Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and even after the annexation of Crimea — Russian actors played a significant role in international art circles. The market of Russian art and international cooperation with Russia’s art museums flourished. Russian billionaires were active on the boards of Western art institutions, and in donating works by Russian artists to major European museums, and funding exhibitions of Russian art abroad.
In her doctoral dissertation in international relations (IR), Julia Bethwaite shows that those practices involved economic and diplomatic incentives but also a variety of other interests.
She examines the transnational field of art as a power mechanism and shows that it attracts a range of different participants, including both state and non-state actors motivated by various interests.
“Through the field of art, various actors can accumulate and exchange forms of capital, such as economic, cultural or social capital. This may enhance their positions also in other social fields. In addition, the field of art is an interesting sphere for analysis of power because it offers the opportunity to operate on different scales from the local to the transnational,” Bethwaite says.
Bethwaite found that the Russian state has used art in efforts to elevate its status in world politics. The activities of the Russian economic and political elite in the field of art have been motivated by the opportunities provided by art to accumulate and convert capital by crossing social fields and scales.
These interests have also included kleptocratic overtones as actors have sought to strengthen their positions in Putin’s Russia. By showing their support for the state through, e.g., the field of art, they have been able to legitimise and ‘artwash’ their wealth that has sometimes been amassed by dubious means.
“In my research, I also pay attention to the way actors with connections to Russia’s security services have established a presence in the field of art and culture. It reflects the ongoing developments in the structure of the Russian elite,” Bethwaite explains.
The possibility of resistance endures in art
Bethwaite's research also finds that art cannot be totally dominated and controlled by the state. The possibility of resistance and dissent is preserved through the autonomy of art. Art can also be interpreted in many ways, and the meanings of art are not static.
The dissertation examines the field of art through artistic sites. Bethwaite analysed the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the State Russian Museum’s satellite museum in Malaga, and an art exhibition brought to the Shanghai Museum from the State Tretyakov Gallery. The study shows that when looking at IR, there are numerous different actors, interests and dynamics that are not confined to the borders of a single field or nation state. What is also interesting from the perspective of IR is that the actors in the field can ‘play' in several fields between the local and transnational.
The research also highlights that IR are more heteronomous than has been traditionally thought. Bethwaite employs Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of heteronomy to account for the relation of the field of art to other social fields. Heteronomy describes the influence of external forces over a particular social field.
Bethwaite noticed that during the interviews she collected, some of her interviewees mentioned the concept of a bridge while discussing the potential of art and culture. They viewed art as a facilitator of relations between people, corporate sponsors and nation states.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 added a new layer to the analysis. The war highlighted the growing position of security service actors in Putin’s establishment and revealed their increased role in the field of art. China’s role in Russia’s status-seeking pursuits in world politics also gained emphasis as Russia’s relations with Western countries suffered a severe setback due to the invasion of Ukraine. One of the research articles in the dissertation examines this by analysing the exhibition of Russian art in Shanghai.
“It is important to generate knowledge about IR by also looking at less researched sites and actors and by using interdisciplinary theories and methods that can enrich the scientific toolkit of IR,” Bethwaite points out.
Bethwaite’s dissertation consists of an introductory chapter and four publications. One is a book chapter and three are scientific articles, two of which she authored together with her second supervisor, University Lecturer Anni Kangas. The research relies on various types of data: research interviews and fieldwork in Italy, Spain, China and Russia, academic publications, Russian state-level documents and materials from Russian-, English- and Spanish-language media. During her doctoral studies, Bethwaite also accumulated practical experience, for example, by volunteering at the Moscow Contemporary Art Biennale and Manifesta, a European nomadic biennial.
Public defence on Saturday 21 September
MA Julia Bethwaite’s doctoral dissertation in the field of international relations Forms of power in the transnational field of art: Exploring ‘Russian’ actors and artistic sites beyond Russia’s territorial borders will be publicly examined at Tampere University’s Faculty of Management and Business at 12 o’clock on Saturday 21 September 2024. The venue is lecture hall D11 in the Main Building. The opponent is Professor Alan Ingram from University College London while University Lecturer Anni Kangas from the Faculty of Management and Business acts as the custos.