Franceschini: no to the boycott of Russian culture

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini has openly come out against the boycott of Russian culture, saying that Italy’s position in this regard is against any action that restricts the possibility of representing cultural products of Russia. He said this yesterday during the presentation of his book Con la cultura non si mangia (La Nave di Teseo), which was released on April 11 in bookstores.

“When you are inside an emergency,” Franceschini said, “when you see the horror entering our homes, everything becomes difficult and tempers flare. However, I believe (and this is the position we have taken) that when there is a presence of the Russian government, we reject it (the Milan Triennale excluded the Russians, the Venice Biennale will not have a Russian pavilion), but from here to the point of not hosting or representing works by Russian artists ... it doesn’t fit, you have to maintain a balance. On Saturday I was in Procida for the Italian Capital of Culture with President Mattarella: in his speech he always talked about the Russian government, he didn’t even say ’Russia.’ Because it is clear that we have to value everything free, spontaneous and different that is there. It is cultivating freedom.”

Franceschini, during his speech, specifically cited the case of the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara, where a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake was canceled last week and replaced with Chopin. The case, however, arose not because of an initiative of the theater against Russian culture, but to protect Ukrainian dancers who were to take part in the performance and who risk suffering consequences at home: the cultural institutions of Ukraine have in fact warned Ukrainian dancers not to take part in initiatives together with Russian colleagues, or to dance to the notes of Russian music.

Franceschini: no to the boycott of Russian culture

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