The Power of Art to Resist Oppression

The detention in August 2017 of innovative and internationally acclaimed Russian theater and film director Kirill Serebrennikov made news around the world and immediately turned into a symbol of the state’s power to oppress and silence critical voices. When months later the detainee-director’s performances “Nureyev” and “Little Tragedies” premiered to huge audience acclaim, it was seen as a victory of art over oppression. Russia’s prominent theater critic and Wiener Festwochen 2016 curator ­Marina Davydova discusses how ­Serebrennikov’s case reveals important features of Putin’s regime and why its outcome will define the relationship between art and state in Russia. Time to Talk’s Dessy Gavrilova leads the conversation.