The National Gallery-Alexander Soutsos Museum has removed the vandalized artworks of Christoforos Katsadiotis from display following an attack by Niki party MP Nikos Papadopoulos. The decision was made with the artist’s consent, citing concerns for the safety of the museum, its staff, visitors, and the institution’s smooth operation, according to an official statement.

Attack on the exhibition

On Monday, 10 March, Papadopoulos entered the National Gallery with another individual—who later escaped—and proceeded to break protective glass and damage several works in the exhibition The Seduction of the Stranger. Shouting that the pieces “offend religion”, the MP targeted four of Katsadiotis’ works, claiming they distorted holy figures of the Virgin Mary and Christ.

Prior to the attack, Papadopoulos had demanded the removal of the artworks through a letter to the National Gallery and a formal question submitted to Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni. Despite being detained in the basement of the museum, he was later released without arrest, invoking parliamentary immunity.

Public and institutional backlash

The Association of Greek Archaeologists (AGA) condemned the act as “brutal, heinous, and uncivilised”, stressing that artistic freedom must remain non-negotiable.

On Wednesday, 12 March, the Association of Contemporary Art Workers organised a demonstration outside the National Gallery in support of artistic freedom. Protesters unfurled a banner reading “Freedom of Art is Non-Negotiable”, only to be confronted by a group of self-declared Orthodox believers, who threatened them while chanting “Greece means Orthodoxy.”

From symbolic display to removal

Following the attack, the Gallery initially chose to leave the damaged works on display as a symbolic statement. The broken glass and damaged pieces were kept untouched, accompanied by an inscription titled “The Symptom”, explaining the decision to visibly preserve the traces of violence.

However, in a reversal of this approach, the Gallery has now removed the works entirely, stating:

“For the safety of the National Gallery-Alexander Soutsos Museum, the artworks, the employees, and the visitors, as well as the restoration of the institution’s smooth functioning, the artworks by Christoforos Katsadiotis that were presented in the exhibition ‘The Seduction of the Stranger’ have been removed from the floor with the consent of the artist.”

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