Once, cultural ties to Russia were deliberate and hopeful. Now, they're eroding
As a Gen-X kid, I have to admit there was particular poignancy to the news that, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia isn't getting The Batman.
It's part of a much, much bigger and more important story, of course — several much, much bigger, much more important stories. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas has reported on many severed relationships in arts in recent weeks.
Most of these have been attributed not simply to being Russian in and of itself, but to ties to Putin, or to a refusal to repudiate him — and to funding that comes from the Russian government. Some artists have and against the invasion, but many have not. It's in opera, it's in classical concerts, but it's affecting other things, too: Russia is , where it debuted in 1994. Western musicians have been ever since the war started. As Elizabeth Blair has reported, are anxious about possible effects on their own work.
