Empty sanctions unfairly and counterproductively penalise artists, says Katia Grubisic, as she questions the boycotts of Russian culture.
Since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine, people have been expressing solidarity with Ukraine in constructive and inventive ways. Parents have left strollers at the Polish border for those fleeing with small children. Uber provided free ride-shares to help refugees evacuate, and Airbnb users booked empty Ukrainian rentals as a way to funnel money to their owners. Medical professionals have been sharing instructions on wartime care. We’ve wrapped ourselves in blue and yellow at public demonstrations, donated money, and organized fundraising events.
We want, and need, to do more. When Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested airspace intervention in his address to Parliament last month, Elizabeth May’s response was a poignant case in point: we don’t want to let you down, we are letting you down, we are trying not to let you down. Helpless and angry, we mill and shout, Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote recently in The Atlantic, with “the agitated, aimless buzzing of the type of crowd that gathers in the aftermath of some bewildering catastrophe.” Not all of the buzzing makes sense, and not all of it shows humanity at its best...Keep reading on The Walrus.
Since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine, people have been expressing solidarity with Ukraine in constructive and inventive ways. Parents have left strollers at the Polish border for those fleeing with small children. Uber provided free ride-shares to help refugees evacuate, and Airbnb users booked empty Ukrainian rentals as a way to funnel money to their owners. Medical professionals have been sharing instructions on wartime care. We’ve wrapped ourselves in blue and yellow at public demonstrations, donated money, and organized fundraising events.
We want, and need, to do more. When Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested airspace intervention in his address to Parliament last month, Elizabeth May’s response was a poignant case in point: we don’t want to let you down, we are letting you down, we are trying not to let you down. Helpless and angry, we mill and shout, Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote recently in The Atlantic, with “the agitated, aimless buzzing of the type of crowd that gathers in the aftermath of some bewildering catastrophe.” Not all of the buzzing makes sense, and not all of it shows humanity at its best...Keep reading on The Walrus.