War in Ukraine: The Cultural Offensive

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Laurent Hilaire, former star of the Paris Opera, resigned from his post as director of the ballet troupe at the Stanislavski Academic Musical Theater in Moscow.

Here in February 2017. © Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP

Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow

10 mins

After the military, political, diplomatic, economic and financial earthquake, the cultural world is also organizing to condemn and counter the Russian invasion of Ukraine in its own way.

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Demonstrations of solidarity all over Europe opened the breach.

At first considered rather as an expression of impotence, these artistic and cultural initiatives in favor of peace and democracy in Ukraine and against the Russian invasion have multiplied and are beginning to affect even the heart of institutional culture. Russian.

Valery Gergiev, the emblem of a cultural break

It was Valery Gergiev who, despite himself, became the emblem of the cultural offensive against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian and above all pro-Putin conductor, both general manager of the prestigious Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg and so far one of the most sought-after maestros in the world, has been ostracized and finds himself faced with a wave of cancellations as a sign of " 

 ".

After Carnegie Hall in New York and the prestigious Swiss festivals in Verbier and Lucerne, the Philharmonie de Paris has canceled Gergiev's visit, scheduled for April 9 and 10.

The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra decided on Tuesday February 1 to “ 

 ” completely from Valery Gergiev.

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The Edinburgh Festival withdrew the honorary presidency of the 2022 edition, since the capital of Scotland is twinned with the city of Kiev.

As for La Scala in Milan, it demanded from the Russian conductor to publicly commit to a “ 

 ” to the conflict, if he wishes to keep the concert scheduled for March 5.

Even Gergiev's talent agent in Germany, Marcus Felsner, felt compelled to officially cut ties by declaring on Facebook to no longer serve Gergiev, " 

 Indeed, Valery Gergiev, 68, has the reputation of being an infallible support for Vladimir Putin since 1992, confirmed among other things during the annexation of Crimea to concerts in bombarded South Ossetia and Palmyra in the alongside the Syrian army.

Anti-war solidarity of the Ukrainian and Russian pavilions at the Venice Biennale

Another coup echoing with Ukraine occurred at the 59th Venice Biennale.

First, the Ukrainian pavilion team called off (" 

 "), while calling on Instagram " 

 ".

A message that has obviously been heard.

Monday, February 28, the Russian team, including artists Alexandra Sukhareva and Kirill Savchenkov, has just resigned in turn, announcing that the Russian pavilion will remain closed during the opening of the Biennale in April so as not to serve as justification for a military invasion.

In a letter published on social networks, Raimundas Malasauskas, the commissioner of the Russian pavilion, did not leave any doubt about the reasons for his withdrawal: " 

 »

A wave of protests and resignations in Russia

Even in Russia, despite growing political repression for years, resignations have multiplied since the Russian military offensive in Ukraine.

And the wave of protests seems to grow every day.

Unprecedented, open petitions have been signed by thousands of artists, curators, gallery owners, photographers and comedians.

As of Friday February 25, Elena Kovalskaia, the director of the Vsevolod Meyerhold cultural center, slammed the door of her prestigious house in Moscow denouncing the impossibility " 

 ".

An extremely courageous decision, followed by the resignation of other leading cultural figures such as Mindaugas Karbauskis, director of the Maiakovski Theater, or Rimas Tuminas, director of the Vakhtangov Theater.

Marina Davydova, artistic director of the NET theater festival in Moscow and editor-in-chief of the TEATP street has started a petition calling on the Russian authorities to immediately stop the invasion in Ukraine.

Without forgetting another very symbolic act, the Moscow Art Theater (comparable to the Comédie-Française) has just replaced its emblem, the seagull, with the dove of peace on the pediment of its building.

► To read also:

Other sure values ​​of Russian culture have crossed the red line set by the Kremlin and clearly called for peace, such as the violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov (who, in 2014, had again signed the petition in support of the annexation of Crimea) or Vladimir Ourin, general director of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Boris Akunin, a famous Russian writer born in Georgia, did not hesitate to condemn an ​​" 

 " and to mention to the German press agency dpa that " 

 ".

