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Maria Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova, the director of the Narva Museum in Estonia, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison by a Russian court. The charges stem from her hanging banners on Narva Castle that label Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” including one that fuses Putin’s face with Adolf Hitler’s and another showing a bloodied mug shot of Putin. The court cited laws against disseminating “war fakes” and “rehabilitating Nazism.” Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova has been displaying such banners since 2023 on Russian Victory Day, and Russian authorities have projected Victory Day parades toward Narva from the nearby town of Ivangorod.

article news schedule Jul 28, 2025 link 4 artists, 2 galleries

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Museums Galleries Scotland, the umbrella body for 455 museums and galleries in Scotland, has warned that its member institutions face an 'environment of suspicion and policing of gender' in restrooms following a UK Supreme Court ruling that defines 'man,' 'woman,' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 as referring to biological sex. The publicly funded body criticized interim guidelines from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), arguing they fail to include trans people and could force some museums to close or leave trans individuals with no facilities. Separately, Russia has filed criminal charges against Maria Smorževskihh-Smirnova, director of the Narva Museum in Estonia, for 'rehabilitating Nazism' over a banner displaying Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler with the caption 'Putler War Criminal!' displayed on Russia's Victory Day.

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