War in Ukraine: Russia is becoming increasingly isolated on the cultural scene

THE world of culture is showing its support for Ukraine, five days after the Russian invasion. While Moscow is subject to various unprecedented sanctions, many artists have announced that they will no longer perform in Vladimir Putin's country. So is a cultural boycott taking shape?

"Thank you to our Russian fans who oppose their country's unprovoked and criminal behavior. Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine." So reads a message that AJR shared on social media Sunday, February 27 to announce the cancellation of their concert in Russia. The American trio was supposed to take to the stage at the 1930 Moscow concert hall on October 22, as part of their global "The OK Orchestra Tour." The Met brothers have now decided not to perform at the venue to demonstrate their opposition to the military offensive being conducted by Moscow in Ukraine in recent days.

We are sad to announce that we will be cancelling our upcoming show in Russia. Thank you to our Russian fans who oppose their countrys unprovoked and criminal behavior. Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine. At this point, the best thing you can do is share ACCURATE info.
— AJR (@AJRBrothers) February 25, 2022

Green Day followed the example of AJR by cancelling their concert at Spartak Stadium in Moscow, scheduled for May 29. "We are aware that this moment is not about stadium rock shows, it's much bigger than that. But we also know that rock and roll is forever and we feel confident there will be a time and a place for us to return in the future," the band told Variety magazine.

It is possible that other musicians will follow suit in the coming days, refusing to perform in Russia to demonstrate their opposition to the war on Ukraine that Vladimir Putin unleashed at dawn on Thursday, February 24. Saint Jhn, Tricky, Disclosure and Bring Me the Horizon are due to perform in the country during March and April, while Khalid, Yungblud, Girl in Red, Judas Priest, Denzel Curry and OneRepublic are scheduled to perform in May. Not to mention the many artists and bands, like Gorillaz, My Chemical Romance and Iggy Pop, who are on the line-up of festivals like Bol Festival and Park Live in Moscow this summer.

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For Geoff Meall, an arts agent at Paradigm Agency, the conflict with Ukraine will have a major impact on the cultural agenda of many artists in the coming months. "Ukraine is an obviously an active war zone so it's impossible to do a concert there, and with Russia, first, every government is advising its citizens not to go there unless it's essential business -- rock and roll probably wouldn't be considered that -- but more, a lot of artists wouldn't want to be seen as supporting the actions of [Vladimir Putin's] government at the moment," he told Variety.

The place of art in the context of war

These concerns affect the world of culture as a whole. Major figures from the sector, such as Marina Abramović, Aljoscha and Pavlo Makov, have publicly denounced Moscow's recent actions. "Attack to Ukraina is attack to all of us, is attack to humanity, and have to be stopped," said Marina Abramović in a video posted on the Instagram account of her eponymous institute.

Others, like Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, are mobilizing to raise funds to help the Ukrainian people, as the country's health ministry has announced the deaths of 352 civilians since the start of the Russian invasion. The artist launched her own DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) to auction off 10,000 NFTs featuring the Ukrainian flag. The profits from this initiative will be donated to the Return Alive Foundation and the NGO Proliska.

Russia seems to be becoming increasingly isolated on the global cultural scene. It will not be represented at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, as the event organizer fears for the reputation of Europe's popular contest after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It is likely that the country will also be absent from the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, running April 23 to November 27. The organizers of the Russian pavilion announced on Instagram that they would no longer be participating in the project, and nor would be the artists Alexandra Sukhareva and Kirill Savchenkov. "There is no place for art when civilians are dying under the fire of missiles, when citizens of Ukraine are hiding in shelters, when Russian protesters are getting silenced," they wrote in a message posted on Facebook.