Source: HRO.org (info), 19/06/12 · Freedom of expression · Artistic freedom · Perm region ![]() According to Guelman, the Philharmonia is the legal organiser of the festival of civic poetry of which the slated show was meant to be a part. "The Philharmonia initially tried our patience by demanding a whole pile of different assurances, and then when all the documents had been provided they blocked the project," said Guelman. The regional Philharmonia declared that it had had nothing to do with Efremov and Bykov's proposed visit. According to its press officer Margarita Neugodova, the Philharmonia is not the organiser of the event and did not have any agreements with Citizen Poet whatsoever. "If we were the legal organiser of the event then we would have had to pay a cancellation fee, but we are not facing any consequences as result of the cancellation of the performance. When we were putting together the programme for the White Nights Festival the regional Ministry of Culture proposed to the Philharmonia that it hold this performance. Later on during the process it was decided that it would make more sense to hold this performance as a part of the Perm Book Fair. I don't know anything about the future of this project or the reasons for its cancellation," Neugodova stated. On 5 November last year a performance by Bykov and Efremov at the Philharmonia was also called off. The organisers explained that the concert had been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Ilya Neustroev, a deputy at the region's Legislative Assembly, who had not been able to buy a ticket, asserted in his blog that the show had been cancelled for political reasons in order not to rock the boat before the elections. Later on Dmitry Bykov announced that there was nothing political about the incident and that no show in Perm had been planned. |