Shunned in the West, Russian performers turn to China as Beijing and Moscow boost cultural ties

When the St Petersburg-based Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra kicked off their concerts at Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts in late March, they surprised the audience with "Ode to the Red Flag" - a 1965 song celebrating the Communist Party's rise to power in China.

The shows were led by Valery Gergiev, a Russian conductor who was dismissed from the Munich Philharmonic last year because of his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his refusal to criticise Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The concert series, which concluded on March 29, was the first international performance by the prominent conductor since his termination soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.

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Facing boycotts and sanctions in the West, many Russian artists are turning to stages in China. Experts said cultural exchanges between the countries, which stalled during the pandemic, were part of efforts by Moscow and Beijing to support each other - and grow their soft power - in the face of geopolitical pressure.

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, whose concerts have been cancelled in the West, Russia and Taiwan, performed in Hong Kong in March. Photo: Facebook/Yusif Eyvazov Tenor alt=Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, whose concerts have been cancelled in the West, Russia and Taiwan, performed in Hong Kong in March. Photo: Facebook/Yusif Eyvazov Tenor>

The Chinese embassy in Russia, in an article published soon after President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow in March, said that the two countries intended to arrange more trips and performances and host events together.

A joint statement between China and Russia - signed in Moscow by Xi and Putin - emphasised promoting exchanges between museums, libraries, art galleries, theatres and other cultural institutions.

The two sides said they opposed "the politicisation of international cooperation in the humanities", and that any discrimination against professionals in the cultural industries was because of "political reasons".

In Beijing, Gergiev said he was "privileged, happy and honoured" to return to the stage in China, Global Times reported.

"It is like coming home," he was quoted as saying. He also said that being against Russian music was just as "stupid as any Russian standing against Bach and Mozart", the report said.

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko has also faced backlash, both in the West for failing to condemn Putin, and in Russia after she denounced the war in Ukraine. The Vienna-based opera singer had a performance in Taiwan called off earlier this year, with the orchestra citing "public concerns". However, she was welcomed in Hong Kong, where she gave a recital and a concert with local artists in March.

The Bolshoi ballet company, which has also had shows cancelled in the US and Europe due to its ties to the Russian government, is planning to tour China this year and next, according to Xinhua. Bolshoi Theatre director Vladimir Urin said the famed Moscow institution was planning to "expand cooperation with China", starting with a July performance of Don Quixote at Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Zhang Xin, an associate professor of international relations at Shanghai's East China Normal University, said cultural exchanges remained a part of the diplomatic agenda for China and Russia.

"It is also quite certain that China will not invite artists who take a stand against the war or performances with anti-war themes," Zhang said.

Zhang added that the two countries were seeking mutual support and coordination in terms of both hard and soft power.

Before his visit to Moscow, Xi wrote in an article for the Russian Gazette and the state-run RIA Novosti news agency that the two countries must "step up people-to-people and cultural exchanges" and pave the way for more interactions between sister cities, provinces and states.

The Chinese embassy in Moscow has announced a series of cultural events scheduled for this year, including a Chinese culture festival to be held in Russia featuring Chinese performance groups.

Other events include a stage adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan's novel Frog, which made its debut at the Pskov Academic Drama Theatre in Russia this month.

Last week, Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies hosted a book talk featuring Russian economist Sergey Bodrunov. The event was also attended by a Russian scholar and a Russian official.

The Shanghai Oriental Art Centre will welcome the Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, which is expected to perform two ballet productions, Swan Lake and Anna Karenina, in early June.

Also in June, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra will perform with conductor Nikolay Alexeev and Russian pianist Daniel Kharitonov in five Chinese cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, Changsha and Shanghai.

Anna Kireeva, associate professor at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, noted that the two countries used to have "very robust people-to-people exchanges and cultural ties", but everything was disrupted because of the pandemic.

"What we are witnessing now is the restoration of cultural contacts connected with China's opening up. During the Xi-Putin summit, the two leaders agreed to restore all contacts as fast as possible, so it is quite logical that we are witnessing the return of robust cooperation in culture," she said.

Kireeva said many Russian performers were unable to maintain the same level of international ties with the West, so non-Western countries were likely to be a more frequent destination for tours than before.

Pang Changwei, professor at the China University of Petroleum, said the Ukraine war created a huge gap between Russia and Western countries, with Russian culture treated as an "abandoned child".

"Russia is turning to Asia for trade and international cooperation, and especially to China, and the literary and artistic exchanges are aimed at deepening the civil base of strategic cooperation between the two countries," he said.

"Russian culture is part of human civilisation, and putting sanctions on the entire Russian culture is not a wise move," said Pang, who is also a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

"Sanctions against the government and officials should not affect or hinder the exchanges of culture."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.