This weekend, Uppsala nya tidning reported that the organizer Kulturoasen in Uppsala was forced to cancel a support concert in favor of Ukraine.
The organizer must have been subjected to pressure from people who do not want to see balalaiks on stage during a support concert for Ukraine.
The Balalaika is an instrument that is usually seen as a symbol of Russia and Russian culture.
The amateur orchestra Södra bergens balalaikor chose to voluntarily postpone a performance in Rimbo the same weekend, where they would play music together with students from the cultural school.
- Those who heard from him wrote that the balalaika is a symbol for Russia and to play for Ukraine in a balalaika is a weekend robbery.
They compare it to a swastika, a swastika, says Jonas Nyberg, one of the members of the orchestra.
Stars during the prog
Södra bergen's balalaiks began as a study circle in 1969. Today it is an amateur orchestra consisting of about twenty people, and plays Russian as well as Swedish and Ukrainian folk music.
- You can have sympathy because people are upset and angry in this situation.
But the argument gets a little weird.
We are not Russians, we just happen to play Russian instruments, as we have done all these years.
Our Ukrainian musician friends are also incomprehensible, says Jonas Nyberg.
The organizer did not want to give more comments about the canceled concert.