Tabakov: Ukrainian culture will remain part of all-Russian culture, or it will disappear
Artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov Oleg Tabakov stated that his statements about the Ukrainian authorities as “dark, illiterate” individuals “killing people” were taken out of context and that the recording of the “private conversation” was not agreed upon with him.
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This is stated in Tabakov’s commentary posted on the website of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov. We are talking about Tabakov’s reaction to the message about the “black lists” of Russian artists compiled by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.
On July 8, REN TV published Tabakov’s commentary on this topic on its website. In the quotes that were published, the director says that “they are not very enlightened anyway. It’s like my grandmother sometimes said: “Screw them, they’re ignorant, illiterate people.” The trouble is that normal people will suffer from the fact that normal information does not reach them. And I’m so ashamed of the abomination that they do. They kill people and destroy their homes. And to respond to this... No. I waved my hand, despite the fact that one quarter of my blood is Ukrainian.”
Tabakov also added that he feels sorry for these people. “They are pathetic in a sense. I'll say a seditious thought. At all times, their best times, their brightest representatives of the intelligentsia were somewhere in second and third positions after the Russians. I feel embarrassed for them,” the artist quotes RBC.
According to Tabakov, he was not warned about the interview because “journalists today don’t bother to follow basic ethical rules.” “I’m sorry if my words taken out of context unwittingly offended someone. Let this remain on the conscience of those who use the situation to pit people against each other, incite hatred and organize similar provocations. At the same time, I, like all normal people, would like this bloodshed to end, so that we would finally stop compiling lists of enemies on both sides. People of art cannot be dangerous to national security either in Ukraine or in Russia,” Tabakov said.
The artist also stated that for him Russian and Ukrainian cultures are a single whole, one common Slavic culture. Nationalization of any part of this culture, Tabakov believes, is “stupid.” “I call this culture Russian. Call it something else if you want. But it’s not worth it for me, a person also with Ukrainian roots, to talk about the special path of Ukrainian culture. It was, is and will be part of our common heritage. Otherwise, it will dissolve and disappear,” the artist noted.
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