Isolation of Russian artists sparks debate over cultural boycott over Ukraine invasion

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third week, Russian artists – jewels of a country whose artistic wealth is also a source of power – have been ostracized. Soprano Anna Netrebko and renowned conductor Valery Gergiev are among the stars forced away from the world stages they have long dominated.

The isolation of artists who share the Kremlin’s vision or who received funding from the Russian state is reminiscent of similar measures taken during the Apartheid era in South Africa, or the movement to boycott Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Jane Duncan of the University of Johannesburg, who has studied cultural boycotts as agents of political change, says that isolation campaigns based on culture or sports can be “very effective because they can have a high psychological impact”.

“For several centuries, Russia has been proud of its intellectual, artistic and sporting achievements. They have become a part of their identity and soft power projection globally.”says the academic. “I think there is a lot of dissension within Russia about the invasion of Ukraine, and the cultural boycott may intensify it”.

Duncan cautions, however, that a “general cultural boycott” could harm artists critical of the regime. In the early 1980s in South Africa, he recalls, a form of “double censorship”where both artists close to the regime and those “from liberation movements” were rejected.

Emilia Kabakov, a Ukrainian multidisciplinary artist who has worked with her husband Ilya in New York for decades, warns against rejecting artists simply because of their nationality.

“I know that Russian artists are in trouble right now”says this woman born in the Soviet city of Dnipropetrovsk 76 years ago.

But it refers above all to those who live and work abroad: “Has anyone stopped to think why they live and work abroad, why they are here? Because they cannot live there… they want a normal life, without restrictions”.

Where is the red line?

Kabakov’s approach is what Duncan considers appropriate: avoid boycotts based solely on nationality that “could lead to a dark and difficult place”.

Those responsible for the largest cultural institutions such as the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Philharmonic and other European centers recently specified that their measures are focused on artists who support Vladimir Putin, not anyone with a Russian passport.

“If someone is an arm of the state, they probably wouldn’t work with the New York Philharmonic”says Deborah Borda, director of the famous company.

“There is a very clear line”says French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot. “We do not want to see representatives of Russian institutions or artists who clearly support Vladimir Putin.”

But in some cases, the line is blurred: the Polish Opera canceled the production of the opera Boris Gudunov by Modesto Mussorgsky, and the Zagreb Philharmonic suspended two performances of Tchaikovsky’s compositions.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky led the trend when the University of Milan tried to postpone a seminar on the novel “Crime and Punishment” of the Russian writer, who spent four years in a labor camp in Siberia after reading books banned in Tsarist Russia. The university had to back down pressured by social networks.

“Culture of cancellation”

When it comes to the political responsibility of contemporary artists, Duncan says that “It is enough to produce it and expose it”.

“We also have to avoid putting artists in the bind of having to make political pronouncements when they might not feel comfortable doing so”he assures.

Pressed to rule on Putin’s war in Ukraine, Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev left his posts at the Bolshoi and the Toulouse orchestra a few days ago.

In a statement, Sokhiev said that “I will always be against any conflict, of any kind” but what did it feel like “faced with the impossibility of choosing between my dear Russian and French musicians” so he gave up both.

Not without first denouncing that both he and his colleagues are “victims” of the “cancel culture” and that “musicians are ambassadors of peace”. “Instead of using us and our music to unite nations and people, they have divided and isolated us”lament.