windows. Pavlensky, is a recipient of the Vaclav Havel award for creative dissent. He has been taken into custody along with his partner Oksana Shalygina for causing “damage by fire”, police stated.
Petr Pavlensky best known for nailing his scrotum to Red Square and his partner have fled the country after being accused of “violent actions of a sexual nature” The pair were questioned for seven hours before being freed. Pavlensky claims the allegations are false and argued that it was intended to get rid of him. Pavlensky, 32, who calls himself a political artist, has faced criminal charges several times for his work. Most recently he spent seven months behind bars after torching the door of Russia’s intelligence agency.
Along with his partner Oksana Shalygina the pair were detained by police at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport as they returned home. Under questioning, they learned that an actress they had been involved with had accused them of a sex crime. Officials have confirmed an investigation is under way. “There was nothing at all even remotely resembling violence. Of course not,” the artist told the BBC, adding that the couple – who have an open relationship – learned of the accusation whilst abroad. Pavlensky and Shalygina drove to Ukraine before travelling on to France
The performance artist is also known for sewing his lips together in support of all-female punk group Pussy Riot. He also wrapped himself in barbed wire and lopped off an earlobe while sitting naked on the wall of a psychiatric institute. Since his release from jail last summer he believes he has been under surveillance; he also suggested that ill-wishers had tried to spur him on to more radical action, which he saw as a trick.
This latest performance by Petr Pavlensky comes ahead of a work by Maria Alyokhina of the Feminist Punk collective Pussy Riot who announced a new play based on her Russian prison ordeal. The immersive theatrical piece titled “Inside Pussy Riot,” will take place at the Saatchi Gallery for a six-week run in London. The play includes an interactive set in where the audience live through the rockers’ experience. She is collaborating with London theater company Les Enfants Terribles.
Photos: Via Twitter