Another remarkable fact, the shock wave of the protest is spreading in all artistic circles.

" of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to his millions of social media followers 

 , he simply echoes the " 

 " by Valery Maladze, Russian singer of Georgian descent and regular on the charts, a position widely relayed in the world of popular song through the decision of the European Broadcasting Union to exclude Russia from Eurovision 2022.

Can we be guilty of promoting Russian culture these days

?

Even foreign artists wonder about their responsibility at the head of Russian cultural institutions during the war.

Laurent Hilaire, former star of the Paris Opera who became director of the ballet troupe at the Stanislavski Academic Musical Theater in Moscow, has resigned following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Conversely, the Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov confessed his unease to his audience in Bochum, Germany, saying he " 

 ".

Not to mention the countless little words and symbolic gestures that are making an impression at the moment, like Kirill Petrenko, the Russian musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic, denouncing an " 

 », or Vladimir Jurowski, the music director of the Bavarian National Opera who replaced a patriotic work by Tchaikovsky with the Ukrainian national anthem.

The great Polish director Krystian Lupa protested against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia by renouncing his participation in the Golden Mask festival in Moscow: 

 »

When a thousand writers call "

for the bloodshed to end

"

In the meantime, the world association of writers PEN International, has published a manifesto condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Among the more than a thousand renowned writers are the Turkish Nobel Prize winners Orhan Pamuk and Belarusian Svetlana Alexievitch, but also the Briton Salman Rushdie, the Canadian Margaret Atwood and the Russian Lidoudmila Oulitskaïa.

All are " 

 ".

Another emblematic initiative: the German-Russian museum in Karlshorst in Berlin covered the “German-Russian” with the inscription and hoisted the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with the victims of the war.

It was here that the commanders-in-chief of the Wehrmacht signed the unconditional surrender in May 1945.

And it is from this building that the museum has made an important contribution to the study of history and to peace and friendship between peoples for three decades.

In France, the Society of Film Directors (SRF) declared " 

 " and condemned " 

 ”.

Together with the Home Cinema association, the SRF invites on March 5 and 6 to screenings in solidarity with Ukraine, at the La Clef Revival cinema, in Paris.

Meanwhile, this Tuesday, March 1, entertainment giants Disney and Sony Pictures announced they were suspending the release of their films in cinemas in Russia, " 

 ”.

Beyond that, Disney has pledged to provide emergency aid to refugees through NGOs.

Another very unexpected turnaround, actor Gérard Depardieu, normally very proud of his Russian nationality and his friendship with Vladimir Putin, called for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Two weeks after posting (and since deleting) on ​​his Instagram account an embrace with the Russian leader entitled " 

", the living legend of French cinema is visibly beginning to have doubts about his support for the Russian leader.

“ 

 “, he told AFP.

Prefer closure to “

the illusion of normality

”

?

As for the world of modern and contemporary art, the cultural liner Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, comparable to the Center Pompidou in Paris, announced to " 

 ”.

A position completely opposite to that of Fashion Week in Paris which started, according to AFP, with a " 

 ".

Still according to Agence France Presse, “ 

 »

So it is perhaps no coincidence that the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris also finds itself out of step with the cultural mobilization against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The prestigious venue for contemporary art in France has just extended the exhibition-event devoted to 

 Initially scheduled until February 22, ie just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has just been extended until April 3.

You should know that it is currently probably the largest luxury showcase of

Russian outside Russia, an exhibition directly negotiated with the Kremlin and prefaced by Emmanuel Macron and… Vladimir Poutine.

Hence the question: has the Louis Vuitton Foundation, like other cultural institutions in Europe, planned to specify or modify the editorial line of the exhibition in the current context?

Laconic response given Monday evening by the Louis Vuitton Foundation: “ 

 ”.

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