Of course, increased cultural ties between Russia and the countries of the “Global South” are not, in and of themselves, a bad thing. A new Museum of African Culture has been in the works in Moscow since 2019. But the trend that took off in Feb. 2022, if nothing else, highlights the shrinking slate of geographical options accessible to Russian audiences and artists — and the paucity of convincing arguments available to apologists of their country’s increasing isolation.
In July 2023, Mikhail Piotrovsky, the longtime director of the Hermitage, published a manifesto in St. Petersburg Vedomosti titled “Africa as a New Reality.” The text recalls Alexander Pushkin’s remote African roots and mentions Soviet geneticist Vavilov, who collected biological samples in Ethiopia. As Piotrovsky argues, the African continent is in the global spotlight not only thanks to its “rich mineral resources,” but also “because it is a reservoir of new energy for the development of humanity.”
New human resources
Piotrovsky went further in a Feb. 2024 interview, openly admitting that Russia has politicized entire areas of research: “Eastern studies scholars are leveraging political circumstances to stimulate and develop research. We have entered a period that favors the creation of a special program for the development of Eastern and African studies.” As Piotrovsky reminded his interviewer, the Faculty of Eastern Studies at St. Petersburg State University was founded by special decree of Emperor Nicholas I after the Crimean War, “when the importance of studying the East became evident.”
Today, museums and universities are launching new programs and signing bilateral agreements. Last year, professors of the GITIS Russian Institute of Theater Arts visited Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, China, India, Japan, the UAE, and Bahrain. At the Russia-Africa Forum, Rector of GITIS Grigory Zaslavsky officially announced plans to offer two-week intensive courses by GITIS professors in several African countries and encouraged GITIS alumni to stage plays in African theaters. He spoke of the need to revive student exchanges and the cultural influence on a Soviet-era scale.
The State Tretyakov Gallery plans to launch joint educational programs with Peking University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2024. The vast majority of agreements that are already concluded or in the pipeline suggest long-term cooperation.
“Friendly” deportation
The eastward turn is not only ideologically appropriate for the Russian government — it also expands the reach of Kremlin censorship. The Russian Foreign Ministry has made it clear that performers who are banned in Russia will find it problematic to tour in countries over which the Kremlin holds sway. Not coincidentally, in Jan. 2024 it was reported that authorities in the UAE had levied a fine of approximately $27,000 against Russian comedian Maxim Galkin, who criticized the Russian state and its war in Ukraine as part of a performance in Dubai in 2023. Russian rapper Oxxxymiron faces not only a fine for making political remarks at a separate concert in Dubai, but also a complete ban on performing in the UAE.
