In just two weeks, in Europe and the United States, the deprogramming of Russian artists and companies on the New York, London, German, Italian, French or Polish stages has raised the threat of a cultural isolation.

Unheard of for Moscow, even at the height of the Cold War.

Anna Netrebko, criticized for her supposed complacency towards President Vladimir Putin, left the Metropolitan Opera in New York on March 3, where she was to perform in the spring and next season.

The conductor Valery Gergiev, close to the Kremlin, was sacked on March 1 from the direction of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Latest victim: conductor Pavel Sorokin was dismissed from the Royal Opera House in London on Monday.

In Paris, the Philharmonie will cancel the arrival of artists who have had positions favorable to Mr. Poutine.

Even if the consequences of these exclusions are difficult to assess for the moment, they are reminiscent of the international movements against apartheid in South Africa and Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Boycott, divestment, sanctions - BDS).

In these two cases, artists were targeted or called upon to take a stand against these States.

Russian "soft power"

For Jane Duncan, of the University of Johannesburg, who works on cultural boycott as an "agent of political change", campaigns aimed at isolating a country from the international cultural and sporting community can be "very effective thanks to their enormous psychological impact". .

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, then artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, receives a medal from Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, in Moscow on September 22, 2016 Ivan Sekretarev POOL/AFP/Archives

Especially since "Russia has been proud of its intellectual, artistic and sporting achievements for centuries. It has become part of its identity, its + soft power + in globalization", analyzes the researcher for AFP.

Ms. Duncan even thinks that a "cultural boycott could boost the protest that has arisen in Russia against the invasion of Ukraine" decided by the Russian president.

But for Frédéric Lodéon, French cellist student of the famous Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovitch, "Putin absolutely does not care what Russian artists are undergoing in Europe, it is not their boycott that will change his aggressiveness".

Emilia Kabakov is a multidisciplinary Ukrainian artist who has worked in New York with her husband for decades.

At 76, she knows very well that "Russian artists have difficulties" in Russia, but that this does not date from the conflict in Ukraine.

"Why are some here?"

in New York, she asks.

"Because they can't live there... They want a normal existence, without restrictions," she told AFP.

Where to place the cursor?

So where to place the cultural boycott cursor?

Should all Russian artists be targeted indiscriminately or only those close to the Kremlin?

"There is no boycott of Russian culture. And Russian musicians continue to be played of course", in France, replied a few days ago to AFP in Paris the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot.

But while adding: "There is a line which is very clear, we do not wish to see the representatives of the Russian institutions or the artists who clearly gave their support to Vladimir Putin".

Similarly, "if someone is a (Russian) state agent, he probably won't work with the Philharmonic" of New York, its director Deborah Borda told AFP.

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev conducts a concert in the amphitheater of Palmyra in Syria, May 5, 2016 Vadim Grishankin Russian Defense Ministry/AFP

Sometimes the boycott goes further and hits Russian works.

Modest Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Gudonov" (1869) was canceled in early March by the Polish National Opera, according to the specialized press, and the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra canceled two works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky which were to be performed end of February.

- "Culture of cancellation"

Saying he was under pressure to take a stand on Ukraine, Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev announced on Sunday that he had left his post as musical director of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and the Orchester national du Capitole de Toulouse.

In a statement, he claimed to have "never supported and (be) always against any conflict in any form whatsoever" and insisted "as a musician" on his "desire for peace".

The Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev, photographed in 2016 in Toulouse ERIC CABANIS AFP / Archives

This leader of Ossetian origin - ethnicity of the Russian Caucasus - considered one of the greatest of the young generation, added that he could not "bear to witness the way in which (his) colleagues, artists, actors, singers, dancers , directors are threatened, treated in a disrespectful way and victims of the + culture of cancellation +”.

© 2022 AFP