Statement by civil society organizations on the cancellation of Valery Gergiev’s participation in the “Un’Estate da Re” festival

We, the undersigned civil society organizations committed to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, welcome the decision made by the management of the Royal Palace of Caserta to cancel the scheduled participation of Valery Gergiev at the “Un’Estate da Re” festival, set to take place at the Royal Palace of Caserta, Italy, on 27 July 2025.

Valery Gergiev is not simply a conductor. He is an active cultural ambassador of the Kremlin, with a long record of public support for Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation’s military aggression, censorship, and repression. He has consistently refused to distance himself from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Gergiev has publicly supported Vladimir Putin’s leadership for decades, including participating in official campaigns and endorsing him during presidential elections. He has repeatedly praised Putin’s leadership and aligned himself with the state’s political objectives.

He has conducted concerts in occupied South Ossetia following Russia’s war against Georgia (2008), in Palmyra after the Russian military intervention in Syria (2016), where he received a medal from Putin “For the liberation of Palmyra”, and has performed at Kremlin rallies and events.

Among other Russian cultural figures, he also signed in support of Putin’s “position on Ukraine and Crimea”. In December 2023, he was appointed head of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, in addition to the Mariinsky Theatre, taking over from a director who had signed an open letter in opposition of Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine.

Following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and after he refused to speak out against the war, Gergiev was removed or disinvited by major institutions across Europe, including the Munich Philharmonic and Milan’s La Scala. We note that a European Commission spokesperson, commenting on Gergiev’s invitation to the Italian event, has urged European cultural stages not to provide platforms “to artists who support the war of aggression in Ukraine.” Gergiev’s silence regarding the grave and pervasive human rights and international humanitarian law violations committed by Russia in Ukraine reflects a clear alignment with the Kremlin.

Gergiev’s scheduled appearance at a publicly supported cultural event in Italy contradicts the values of democracy and peace, and risked offering symbolic rehabilitation to a figure who has actively supported a regime engaged in war, censorship, and human rights abuses.

We call on the Italian Ministry of Culture and all Italian regions to ensure that public cultural events are not used to amplify voices aligned with authoritarianism. We urge cultural institutions across Europe to remain vigilant against attempts to whitewash aggression through the language of art.

Read the statement in Italian here.

Signed by:

Associazione dei Russi Liberi

Centre for Civil Liberties

Federation Global Initiative on Psychiatry

Freedom Files

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor

Human Rights Centre ZMINA

Human Rights Defense Center Memorial

Human Rights Movement Bir Duino

Human Rights Without Frontiers

Institute Respublica

International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)

Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR)

La Federazione Italiana Diritti Umani – Comitato Italiano Helsinki (FIDU)

Macedonian Helsinki Committee

NGO “Crimean Process” / ГО “Кримський процес”

Norwegian Helsinki Committee

Promo LEX

Public Association Dignity

Russi Contro La Guerra

Solidarus e.V.

Sphere Foundation

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

The Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan

Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group (ULAG)