Before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to invade Ukraine in earnest on February 24, 2022, artist Andrei Muravyev, better known as DazBastaDraw, was mainly an artist with no particular desire to create. As a hobby, I drew sketches and comics for myself. public.
He is currently showing off patriotic artwork in support of Moscow’s Special Military Operations (SMO) to more than 16,000 Telegram subscribers.
“I try to reflect in my work my attitude and reaction to certain phenomena and events,” he told Al Jazeera over the phone.
“Our cause is justice. Victory is ours. I truly believe that SMO should have started earlier. My paintings are my feelings. If you find something interesting , I want the audience to be happy with me, and vice versa.”
Art and culture have been influenced by war since the earliest cave paintings.
19th century painter Vasily Vereshchagin’s canvas “The Apotheosis of War” sparked a heated debate over Russia’s conquest of Central Asia.
Over the past two years, the Kremlin has enthusiastically promoted militaristic ideas, including in the art world.
In July, Gosuslugi, the digital platform required for all Russian citizens to access government services, launched a compilation of patriotic Z-poems named after a letter that came to symbolize pro-war sentiments. emailed to tens of millions of users.
The email contained fragments of poetry by Donetsk-born poet Anna Leviakina. We lived and fought/We fought to prevent more wars. ”
Meanwhile, pop star Sherman has been recognized for his ability to liven up the crowds at Putin’s rallies with his song “Hustanem (Let’s Stand Up),” which honors fallen soldiers, and to this end he generously performs at state-sponsored performances, including in occupied territories. I’m doing it.
Although DazBastaDraw’s career has not yet reached such heights, he admits that he is aligned with the public interest.
“A black car arrived and people in formal suits came out with suitcases of cash and said, ‘Artist, you are amazing.'” I love what I’m doing. Once you receive this, you will never lose your desire for things. ‘Oh, no, that probably only happens in movies,’ he said.
“But seriously, I have received several orders from organizations close to the government, mainly the media. I have experience working with law enforcement agencies. I think they were happy with the results.”
In September, the government allocated 1.6 billion rubles (approximately $17 million) to winners of a competition promoting patriotic and pro-war projects. Winners included a detective series about a young engineer who visits the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and confronts saboteurs, and a film about the late Donetsk rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko.
However, the promotion of such initiatives has not always met with popular acceptance. Last year, “The Witness,” a film about a Belgian violinist caught in the middle of a “special operation” to “denazify” Ukraine, tanked at the box office.
Felix Sandalov, editor of the publisher Straight Forward, said there is less interest in pro-war media than the ubiquity of the letter “Z” in Russian society suggests.
“Judging by the recent manifesto of the conservative self-proclaimed Union of Russian Writers, the February 24th Union, Z poets and Z writers remain dissatisfied with their position in society and are more likely to criticize their work than to criticize it. “I keep complaining about the privilege of successful writers. It’s a war,” Sandaloff said.
“While these claims should be taken with a grain of salt, what is clear from a cultural consumption perspective is that Russian readers are not very keen on Z literature. The use of coded language and indirect messages. There has been a significant increase in literature about how Germans dealt with guilt after the collapse of the Third Reich and World War II, for example, and the death of famous dictators. This can be seen in the increasing popularity of books.
At the same time, “everything now is more or less directly related to Russia’s war,” said Sandalov’s co-editor Alexander Gorbachev.
“Putin’s ideology and propaganda have always been innovated to push the war narrative. There are few subjects that are immune to this influence.”
Although not explicitly pro-war, the first song released by the popular rock band Leningrad after the invasion began in earnest was titled “No Trespassing,” and it is a reference to how Russian citizens were treated in Europe in 1940. It was likened to the Jews of Germany in the 1990s. Later, the group released a song praising state-run weapons manufacturer Rostec.
Unlike Leningrad, rock band DDT and its frontman Yuri Shevchuk are outspoken opponents of the invasion.
Shevchuk has been a pacifist since the Afghanistan war in the 1980s. In 2022, he was interrogated and fined under wartime censorship laws, and several concerts were canceled due to his vocal stance.
“When it comes to censorship, look at the recent law signed by President Putin,” Gorbachev said.
“[The] LGBTQ [community] It is now considered an “extremist organization.” “Even gay house parties are at risk of police raids,” he said. “Independent journalism and blogging are prohibited. Just calling a war a war, not a ‘special military operation’ can go to jail.” History is also problematic. Anyone who dares to delve into the complexities of World War II and the Soviet Union’s role in it risks being charged with a felony. ”
She added that women’s rights and feminism, as well as postcolonial studies, are “dangerous topics” in Russia.
“Thinking about the history and rights of different regions and states that are part of Russia can be considered a threat to the integrity of the Russian state, which is also a serious crime. And so on. And what will you hate tomorrow? No one knows what will happen.”
While many artists and creators remain in Russia, others, such as Kirill Serebrennikov, a prominent film and theater director, and Morgenstern, a rapper, find the atmosphere stifling and have fled the country.
But they are not completely welcome outside.
Last year, a literary debate scheduled to be held in New York among exiled Russian writers was canceled due to pressure from Ukrainian attendees, and journalist Masha Gessen resigned as director of the PEN Literary Society. As one of Russia’s few liberals and a Jew, the journalist also sparked controversy by drawing parallels between Israel’s Gaza operation and the Holocaust.
Straight Forward Publishing was founded to give voice to this culture of exile.
“This is material that cannot be published in Russia due to censorship,” Sandalov said.
“Even printers now commonly refuse to print contrarian material, and libraries and bookstores quietly destroy books by banned authors. We stand for freedom and we stand for telling real stories that can change people’s hearts.”
However, Russian cultural exports have not been completely ostracized.
Last year, Russian crime series The Boys, about a teenage street gang in the Soviet Union’s twilight days, continued to grow, despite former President Petro Poroshenko and other politicians urging viewers to boycott all things Russian.・Word” and its soundtrack were hits in both Russia and Ukraine.