Art activism: Russian Music and anti-war resistance

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had devastating effects on Ukrainian society. At the same time, it resulted in a violent crackdown on the parts of the Russian society that expressed their stance against the government's actions. With coercive state policies, Russian civil society, independent media, and academia were nearly paralyzed. However, a critical sphere continues to articulate socio-political concerns: the art scene. Research on resistance to authoritarian regimes suggests that countries with a long history of repression do not always resort to street protests as a way of societal resistance. Instead, like in Russia, they take the form of sabotage, individual acts of violence, information dissemination, resistance art, activism, and volunteering in non-conventional platforms (like refugee support, charity, etc.). Although previously popular musicians have been careful and subtle in expressing political positions, after the Russian invasion, they were quick to express themselves against the war explicitly. While many artists left Russia (willingly or under pressure), continuing their activities abroad, others stayed, trying to resist covertly. Despite aggressive state policies, dissident music managed to maintain a certain level of dynamism in the post-2022 reality. This research analyses how music emerges as a site of resistance and how it articulates anti-war ideas, values, and political stances. It considers anti-war music in three spatial conditions: in Russia, online, and among Russian ‘relocantes.’ First, it provides a systematic overview of the anti-war discourse among the musicians through conducting a multimodal discourse analysis with a large sample of data intertwined with context analysis. Apart from a nuanced view of the anti-war discourse in artworks, this research presents how music has been used to mobilize resources, inform the public, and resist aggressive state policies. Before 2022, these musicians had been mainly focused on expressing themselves solely through artwork. However, after the war, many resorted to other tools such as charity concerts, new concert destinations, interviews and social media posts on the topic of war, increased cooperation, etc. This research maps these strategies to describe art activism in Russia, contributing to the literature on resistance in authoritarian states. Secondly, through in-depth interviews and social media analysis, this research shows how the listeners interact with such art and what meaning it bears for them. YouTube is rich with audience interpretations, fan-made videos, and expressions of political positions in the comments of these songs. Evidence shows that audience interaction with this music and live concerts goes beyond entertainment purposes serving as a legitimized space for expressing anti-war positions and solidarity.