Many in Russian cultural and artistic circles, including actor Sergei Bezrukov, believe that Moscow should take advantage of its increasing isolation due to its invasion of Ukraine, to purify Russian culture from Western influence and promote conservative values, including patriotism and the Orthodox faith.

"We must take advantage of isolation to reconnect with our traditions," he says during an interview with AFP at the Gubrinsky Theater in Moscow.

Bezrukov (48 years) is one of the most famous artists in Russia, and works as artistic director at the Gubrensky Theater in Moscow.

He considers that Russia should create its own cultural space instead of aspiring to imitate Hollywood.

"We have lived in the world of Marvel movies for 30 years," he continues, referring to the group of famous American superhero films, and adding, "It is time for us to make our own films," stressing that "a return to the Soviet Union is impossible, but we can try to restore confidence in Russia."

Bezrukov was recently subject to European sanctions for his support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian values

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long presented himself as the guardian of traditional Russian values ​​of Orthodoxy and marriage, stressing that Western liberal values ​​are outdated.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities have redoubled their efforts to distance their people from Western values, and many artists argue that art should be the primary channel for these attempts at alienation.

"Russia is on the verge of a conservative revolution," says theater producer and director Eduard Boyakov, who supports what he calls the "holy war" in Ukraine.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, many artists have left Russia, including director Kirill Serebrennikov and actress Chulpan Khamatova.

Those still in Russia are under increasing pressure to support the invasion of Ukraine.

"Black list"

A number of staunchly pro-Kremlin figures, such as Sergei Mironov and Zakhar Prilepin, who lead the "Just Russia" party, launched what they described as the "anti-state stance" of Russia's cultural elites.

They demanded that the director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Oren be fired, 30-year-old director Alexander Moloshnikov, for his supposed unpatriotic attitude, or that the latter resign himself.

Many anti-Kremlin figures cannot perform in Russia.

"More than 100 shows have been canceled since February," Alexey Kozin, director of Russian rock production company Navigator Records, told AFP.

Kozhin, who is based in Russia, notes that the unofficial "blacklist" currently includes about 40 names, including Yuri Shevchuk, a famous rock singer who accused the Kremlin of "killing" young Russians and Ukrainians during a concert in May.

In June, the Russian authorities announced the change of directors and heads of 3 of the most important theaters in the capital, Moscow.

The Gogol Center, which Serebrennikov had turned into a free art space, was thus closed.

"The authorities no longer want provocative art. They prefer quiet, reliable and even boring art," Valery Peshikin, playwright at the Gogol Center, who is still based in Russia, told AFP.

"As a result, theater will return to the classics, cinema will return to light comedies and museums will return to exhibitions that don't shock."

two contradictory schools

Art galleries are starting to get affected, too.

In April, the Tretyakov Gallery suspended the show of Russian-American artist Grisha Bruskin, who was dedicated to "ideologies and their myths".

The gallery said at the time that the suspension of the show, which was scheduled to run until July, occurred for "technical reasons".

Olga Andreeva, a writer for the conservative Russian weekly "Expert", spoke of an "eternal struggle" between Slavic nationalists and pro-Western schools of thought in 19th century Russia.

"We are now witnessing a new round of this battle," she says. "Society is changing radically."

It is Putin himself who sets the pace for change. In a speech in March, the Russian president called for a “self-cleansing” of society, saying that Russians would reject “scum and traitors” who make money in Russia but prefer to live in the West.

In July, he agreed to head a new national movement reminiscent of the youth movements of the Soviet era.

In late June, Russia unveiled a new 100-ruble banknote on which a drawing of the Spasskaya Tower in the Kremlin was placed on one side and a drawing of the Rzhev memorial to the Russian soldier on the other, instead of a drawing of the Greek god of music and poetry Apollo on a chariot in front of the Bolshoi Theater.

Marina Davydova, editor-in-chief of the suspended Russian theater magazine Teater, likens Kremlin loyalists to Mao Zedong loyalists who helped him suppress bourgeois tendencies during the 1966-1967 Chinese Cultural Revolution.

"It wouldn't be hard to guess that the clean-up would be complete, but the speed with which it is happening is amazing," Davidova, who is now living in exile, wrote on Facebook.

"Even Comrade (Joseph) Stalin waited years for the defeat of the Russian avant-garde," she said.