Nailya Allakhverdiyeva: The Cost of Contemporary Art and State Intimidation

Nailya Allakhverdiyeva, the former director of the PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm, Russia, has faced a series of legal challenges and state intimidation efforts despite attempting to compromise with Russian authorities to maintain the museum’s operations.

The pressure on Allakhverdiyeva escalated in 2025 and 2026, culminating in criminal proceedings related to the display of contemporary art and her association with other figures targeted by the Russian state.

Criminal Charges and Arrest in Absentia

In March 2025, a criminal case was launched against Allakhverdiyeva, who is an artist and curator. By June 2025, the legal situation intensified when the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Perm ordered her arrest in absentia on June 23, 2025.

The charges involve offending the feelings of believers under Part 1, Article 148 of the Criminal Code. According to reports from TASS, the prosecution was triggered by complaints from citizens regarding several works in the PERMM collection. Investigators alleged that Allakhverdiyeva allowed works that could be offensive to religious believers to be displayed freely in the museum and on its website.

Specific works cited by informants as offensive due to their use of biblical themes include:

• Angel with a Trumpet by Sergei Gorshkov
• Blue Cities by Tania Anoshina
• Paradisi by Konstantin Zvzdochetov

These pieces were first exhibited at PERMM between 2011 and 2012. While some have been removed, Paradisi and Blue Cities remained in the museum’s online catalogue.

Allakhverdiyeva was placed on a federal wanted list on May 26, 2025 and on an international wanted list on June 19, 2025. Although the Perm Regional Court later overturned the Dzerzhinsky District Court’s decision to arrest her in absentia, she remained on the international wanted list.

State Raids and Associated Investigations

The legal actions against Allakhverdiyeva have been accompanied by physical searches of her property and the museum. In November 2024, security forces raided the PERMM museum and Allakhverdiyeva’s home. These searches were conducted in connection with a criminal investigation into Marat Gelman, the museum’s founder and director from 2009 to 2013.

Gelman has faced multiple charges, including justifying terrorism and disseminating false information about the Russian army. He was designated a foreign agent in 2021 and added to a register of terrorists and extremists in November 2024.

Further state scrutiny occurred in March 2024, when investigators visited Allakhverdiyeva as part of a state treason case against Pyotr Verzilov. The FSB secret service conducted searches at her home as part of a broader investigation into various Russian artists, which in some instances involved the seizure of computers and phones.

Context of Cultural Repression in Russia

The targeting of Allakhverdiyeva is part of a wider trend of tightening restrictions on freedom of expression in Russia. Authorities have increasingly promoted a cultural agenda focused on traditional values, leading to the detention of numerous artists and curators.

Other artists have faced similar pressures. For example, Alisa Gorshenina, an artist from Nizhny Tagil, was arrested in April 2025 for using extremist symbols and was subsequently fined 145,000 rubles on charges of discrediting the military and LGBT propaganda.

The PERMM Museum itself has a history of friction with authorities. Marat Gelman’s dismissal as director in 2013 was attributed by Gelman to censorship. The current environment has created what observers describe as a culture of fear for cultural figures remaining within the country.