Artist dangles above London’s streets in stunt supporting gay rights in Chechnya

An artist has suspended himself from the top floors of a London art gallery in a bid to support LGBT people living in Chechnya.

Russian-Brazilian artist Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich hung outside the Gazelli Art House for five hours, wrapped in a traditional Caucasian prayer rug — usually used to cover corpses before burial — before using a winch to hang above the streets of Mayfair.

The action hoped to draw public attention to the suffering of LGBT people in Russia’s conservative Chechen republic, who are reported being hunted down by the police on account of their sexuality.

The artist also launched a limited edition print to raise money for the Russian LGBT Network, a St Petersburg-based charity rescuing gay men from the area since March 2017.

Pavlov-Andreevich’s precarious performance is part of his Temporary Monuments series, which sees the artist use his own body to highlight issues of modern slavery.

Previous stunts have seen the artist protest the treatment of migrant labourers in Russia by suspending himself 25 metres from a crane in Moscow and holding a banner reading, “Freedom to the Slaves”.

Source: The Art Newspaper