The Politics of Culture: For What Purpose

Translated and introduced by Susanna Weygandt, this polemic from the popular and controversial Russian playwright Ivan Vyrypaev responds to the new “Politics of Culture.” In June 2015, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky published guidelines for artistic creation, which Vyrypaev argues “are not undergirded by any realistic or logical basis,” but instead use hollow dictums to intimidate artists into self-censorship, despite the Constitutional ban on official censorship. After publishing his critique of Medinsky’s “enchanting utopia,” Vyrypaev and his artistic home, Teatr.doc, became a target of police raids and trumped-up charges.