Golden Mask organisers hit back against culture ministry following allegations of Russophobia

Organisers at the independent Golden Mask theatre festival have hit back against allegations of “violating moral norms” made last week by deputy Minister of Culture Vladimir Aristarkhov. The move come days after a meeting about Russia’s state cultural policy last week in Tula, where Aristarkhov accused the festival of “containing elements of Russophobia, contempt for the history of our country and consciously going beyond moral boundaries”.

In a statement on the Golden Mask website, whose signatories include the festival’s president, actor Georgi Taratorkin, festival organisers responded to the minister’s claims, reiterating a commitment to “identifying the best creative work in a variety of forms and genres of theatrical art in Russia”.

“The aims and objectives of [Golden Mask] is ... to identify trends of modern theatrical process; strengthen the common cultural space of the country and the creation of conditions for regular creative exchange; the identification, recognition and promotion of talented theatrical performers,” the statement reads. “The Golden Mask, therefore, is a reflection of theatrical life in Russia.”

In last week’s meeting, Aristarkhov singled out the Golden Mask festival when he commented on the necessity of allocating state funds only to cultural projects which “do people no harm”. In light of this, Aristarkhov added, “perhaps the question which one activist asked becomes relevant: ‘Who are the masters of culture?’ we should ask people who consider themselves cultural figures. ‘Are you with the people, or against them?’”

Since its foundation in 1993, the independent festival, which awards prizes each year to a number of productions in all genres of theatre art, has been jointly funded by Russia’s Theatre Union, the Ministry of Culture and the Moscow Government. However, alongside a drive from ministers to promote traditional cultural values, contemporary and independent-minded cultural projects which receive state funding are increasingly coming under threat.

“When [classical art] is reduced to crude instincts”, Aristarkhov said, “when under the flag of the right to interpretation we see not classics, not Pushkin, Gogol or any other of our great dramatists, but something completely alien …[we see] that under the Golden Mask foreign values are being dragged to us … Can the state support a festival that exists in this kind of form? Probably not.”

In the last year, independent cultural figures have voiced concern over the marked intensification of intolerant rhetoric about acceptable culture from Russian ministers, with the link between political compliance and the allocation of state funds to cultural projects becoming increasingly pronounced. In November last year, Russia’s conservative Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky made a surprising admission that the reason behind the ministry’s decision to refuse state funding to Artdocfest — Russia’s largest international documentary film festival – was a result of festival director Vitaly Mansky’s “anti-state” political opinions.

Commenting on the politicisation of culture in Russia, the letter ends with a statement that the festival’s current task “is to prevent a split in the theatrical environment, to prevent the transformation of the creative world into the stomping ground for political wars,” focussing efforts “on dialogue and mutual respect for different cultural representatives.”