Published
Fri, Jul 21, 2023, 09:30
- A military recruitment tent and vehicles emblazoned with the letter "Z" were spotted on-site.
Earlier this month, Russia's Outline Festival returned for the first time since being cancelled in 2016—albeit in a cloud of controversy.
Run by the team behind Moscow club Mutabor, the house, techno and experimental festival took place from July 6th through 9th in Taldom, a small town on the outskirts of the capital. International acts like Atom™, Margaret Dygas and Le Syndicat Electronique joined local DJs and live acts including Tim Aminov, Denis Kaznacheev and Sofia Rodina.
On the first day, a tent with military recruiting posters was seen near the entrance of the parking lot. The poster included a message in Russian: "Contracted military service. 600 rubles." A Moscow resident, who helped with the production of the festival and asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the photo was real to Resident Advisor via videos on their camera roll and geo-tagging of the location.
Photos of the tent quickly spread around social media and various Telegram chats, including the Outline 2023 chat and a popular Russian lifestyle group. An admin of the latter asked someone at the festival to confirm the validity of the tent after being sent images. New photos showed that the tent was still up, but the military posters weren't visible. The tent had reportedly been removed by the second day.
"I don't know why the tent caused so much discussion," the person who took the photo told RA. "We've been under surveillance by the police and the government since the beginning of the war. It's become very dangerous to live here. In general, there are a lot of these tents in Moscow now, so no one even paid attention to it. I pay attention to these tents and billboards with conscripts. It's scary. People live in constant fear about the war."
Another attendee retrieved a separate flier with war propaganda that detailed the salary, benefits and next steps for signing up to the army. A Russian resident and frequent festivalgoer, who also asked to remain anonymous, said these types of fliers are commonly distributed near military enlistment offices. The address at the bottom of the flier is in Taldom, where Outline took place.
After images of the tent went viral online, some members of the global club community criticised the festival and its international acts. Ukrainian activist and journalist Maya Baklanova re-emphasised what she sees as the need for a boycott of Russian culture until the war is over. Moscow-born artist Pavel Milyakov (AKA Buttechno), who is now based in Berlin, believes taking bookings in Russia is careless. (RA approached five international acts who played the festival—Atom™, San Proper, Jing Lekker, GFRND and Mick Wills—but received no response. Another act, Gaja, declined to comment.)
"All artists who perform there are normalising life under this regime," Milyakov told RA. "At the same time, they're letting themselves be used for accumulating tax income that goes to the military budget, which wages Russian invasion in Ukraine. I see total lack of awareness, empathy and responsibility. It doesn't go along with the values that true underground music communities should stand for. I see neither community nor values there. Only greed, blind ignorance and irresponsibility."
During the festival, at least two cars marked with the letter "Z" were seen driving around the site. The symbol is widely recognised as Putin's symbol of "victory" against Ukraine. It's unclear if Outline's organisers knew about the military tent or the vehicles. (RA approached the festival for comment but received no response.)
More apparent is the link between Outline and one of its key partners, Lenta.Ru, a hugely popular pro-Kremlin and pro-war news publication with headlines like "US announces new sanctions against Russia."
Since the war in Ukraine began on February 24th, 2022, Russia has outlawed public displays of political dissent and introduced conscription for the first time since World War Two. Meanwhile, the electronic music scene has continued throwing events. This divides opinion: some people believe promoting and attending hedonistic parties during a time of war is wrong, while others defend their right to dance against a backdrop of oppression.
"Would you like Russia to be isolated from art?" one anonymous Russian raver told RA. "What if the war ends in 30 years, then what to do with the festivals? We all have a lot of questions. It's morally very difficult to bear collective responsibility, especially after all the rallies where we were beaten with batons by the police. We failed, as did the people of Belarus. To visit us or not is only the choice of the artist. If the festival doesn't openly support the war, then it's against it. Nowadays, making festivals against war means prison or torture."
Baklanova disagreed. She doesn't think Russia should be holding large international festivals like Outline right now. "I understand [Russian residents] want to forget about everything for one night," she told RA. "But for me, electronic music parties and festivals can't just be about hedonism or escapism when your country started a cruel war in the middle of Europe and you know people your age are dying while fighting your government. I'm not—and nor is anyone else in Ukraine—against people dancing. We just urge people to not just dance, but to make some changes."
Outline began in 2014 in Moscow. Its third edition in 2016 was cancelled by government officials, ostensibly because it didn't meet the requirements for permits and fire safety. The festival denied these claims at the time. 2023 was Outline's official third year. Plans for 2024 are already underway.
Correction, July 24th: An earlier edition of this article said the war in Ukraine began in March 2022.
After images of the tent went viral online, some members of the global club community criticised the festival and its international acts. Ukrainian activist and journalist Maya Baklanova re-emphasised what she sees as the need for a boycott of Russian culture until the war is over. Moscow-born artist Pavel Milyakov (AKA Buttechno), who is now based in Berlin, believes taking bookings in Russia is careless. (RA approached five international acts who played the festival—Atom™, San Proper, Jing Lekker, GFRND and Mick Wills—but received no response. Another act, Gaja, declined to comment.) "All artists who perform there are normalising life under this regime," Milyakov told RA. "At the same time, they're letting themselves be used for accumulating tax income that goes to the military budget, which wages Russian invasion in Ukraine. I see total lack of awareness, empathy and responsibility. It doesn't go along with the values that true underground music communities should stand for. I see neither community nor values there. Only greed, blind ignorance and irresponsibility." During the festival, at least two cars marked with the letter "Z" were seen driving around the site. The symbol is widely recognised as Putin's symbol of "victory" against Ukraine. It's unclear if Outline's organisers knew about the military tent or the vehicles. (RA approached the festival for comment but received no response.) More apparent is the link between Outline and one of its key partners, Lenta.Ru, a hugely popular pro-Kremlin and pro-war news publication with headlines like "US announces new sanctions against Russia." Since the war in Ukraine began on February 24th, 2022, Russia has outlawed public displays of political dissent and introduced conscription for the first time since World War Two. Meanwhile, the electronic music scene has continued throwing events. This divides opinion: some people believe promoting and attending hedonistic parties during a time of war is wrong, while others defend their right to dance against a backdrop of oppression. "Would you like Russia to be isolated from art?" one anonymous Russian raver told RA. "What if the war ends in 30 years, then what to do with the festivals? We all have a lot of questions. It's morally very difficult to bear collective responsibility, especially after all the rallies where we were beaten with batons by the police. We failed, as did the people of Belarus. To visit us or not is only the choice of the artist. If the festival doesn't openly support the war, then it's against it. Nowadays, making festivals against war means prison or torture." Baklanova disagreed. She doesn't think Russia should be holding large international festivals like Outline right now. "I understand [Russian residents] want to forget about everything for one night," she told RA. "But for me, electronic music parties and festivals can't just be about hedonism or escapism when your country started a cruel war in the middle of Europe and you know people your age are dying while fighting your government. I'm not—and nor is anyone else in Ukraine—against people dancing. We just urge people to not just dance, but to make some changes." Outline began in 2014 in Moscow. Its third edition in 2016 was cancelled by government officials, ostensibly because it didn't meet the requirements for permits and fire safety. The festival denied these claims at the time. 2023 was Outline's official third year. Plans for 2024 are already underway. Correction, July 24th: An earlier edition of this article said the war in Ukraine began in March 2022.