Cultural twists. (Za)pupo!
2022.02.24. The Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys posted a text on Facebook:
“No artist from Russia will set foot in Lithuania. It doesn't matter if he has performed in the occupied territories or not. It is time for the Russian people to think about it too.
The Director of the State-owned Vilnius Maly Theatre has been informed that tomorrow I am waiting for either a clear and unequivocal dismissal of the theatre's artistic director R. Tuminas or let the Director put his resignation letter on the table. I am sorry, the honourable director is no different to me than a drunken Russian soldier creeping onto foreign soil.”
Great words and a clearly visible backbone. I have signed it. Lithuania has signed it too, because it has become clear to most of us what is happening, what has happened, what has happened when the Kremlin hawks were chanting on the stages of the Kremlin, in Red Square, in the Luzhniki Stadium.
We didn't know yet that there would be more than just Russian artists who would still go to Russia when the full-scale invasion started. We did not yet know that the dove of peace would become a symbol of war from the lips and hands of the Pope of Rome. We did not yet know that Russian musicians not only know how to quickly steal songs and music from other countries, but also how to turn over in mid-air, to spot an 8-year war. When they noticed it, many remembered that they were Jews (just a coincidence) and that Golubye ogonki was not in the Kremlin, was not broadcast on Putin-TV, but at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and shown on MTV.
The statements on 24 February continued only formally. The TV switch-off was a simple technical solution, but the content remained available not only through the antennas bought in Gariunai, but also through various legal or pirated online platforms, YouTube, Tik Tok. There is no attempt to fight this dragon, even though neighbouring Latvians have licensed satellite dishes, and there are precedents of real punishment for those who help install Russian TV channels. It seems to be easier for our neighbours, who have a much larger Russian-speaking diaspora.
The first years of the full-scale invasion were quite quiet and no Russian-speaking singers or comedians came to Lithuania, but it was enough for one person, even the good Boris Grebenshchikov, to arrive and for the other werewolves to realise that our markets are not lost, that we are not Ukraine, that EU laws and legal norms apply in our country. We can be fooled further.
More and more of Russian culture is beginning to realise that it is useful to be against Putin. Does that presence have any effect on the rest of us? Well, no, because they very easily call off their old pop or cinema gods, they support the empire and the tsar without any scruples. Their choice is unquestionable, a million red roses have been thrown with an easy hand into the depths of the Z-parasha, with Kristina Orbokaite, still a Lithuanian citizen, performing on the great Russian stages. So far.
Meanwhile, in Lithuania, Russkoye Radio has turned into Rodnoye and continues to entertain Russian-speaking Lithuanians. No one is trying to sort the wheat from the chaff in the infinite number of songs, simply because most of us have not listened to the music.
In the autumn, I had a short discussion with Vytautas Kernagis, a member of the Seimas and Culture Committee, on LRT Radio. I don't remember who was there, but there was a bit of a scandal after Asta Martišiūtė's article. At that time, it was promised that a commission would be set up to involve public figures, and I think I was among them. But it has been six months and there is no commission. The Minister of Culture blames the Foreign Ministry, which, according to him, has not prevented the arrival of those who are not only Israeli citizens. The Culture Committee of the Seimas points the finger at the Ministry. There is no one to blame. Ideas can be generated, but the executive is unable to implement them. As we have already seen with the story of the resignation of the Minister for the Ministry of Defence, the problem is not only at the level of the individual ministries, but starts with the weak leadership of the head of the government, which is not able to manage the processes, or perhaps does not see the benefits or the threat. Although it is clear to most Ukrainians that Russian culture is the same weapon. And then there are always tanks after the concerts. Always. The gathering of full houses in Vilnius and even in Kaunas shows that we are still under the influence of the empire. We are not even trying to follow Moses. We have not had time to leave.
The problem, as I said, is even deeper - it is not only Russian singers, but also those from the West who come to Moscow with the slogan “for peace”. And it is no paradox that Putin allows them to perform there, because he did not start the war, Ukraine did. It is a pity that the Western performers (along with the Pope) do not know this, but does ignorance of the law exempt one from punishment? It seems so, because it all depends on your social status and level of popularity. It is much easier to cancel an LGBT+ singer from Canada than a real man from Italy. Pupo will be singing in Šiauliai on 26 April, and nobody wants to cancel the concert because he is for peace, and LP will definitely not be singing in Kaunas because it just happened. Because it is simply not the result of the work of our government, but of people's indignation at the right place and time.
Time is short. Time to go to the desert, but it's so comfortable lying on the sofa. Slavery looks different now, but how long will it last?
The playwright Rimas Tuminas, mentioned above, died a couple of weeks ago. The Minister expressed his condolences. Did he speak clearly about what was happening? Did he not understand what was happening when his beloved Russia attacked Sakartvel, when it occupied Crimea? “He ”understood' after he had to leave for cancer treatment and after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine had begun and it became impossible to return. Must we understand and forgive? No, because he was an accomplice to that crime, and only the courts of the countries attacked can do that. Someday. What is needed now is the defeat of those who bought millions of people working for the Russian Reich in the West.
“No artist from Russia will set foot in Lithuania. It doesn't matter if he has performed in the occupied territories or not. It is time for the Russian people to think.”
It is not a prayer. It is just empty words. When it was very scary and there was no sun in the east over the horizon.
P.S. A few hours after I wrote the text, the cancellation of Pupo's performance was announced. But the list of Westerners who performed in Russia last year is filling up. Dr. Alban is coming to Lithuania soon, as well as a few more artists from the 80-90s that I have long forgotten: Joy, Arabesque (without Sandra), Fancy, Gazebo. The list is far from complete.
