When it canceled a young Russian’s piano performance this week, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra was reacting to a wave of protest from the Ukrainian community.
But after announcing the decision, it was suddenly buffeted by a new wave of protest — in the opposite direction, as hundreds of people argued this wasn’t a useful reaction to the invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s absurd,” said one person reacting on social media, while others called it “gross,” “dangerous” and even “bigoted.”
If virtuoso Alexander Malofeev isn’t sponsored by or representing his state, many argued — which he doesn’t appear to be — then he should be left alone, as an independent citizen who’s only well known because of his musical talent.
What further upset many critics is that Malofeev, 20, has been outspoken against the invasion, which carries serious risks right now in Russia. The news also came amid a spate of stories of regular Russians, such as restaurant owners in new yorkbeing punished over the Russian state’s actions.
Even a UK performance of Tchaikovsky, a long-dead Russian composer, was nixed.
It’s a worrisome and knee-jerk pattern, people argued. A Globe and Mail columnist called Malofeev’s cancellations”discrimination.”
But part of the debate this week is about how weighty — or how simple — this kind of decision really is.
Those who have studied and organized major sanction campaigns, such as those against Israel and South Africa, say they don’t consider boycotting people like Malofeev a constructive or ethical way to pressure a state.
Others pointed out the long history of ethnic discrimination against broad groups, like Japanese Canadians during World War II, for state actions unrelated to them.
But Montreal Ukrainians said this week that to them, it’s more a matter of taste and timing than creating political pressure, let alone condoning a long-term slippery slope.
“I think that right now is a very sensitive time,” said Michael Schwec, the head of the Quebec branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which also called for Malofeev not to appear.
“To celebrate Russian achievement… it’s not appropriate.”
He said it is meaningful to him that Malofeev has spoken against the war. “I think it’s extremely important, you know, when people dissent, that they express themselves,” he said.
But he thought it still wouldn’t have been sensitive to let him play this week, and that he was annoyed to be asked if he “feels bad” for Malofeev.
“Think of all the Ukrainian pianists who just got bombed, you know what I mean?” he said.
“What about feeling bad for the two million people who are leaving and getting bombed and dying?”
RISKING JAIL TO SPEAK OUT
Malofeev is far from the only Russian to have had a performance or event canceled in the last two-and-a-half weeks, since the invasion began.
Others include a driver who’s known to be a close friend and supporter of Putin’s, the Russian men’s and women’s soccer team and the Russian team competing in the music show Eurovision. In Canada, other musicians saw their performances cancelled.
Malofeev’s case is unusual in a few ways: how well-known he is, the fact that he’s not closely tied to the Russian Federation, and how vocal he’s been in his opposition.
He wrote on March 2 that “every Russian will feel guilty for decades because of the terrible and bloody decision that none of us could influence and predict,” and followed up with a longer post several days later.
He said he was also nervous about making more anti-war statements, worried about how that could affect his family in Russia. Malofeev lives in Moscow and became internationally famous as a piano prodigy at 13.
A new Russian law passed last week under President Vladimir Putin allows up to 15 years in prison for protesting the invasion.
Many people reading about Malofeev’s anti-war comments said that it’s crucial to reward and protect dissenting Russians right now.
Many Montrealers have also jumped to his defense. This week, Malofeev said he’s in town anyway, having flown in before his first show was canceled with a day’s notice.
After writing earlier that he was disturbed by the “hatred going in all directions” and thought the arts shouldn’t be affected, he didn’t respond in detail to the controversy.
Many patrons of the Montreal symphony commented to say they disagreed with the cancellation, that his absence at the first concert was “on everyone’s mind” and that they were relieved he hasn’t returned to Russia yet.
MOST CULTURAL SANCTIONS DON’T TARGET INDIVIDUALS: EXPERTS
In the past, organized sanctions campaigns have generally drawn a clear line between individuals and the institutions they represent, said one leading Canadian supporter of the global sanctions campaign against Israel.
“If we’re looking at the example of the Palestinian BDS movement, they’re very clear that individuals are not targeted,” said Corey Balsam, the national coordinator of Independent Jewish Voices Canada.
“It’s complicit institutions and those affiliated with them that are targeted.”
In the current situation, that would mean, for example, that the Eurovision and Russian soccer teams would be boycotted, as both are representing Russia, but Malofeev would not.
That “principled approach” is meant to help protect individuals — and broad ethnic groups — from bearing the brunt of unfocused anger, Balsam explained.
“If this is just some Russian young prodigy and he’s being boycotted because he’s Russian, because of his identity, I think that’s a problem,” Balsam said, though he added he didn’t want to “judge Ukrainians right now” and that there may be an argument for “holding off” on certain events out of sensitivity.
Even if Malofeev were representing Russia, he still would likely be exempted from more organized sanctions, however.
That’s because most cultural sanctions explicitly exempt people and institutions who openly dissent with their country’s actions, said another expert.
BDS “guidelines do make allowances for Israeli cultural institutions (and artists connected to those institutions) if they speak out,” said sociologist Michael Bueckert of Carleton University, who has studied past sanctions and is also an advocate of the Israel BDS campaign.
A paragraph of the official BDS sanctions document lays out how an Israeli person or institution can “end their collusion” with Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories.
If they do so, even someone officially representing Israel can be excluded from the sanctions.
In the case of South African sanctions in the 1980s, the cultural campaign focused on asking international musicians to avoid South Africa, and some were blacklisted if they performed there.
Bueckert said he wasn’t aware of South African musicians who were similarly boycotted for being from South Africa.
GRAY AREA OVER STATE ‘PRIDE’ IN ARTISTS
Though Malofeev may have been dropped largely over questions of taste and timing, there are a few arguments that it isn’t that simple.
The Vancouver Recital Society, which also canceled Malofeev’s performances, said it didn’t like the thought of proceeds from the performance going back into Russia, no matter how.
One Ukrainian Montrealer also described the pianist last week as a Russian “cultural product” that shouldn’t be promoted.
Schwec, of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, also said that to him there is also some gray area in whether Malofeev can be seen to be bolstering Russia, intentionally or not. The Putin regime does take credit for Russian accomplishments, he said.
“Sometimes, I guess it’s still used by the Russian Federation — the fact that the concert will be there,” he said. The federation “uses all achievements in sports and in culture to pride themselves.”
Bueckert said he was skeptical about that argument, saying it wasn’t “very strategic,” at the least.
“The BDS movement has spent years developing criteria for how to wage a responsible and effective cultural boycott, and have made a real effort to draw these distinctions between Israel’s regime and Israeli citizens,” he said.
“Rather than rush to boycott anything and anyone who is deemed Russian, I hope that people will learn from the lessons of the BDS movement and approach these strategic questions with care.”
Schwec said that he isn’t happy to hear of ordinary Russians, like restaurant owners in North America, being targeted. But it’s not top of mind right now either, he said.
“That can be happening, and that’s unfortunate,” he said. “But I think the focus should be on, a country is bombarding another country and millions of people are displaced, dying.”
He’s happy about the symphony’s decision, he said, but “it doesn’t mean that it was an easy decision.”