US Arts Official to Attend Putin’s Economic Forum in Russia

Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the head of the US Commission of Fine Arts, is due in Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), according to a Russian state media report. No American officials have attended the forum in over a decade, so his presence would not only end this boycott, but it would also raise questions about Washington-Moscow relations.

SPIEF, which takes place from June 3 to 6, has historically served as a venue for economic diplomacy and international business engagement, but participation by Western officials and corporations has declined sharply since 2022.

Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rumbling on with no end in sight, there have been a few signs that the West might be relaxing its stance on blacklisting Russian culture. Take, for example, Moscow’s Artwin Gallery being afforded a space at Frieze London last year. Or Russia reopening its pavilion at the Venice Biennale last month having not participated since the war broke out. An increasing number of galleries in the US and Europe are starting to work with Russian artists again, especially in Paris.

Now Cook, the chair of the US Commission of Fine Arts, a federal advisory body overseeing architecture and design in Washington, will be rubbing shoulders with Russia’s elite in St.Peterburg. Vladimir Putin himself often holds court at SPIEF, taking to the stage to give his characteristic rambling speeches. Cook’s seat in the audience could carry symbolic weight in the context of strained bilateral relations amid the war.

Whereas the Russian Pavilion in Venice was hit by several protests in May, Cook’s planned visit to St. Petersburg has so far gone pretty much unnoticed in the West.

Cook, who has been instrumental in greenlighting Donald Trump’s polarising White House ballroom extension, told Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency that the US State Department and SPIEF’s organising committee have cleared his participation. 

“I’m invited to the plenary session and President Putin’s address,” he reportedly said. “And I will be in attendance.” He also said he plans to meet Russia’s culture minister Olga Lyubimova.

Cook served in Trump’s previous administration and is no stranger to Russia. In 2017, he gave a speech at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and also addressed audiences in other locations across Russia. RIA Novosti claimed that he’s also a Russia specialist at the World Monuments Fund (WMF), a New York City-based private non-profit, and was also involved in the restoration of a replica of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre located outside Moscow. I asked the WMF, which only lists Cook as a board member, if this was the case, but it didn’t respond.

I also wrote to the US Commission of Fine Arts to ask if Cook's trip to Russia is part of a broader effort to rebuild cultural dialogue with Russia. I asked if the Commission was advised by any federal agencies about potential diplomatic implications of attending SPIEF, and if it believed cultural and architectural exchanges should continue despite tensions between the United States and Russia. 

Thomas Luebke, the secretary of the US Commission of Fine Arts, told me that the Commission “has coordinated with the State Department on various logistical and administrative details concerning Mr. Cook’s trip.” However, he said he couldn’t answer my other questions, and pointed me in the direction of Cook’s staff, but they did not respond to my questions.

SPEIF also did not respond to my request for comment.

So what do the Ukrainians think about all this against the backdrop of Moscow’s most recent attack on Kyiv? A Russian missile and drone attack reportedly killed 18 people across Ukraine on June 1, including two children. 

The “Write a Request” page was down on the President of Ukraine’s official website, and my email to the Ukrainian Embassy in the UK bounced. I got a message saying the “mailbox was full.” I also wrote to the Ukrainian culture ministry but received no answer. 

However, Vitalit Tytych, the head of legal affairs for the International Committee of Museums (ICOM) Ukraine, did respond when I asked him what he thought about Cook’s visit. “I’m saddened, but not surprised,” he said. Does he believe the US delegation signals that Washington is holding out an olive brand to Moscow? “Money trumps moral issues, always,” Tytych said. “I think that the main task of Trump is to bring back Putin into the handshake circle on an international level. So his administration will rebuild relations under any pretext.”

I asked the US State Department if this was the case, but I was ghosted once again.

According to independent Russian media outlet Meduza, among the other Americans joining Cook in St. Petersburg will be Candace Owens, the right-wing political commentator with millions of followers on social media. In 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, she declared that "Ukraine was created by Russians." This statement echoes one of Putin's favorite slogans claiming that Ukraine as a state was created by Bolshevik Russia and Vladimir Lenin personally.

Former US marine and UN weapons inspector serving in Iraq, Scott Ritter, will also reportedly be traveling to Russia for SPIEF. “Ritter was convicted in the US of sexually assaulting a minor: he masturbated in front of a webcam while chatting with a police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl,” Meduza wrote. “Ritter is a frequent guest on propaganda shows on Russian television and a columnist for RT [Russia Today]. He is presented as a ‘military expert.’ In 2022, Russian pro-government media cited him in claims that Ukrainian troops were responsible for the massacre of civilians in Bucha.”