Environmental activists today sprayed paint at the entrance to La Scala, the prestigious opera house in Milan. It is the last installment in a long series of actions to create public and political awareness about climate change. Later in the day, more demonstrators showed up at the opera house, among other things to protest against the war in Ukraine and the fact that a Russian opera piece is just festively opening the new opera season.
In Italy, the eyes of the cultural world are focused just today on the iconic La Scala, where the first screening of season opener ‘Boris Godunov’ can be seen tonight. That is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky sung in Russian that tells the story of an autocratic ruler and his people.
The season opener at La Scala, a highlight of the Italian cultural calendar, is accompanied by a grand gala evening. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, among others, is expected in Milan for ‘Boris Godunov’, as are Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.
“Don’t bury your head in the sand”
The climate protest was carried out by five members of the Last Generation movement. Two of them unfurled banners reading “Last generation – no to gas and no to coal”. In a press release, the activists explained that they have decided to spray paint on La Scala “to ask the politicians attending tonight’s performance to stop burying their heads in the sand and to intervene to save the population”.
The police quickly arrived. In the meantime, the activists managed to leave bright pink, blue and turquoise on the sidewalk and facade of the opera house. The five were arrested. A team from La Scala took care of the necessary cleaning a little later.
Last Generation militants have already taken various actions in various European museums. They emphasize that they do not want to damage the works of art, but want to draw attention to the environmental disaster that is unfolding.
The famous opera house, meanwhile, defends the fact that the new season will be opened with a Russian opera piece, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The decision for this opera was made three years ago. It was impossible to cancel it and why should we?” said artistic director Dominique Meyer earlier during a press conference. “We are not doing propaganda for Russian President Vladimir Putin here and we are not doing anything against Ukraine.”
About 20 people protested tonight in front of the cleaned building against the Russian piece. They waved the Ukrainian flag and held up banners and placards with messages against the war in Russia. “Russia must be completely isolated,” Tatiana Slyusarenko, originally from Ukraine, angrily told journalists.
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