Ukrainian circus performer protests over Russian in jury at festival in Italy and gets disqualified – photos

Ukrainian circus performer Anna Petrenko has staged a protest during her performance at the Salieri Circus Award International Circus Arts Festival in Italy. She expressed her disagreement with the presence of a Russian in the jury.

Source: Anna Petrenko on Instagram

Details: As Petrenko said, this year, the festival jury included Maksim Nikulin, the son of Soviet and Russian circus and film artist Yuri Nikulin. Currently, Maksim Nikulin is the Head of the Moscow Circus who supports Vladimir Putin's policies and helps the Russian army.

The artist added that before coming to the festival, she did not know about the Russian being part of the jury, and when she found out, she decided to show up on stage, carrying a Ukrainian flag and leaflets with the words "Nikulin supports the invasion of Ukraine".

In the video shared on her account, Petrenko appears on stage wrapped in a Ukrainian flag and holding leaflets. One of them shows a photo of Nikulin surrounded by Russian soldiers. A few seconds later, the lights on the stage were switched off.

Quote: "I apologise to the audience who did not see my performance yesterday... Through my performance, I express my dissatisfaction and call this decision of the organisers an attempt to rehabilitate the image of Russia, the aggressor in the war against Ukraine," she explained.

Another video shows the Ukrainian coming down to the hall and starting to hand out printed leaflets to the audience.

Petrenko later said that she had been disqualified. "I was excluded from the festival. Today [30 September - UP.Kultura] the final will take place," she wrote.

Antonio Giarola, the festival's artistic director, announced the exclusion of the Ukrainian. He explained this decision by saying that the festival was not a good place to discuss political issues.

On Tuesday, 1 October, the artist posted a photo showing a local newspaper on her Instagram. There was an article about the Ukrainian's protest at the Salieri Circus Award and her disqualification in the newspaper.

The Salieri Circus Award International Circus Arts Festival was held on 26-30 September. This year, it was held for the fourth time. Artists from 21 countries were selected to participate in the festival. Among them are Russians Ivan Slipchenko, Artem Sherstobitov, and Aleksei Teslin.

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