Don't cancel Russian art, music and history – Callum Breese
The invasion of Ukraine by the hands of Putin’s irrational reign reminds of the importance of human sacrifice for one’s national sovereignty. Whether be it farmers, families, soldiers preparing to protect their loved ones from harm or professional boxers preparing for the biggest fights of their entire lives; the fact the humanitarian spirit shines bright in times of crisis are many of the things that can provide hope and comfort during a time of invasion and derision on one’s nation. We must continue to condemn the barbaric actions of Putin’s regime and continue to show solidarity with Ukraine in providing them refuge and humanitarian assistance wherever possible.
Although there are plenty of remarkable moments of triumph amid these darkening days of bloodshed and torment - the emergence of regressive thinking, originating primarily from a mindset of fear and bigotry, is also growing in the West and taking hold. I am talking about the censoring of art, music and literature which has any mention of Russian culture. Since the understandable desire to show solidarity with Ukraine has emerged, so has knee-jerk reactions from corporate giants pulling out of the Russian market and curtailing free speech. Everyone from artists not being outspoken about the war or if they have received any funding from the kremlin at all, such as movie director Kirill Sokolov who has backed online petitions against the invasion, are condemned.
Two prime examples have been the University of Milan removing a course teaching Fyodor Dostoevsky simply because he’s a Russian writer (the lecturer has since been suspended from the university as he was unable to reach the compromise of teaching Ukrainian writers due to not knowing the subject) and Cardiff Philharmonic replacing the programme of its upcoming all-Tchaikovsky concert, citing it as 'inappropriate at this time.’ These two, along with the performativity of Russian football teams banned from FIFA 2022 to Russian standard Vodka from supermarket shelves, it seems anything with a hint of Russian influence will fall victim.
Fyodor Dostoevsky was imprisoned in a Siberian prison camp for owning literature banned under the Tsarist regime. Lumping together a radical writer like Dostoevsky with Putin not only highlights the ridiculousness of this censorship but how it erases important aspects of history which counteract our present moment: It oversimplifies historical context for relativistic thinking. As the same with Tchaikovsky, 1812 Overture was a piece that revolutionised classical music and relished the necessity to experiment and unleash artistic talent. The piece was also a celebration of the Russian army successfully nullifying Napoleon; whereby Marche slave was to celebrate Russia’s involvement in the Serbian-Ottoman wars; to remove the program purely negating these vital historical aspects breeds ignorance and simplistic thinking which breeds anti-Russian sentiments. Context is incredibly valuable when learning about certain artefacts and individuals
The trend to censor artistic contributions from ordinary Russians due to the horrific acts at the hands of Putin is damaging as it homogenises Russians as a singular entity: That all Russians around the world are the same as Putin. As we have clearly seen, plenty of Russian citizens in Moscow have been protesting the Kremlin’s irrational acts of war and by categorising them in this way dehumanises Russian citizens as obeying-bots who have no dissenting views. Some Russians will no doubt support the war and forthright blame NATO for Putin’s need to invade Ukraine. But we must differentiate between those who are in power and those who have been at the brunt of it for a long time.
A failure to differentiate between the artistic contributions of ordinary Russians and the Kremlin will limit the chance of reaching out to Russians from an unequivocal human sentiment of understanding, the same human spirit we have given to millions of Ukrainians leaving their homes in refuge. Through depicting Russians as spectres of evil from the East that are prepared to destroy the West reeks of xenophobic, identitarian, Russiaphobic rhetoric we have seen some American officials and some United Kingdom MPs inhabiting. It’s this narrow minded borderline racist thinking that eradicates our ability to understand individuals on a human level; Instead, this breeds more mistrust and simplistic thinking which easily discriminates against any group in society - this needs to be challenged and rejected.
We must separate the acts of the Kremlin from the intellectual and cultural contributions of ordinary Russian people. Failing to do so contributes to xenophobia, racism, and the narrowing of our human understanding.