Jan Fabre's taxidermy exhibition sparks outrage in St. Petersburg

Jan Fabre's exhibition 'Knight of Despair/Warrior of Beauty' at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has provoked protests from animal rights activists and Russian Orthodox fundamentalists. The show, running until April 30, 2017, features taxidermied animals—rabbits, birds, dogs, and cats—arranged in violent embraces and mocking poses. Fabre defends the work as a denunciation of animal cruelty, but critics point to his 2012 performance in Antwerp where he threw cats. The controversy echoes historical precedents like Jannis Kounellis's 12 live horses in Rome and Carsten Höller's invisible mouse at Hangar Bicocca, though Fabre faces uniquely fierce backlash.