I was shocked to read of Kirill Serebrennikov's arrest, particularly since at least one of the accusations seems truly bizarre (that A Midsummer Night's Dream was never staged, and the funds simply syphoned off -- a quick search of the Internet with limited date parameters, 1 Jan. 2012-31 Dec. 2012, produces dozens of references, including a video on Youtube loaded by RIA-Novosti on 20 November 2012). Mr Serebrennikov is a renowned theatre director, and the case against him and the Gogol Centre has been criticised by leading figures from the art world across Russia. I trust that the legal proceedings will swiftly be terminated.
As for the international community, my sense is that cases such as this require protest and decisive criticism, but I am against boycotts, which damage the entire artistic community in Russia and elsewhere. I have had close contacts with Russia back to Soviet times, and it was always accepted back then that cultural contacts should persist during times of political tension -- indeed, that they were more than ever necessary at such times.