Russia: A Treasure and a Treasury of World Culture

 On the reasons why, in times of war, not only is the country developing its unique cultural identity but also safeguarding the world’s cultural heritage.

Ksenia Muratshina

Mozart and Jazz

On the eve of National Unity Day, the author of the New Eastern Outlook was granted an opportunity to attend a concert by the prominent Russian pianist Daniil Kramer, who performed at the Zaryadye Hall with the legendary orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi. In a novel and refreshing interpretation, the musicians performed exquisite classical works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Dmitry Shostakovich, the lyrical suite by Alexander Tsfasman, jazz classics by Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman, and Nino Rota’s “Fellini’s Walk,” a piece that seemed to have stepped right off the silver screen. Concluding the program, Mr. Kramer, renowned for his multifaceted style, improvisational brilliance, and skill as a composer, presented his own works, ranging from the tenderly elegiac to the virtuosically jazz-infused, vastly different, yet striking a chord with listeners’ hearts. To crown it all, the maestro offered an encore of such electrifying boogie-woogie that propriety barely deferred the vast hall from erupting into dance.

The most paradoxical aspect of it all is that, upon comprehending and reflecting on what one had just witnessed, it becomes clear: such a celebration of music and art in general is possible today, in times of war, of colossal global upheavals, conflicts, and problems, only in Russia. It also prompts one to ponder over more serious philosophical and international political questions, and the answers to them are also revealed through art.

The Rejection of Discrimination

What should be mentioned first and foremost is the preservation of a constant dialogue with world culture irrespective of the current international political climate, which is fundamentally important and existentially natural to Russian culture. Contrary to the long-standing and pathologically nurtured by Western countries idée fixe of “canceling” Russian culture (which, as any reasonable person now understands, is an undertaking of hostile politicians, not of culture per se), Russia supports and promotes not only its own heritage but also the values created by other cultures, without setting any of them apart on any discriminatory ground.

Moreover, a Russian person, whose heart is bound to Russian culture and its heritage, invariably possesses a certain awareness of various spheres of world culture in its broadest sense and cannot conceive of themselves beyond the realms of the latter, be it music, literature, painting, architecture, or, say, cinema. It would never occur to anyone to deny the contribution of any outstanding European or American composer, poet, fashion designer, singer, or film actor to the world culture, let alone to attempt to airbrush their personality and creative legacy.

Russia’s culture remains open to other cultures, and in this resides its unique identity. Our cultural heritage is so vast, rich, and multifaceted that it is studied and valued across the entire world. On our part, we, too, make efforts to comprehend other cultures, to learn their values, and to demystify our own in accessible terms. The result is a kind of cultural synthesis that is passed down from one era to the other, from one historical period to the next one.

Russia’s strength is drawn from our cultural, historical, and civilizational experience as a whole, or, to put it simpler, from our soul

At the same time, a thought comes to mind that only our country is capable of mustering the strength to arrange a vibrant cultural life for its people, while confronting external adversaries. It is important to pay tribute here to both the state’s cultural policy and to many cultural figures who have demonstrated a clear civic stance and willingness to apply their talent to the fullest in difficult times, conveying art in its classical understanding to people and contributing to the cultural development of the society. The aforementioned Mr. Kramer, for instance, gives concerts in military hospitals for soldiers involved in the conflict in Ukraine and has repeatedly expressed his full understanding of the state’s policy, his unity with the country, and the importance of the struggle being waged not only on the front lines in Donbass but also on the cultural front, within the people’s souls.

In essence, the latter seems to be up-to-date and relevant to the entire world, for on an international scale, there is an unceasing confrontation between forces striving for progress and development, and those who, under the command of certain primarily Western politicians and well-known NGOs, are attempting to drag humanity back into regression and “controlled chaos” by lowering educational standards and narrowing horizons, by imposing a parochial mindset and deliberately propagating trends that are stupefying and detrimental to health, threatening to turn people into a mass of ignorant, short-lived individuals with no aspiration for development, a mass which, apparently, is intended to be governed by artificial intelligence. It is a confrontation between forces seeking security and peace for humanity (the very peace that, as the ancients were correct in asserting, could most often be secured only through military means) and those who, under the direction of these same politicians and NGOs, disseminate obtuse and absurd radical extremist ideas and medieval savagery and, furthermore, create conditions for the erosion of cultures by engineering migration crises under the guise of “European multiculturalism.” It is a confrontation between traditional human values and inhumane fads. A confrontation between social movements striving for the values of good and evil in the very broadest sense of these terms.

A Noah’s Ark for Culture

Amidst various forms of anti-cultural perversions that have effectively replaced cultural values and spectacles in the West (the very West that has itself given the world many geniuses, artists, composers, sculptors, writers, opera performers, etc.), Russia, thanks to its unique identity, is in a sense preserving world culture, including its Western component, in its pristine form. This process has no precedents in history, but it could be conditionally compared to Noah’s Ark. Being itself a treasure of world culture, Russian culture is capable of ensuring its own development and self-replication, while also treating the cultural exemplars of the rest of the world with care, bequeathing them to posterity in a pure, primeval form.

Although, of course, the role of simply a treasury for the achievements of world culture does not suffice for us either. Therefore, Russia is going further, and even during international crises and conflicts, it finds opportunities to pave the way and set the stage for new world stars to be born, in the best traditions of art, untainted by any political prejudices, but rather facilitating the enrichment of humanity’s cultural heritage and international cooperation. A shining example is the recent “Intervision” music competition. The diversity of cultures, the mutual understanding found in the language of art, the genuine, profound, sincere emotions, the inspiration, the positive energy, and the triumph of music that pervaded the festival left virtually no viewer in the world indifferent. The incredible energy literally overflowed and was transmitted even through the television broadcast; one can only imagine the vivid experience of the performers and supporters who were there on the spot. Such events also help to cast some new light on Russia’s cultural role on the international stage. And as for those forces that still entertain thoughts of obscuring Russian culture, we can only remind them of our Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s well-known phrase: “Dream on.” Because Russia’s strength is drawn from our cultural, historical, and civilizational experience as a whole, or, to put it simpler, from our soul.

Ksenia Muratshina, PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences