Show Trial Art

Here’s a peculiar story from the Moscow Times:

Sergei Kuznetsov Content Group, one of the biggest Russian web studios, has opened a contest called “Drawing the Court” that invites anyone to submit drawings of Khodorkovsky’s trial, which started in March in Moscow’s Khamovnichesky District Court.

There is only one rule: The artist must draw the artwork in court.(…)

The contest aims to raise interest in Russian court processes and provide a showcase for courtroom art, an obscure genre in Russia, according to the contest’s web site, Risuemsud.ru.

The first drawings have been posted on the web site and include three pencil sketches by Svetlana Sorokina, a former liberal commentator with NTV television. One sketch, titled “Tired,” shows a prosecutor with closed eyes and a drooping mouth sitting at his table in the courtroom. No recognizable likenesses of Khodorkovsky were among the five entries on the site Thursday. All appeared to be supportive of Khodorkovsky.