“The Italian culture at this moment should offer help to contemporary Russian artists, of any art, and as far as possible should try to build collaborative projects with them for now and for the future”. This is the appeal made to time.news by Stefano Karadjov, director of the Brescia Museums Foundation.
The warning is to “never create a homologation between what happens at the political-governmental level and what is the expression of thought”. With the exception of “any aligned artist, who takes an active position towards the ongoing violence and for this reason must be absolutely condemned”, Karadjov recommends keeping in mind that “silence does not necessarily mean adhesion, but also the impossibility of being able to take sides. . It is easy to expect flashes of revolution from here, but with the new censorship regime it is not automatic that everyone must put their own life and that of family members at risk “.
“On the other hand – continues the director – we are talking about a category, that of artists, which certainly does not have its backs covered. And now they live even more in a condition of marginalization, feeling like ‘pariahs’ compared to other international artists”.
This is why Karadjov wants to keep his Foundation “open” to Russian artists and “build a bridge, especially with dissident ones, to give them the opportunity to have a voice with us”.
“The other commitment is to keep alive the relationship with Russian museums and cultural institutions, to give a signal of closeness and support, at least moral”, adds the director of Brescia Musei, who had with Russian cultural institutions built close ties, because “I strongly believe in the value of cultural diplomacy through works”.