The director of a famed European museum expressed sharp concern about the removal of Russian cultural expressions from public life. He argued that such moves are not just an administrative choice but a deeper statement about culture and diplomacy in the modern world.
From his vantage point, cultural heritage serves as a bridge for understanding between nations. He warned that excluding a whole national tradition would be like losing a part of our shared humanity. His metaphor was pointed: removing a segment of universal world culture would cause lasting harm, producing pain and a lasting sense of loss on a global scale.
He emphasized that literature, music, and visual arts from Russia have long enriched global culture. Names such as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Shostakovich are more than the legacy of a single country; they are threads in the wider tapestry of humanity. The idea of abandoning such cultural contributions, he noted, would impoverish world culture and deny people the opportunity to learn from one another. The proposal to sever ties with this heritage, he argued, would be a profound mistake that could not be undone without damaging cultural dialogue itself.