EU Warns Theaters Not to Host Pro-War Russian Performers
European Commissioner for Culture Glenn Micallef has called on European theaters to reject performers who support Russia’s war against Ukraine, following reports of a gradual reintroduction of controversial Russian artists onto leading stages across Europe, The Gaze reports, citing Politico.
Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mykola Tochytskyi, urged the European cultural sector to “think carefully” before reinstating Russian performers.
“When in your country there is Russian cultural activity, it is inevitably tied to disinformation and the preparation of certain violent actions,” he said, citing Ukraine’s experience.
Micallef echoed this concern: “European stages should give no space to those who support this aggressive war against Ukraine.”
He emphasized that even privately funded productions must not be exempt from political responsibility, adding: “We need to work more actively with member states so that this [opportunity for tours] does not happen.”
Tochytskyi proposed a clear alternative: “Let’s promote those who really share democratic values.” “In Ukraine, in Poland, in Sweden, we have the artist at the same or sometimes even better quality,” he said.
Ukrainian director Eugene Lavrenchuk shared his own experience, resigning from a production of Handel’s Rinaldo in Jerusalem after discovering that two Russian singers were listed in the cast, despite his prior objections.
“For us Ukrainians, a boycott of everything Russian is not a question of culture and art, it is a question of security,” said.
“Russia has been pursuing a soft power policy with the help of art and culture for many hundreds of years … and forcibly imposed the Russian language and Russian culture.”
Lavrenchuk expressed deep concern over what he views as a fading resolve in Europe to hold Russian artists accountable.
“Today, we cannot stand on the same stage with Russians, regardless of the context, because other people will use it to legitimize the friendship of Ukrainian and Russian peoples,” he said.
Russia’s invasion has taken a heavy toll on Ukraine’s cultural world: the Russian airstrike on the Mariupol theater in 2022 that likely killed hundreds of civilians, and the deaths of Ukrainian opera singers Ihor Voronka on the frontlines in 2023 and Vasyl Slipak—a baritone who once sang at the Paris Opera—killed by a Russian sniper in 2016.
Read more on The Gaze: Russia’s War Has Damaged Over 2,300 Cultural Institutions in Ukraine