Dmitry Gudkov about the color of the “Russian world”

Half of the current Russian culture is now in exile

He returned from Montenegro, from the forum of Russian culture "Slovonovo", which was invented by Marat Gelman. There, at this forum, there was the color of the "Russian world" - not the one that blows up each other in restaurants and elevators, but the real one. Writers, poets, artists - those who have always been a counterweight to the lead weight of power. Only now, more than half of the forum participants (one might say, more than half of current Russian culture) are now in exile.

Today, Marat himself lists their names on his Facebook: “Sorokin came from Berlin, Mikhail Shishkin from Switzerland, Lusya Ulitskaya from Italy, Akunin from London”, “artist number one - Ilya Kabakov - lives in New York, Ivan Chuikov lives in Düsseldorf, Erik Bulatov lives in Paris, Dmitry Vrubel lives in Berlin, and so on.”

That "so on" - that's for sure, each of us can continue the list of those who left. But leaving doesn't mean severing the connection. You can be an immigrant, or you can be an ambassador. You can be Putin's ambassador, or you can be Russia's ambassador. Gogol - he also wrote not in Russia, which, as you understand, does not cancel. But, of course, the clearest sign of the times, stuffiness poured into the air, is this series of departures. Only a variety of retired depardieu come.

After all, despite all the efforts of the state with its Medina and laundries, nothing worthy and at the same time "approved from above" has not appeared in recent years. The old has become completely indecent - like Mikhalkov, but there is no new. Here's your diagnosis, it's a sentence. The best that is - either against or aside, from Theater.Doc to Artdocfest. And Marat Gelman is right, who considers the Ministry of Culture just a PR department of the regime. The state has a Ministry of Culture, but no culture. But the country has a culture that does without any ministries.

Well, a practical conclusion: we in the Party will now look for the possibility of supporting real culture. At a minimum, we have an office that I hope will be suitable for those artists who do not have a place in the galleries. Let's see what else can be done - but this work is very important, this is Russian soft power. And without it - so unnecessary for the authorities - only chepigi with newcomers remain.

Source