As Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered its tenth month, Lithuania’s cultural sector is rethinking its relation to Russian culture. Most believe we should take a break from it at least until the war is over.
In December last year, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko called on Western countries to refrain from promoting and consuming Russian culture while the war is ongoing.
According to him, Russia is using culture as an instrument of imperialist politics. He also noted that Moscow is actively targeting the Ukrainian culture, as more than 800 cultural objects, monuments, and works of art have been destroyed in the country since Russia’s invasion.
Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys notes that Tkachenko is not proposing the destruction of Russian books but a deliberate pause from Russian culture.
“He [Tkachenko] is asking for a simple thing: in a time of war, when Russia is targeting Ukrainian culture, we must give up works that we used to find acceptable,” the minister said on the LRT Forumas programme.
In his words, the state should not become a censor and use measures akin to the Russian regime in banning some works, so people and institutions must rethink the acceptability of Russian culture themselves.
Gražina Arlickaitė, the director of the Scanorama film festival, also emphasised the importance of the historical context: “Our context is the war that is happening right next to us. I ask myself, is it sensitive to show Russian films in this context? I think it is not.”
She also noted that Moscow has been referring to Russian culture as a “great culture” since the Soviet times. Today, the talk about the “greatness” of Russian culture serves Russia’s purpose, Arlickaitė said.
Audronė Žigaitytė-Nekrošienė, head of the Musicians’ Association, said she had “a falling out with Russian culture after the January 13 events” in Lithuania in 1991. She also agreed that Russia is using its culture as a soft power in the West, so “it should rest” while the war is ongoing. No wonder we cannot imagine a New Year celebration without Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, she said.
But Russia is now considering its culture not only as a soft power but also as a weapon, stressed Gintautas Kėvišas, the former head of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has said that Russia will conquer the world with ballet. Like oil, culture is Russia’s weapon,” he said.
According to the representatives of the cultural sector, the pause on Russian culture should be used as a time to explore other cultures, including Lithuanian.
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