Pussy Riot founder channels her rage against Putin into art

"We'll need a bit more space, because I will be screaming soon," Pussy Riot creator Nadya Tolokonnikova said as she and her group of performers lined up in front of Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, calling on the crowd massed in front of the museum to take a few steps back.

"And you know why I will be screaming?" added Tolokonnikova before launching her performance. "Because we women and queer people are encouraged to be quiet, and that's why we're going to take up our space now."

Among the several hundreds of supporters of the Russian feminist protest art collective gathered to see them perform live, many fans were wearing Pussy Riot's iconic balaclavas for the free event — just like the around 50 performers accompanying Tolokonnikova.

Now an international movement with hundreds of people participating in their protest actions, Pussy Riot first grabbed the world's attention in 2012 after a guerrilla performance in a cathedral in Moscow. Their "Punk Prayer" performed in the collective's trademark colorful balaclavas got the group's founders, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria "Masha" Alyokhina, sentenced to two years in prison for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred."

'Rage' as an art show

The Berlin performance was a one-night event promoting Nadya Tolokonnikova's exhibition at the OK Linz, an Austrian contemporary art museum. It is the first time solo exhibit of her works in Europe. 

The title of the exhibition, "Rage," is also the name of Tolokonnikova's last video work filmed in Russia. Police raided the video shoot — as shown in a documentary segment at the end of the music video. Participants were arrested for their involvement in a film shoot that "contains propaganda of homosexuality."

The video was released shortly after Alexei Navalny was arrested upon his return to Russia from Germany in 2021, with Pussy Riot calling for the release of Putin's political opponent.

Following Navalny's death in a Siberian penal colony, rage continues to drive Tolokonnikova's actions.

She said she is also inspired by Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who told her that it is important to not only feel grief following her husband's death but also rage.

"She used the exact word 'rage.' Rage is a very productive emotion. But I think it has to be used in the right way," Tolokonnikova told DW. "If you just have pent-up anger, it keeps bubbling up inside you and can eat you up, but if you let it out, go to a rally or make a gesture of political art, it can be great."

On Russia's most-wanted list

Navalny's famous quote, "Love is stronger than fear," also continues to motivate Tolokonnikova in her work, which remains defined by fearlessness.

Her 2022 performance, "Putin's Ashes," directly confronts the Russian president. It shows Pussy Riot women burning a portrait of Vladimir Putin in the desert. The ashes of the fire are collected in little bottles.

The performers accompanying Tolokonnikova in the video are "12 women from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia who experienced repression and aggression at the hands of the Russian president," according to a press statement by the conceptual performance artist.

Shortly after the video was released, Tolokonnikova landed on Russia's most-wanted list, a fact uncovered by news outlet Mediazona, the independent media outlet focused on anti-Putinist opposition that was founded by Pussy Riot's Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina in 2014.

Support for her Ukrainian friends

Tolokonnikova has since fled Russia, but lives "geo-anonymously" for safety reasons. The artist remains a prominent activist on the global scene.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she founded another organization curating non-fungible tokens (NFT) created by female, non-binary and LGBTQ+ artists. Through the sale of the organization's NFTs, she raised $7 million to aid Ukraine.

In her 2023 TED Talk, she spelled out why Russia is attacking its neighbor:

"Putin became intimidated by Ukraine choosing the path of freedom and democracy. That's why the Russian army bombs maternity wards, schools, hospitals, rapes and kills civilians and throws their bodies in mass graves. Putin and everyone who supports him are dead inside, and they must be defeated," said Tolokonnikova.

She held her talk shortly after finding out that she was on Russia's most-wanted list. In her speech, she also discussed why Putin sees her as a threat to his dictatorial system.

"Not because of any actual physical power I have, but because courage is contagious," she said. Courage, she added, is a power we all have: "It's a moral act to use this power. You may or may not achieve the results that you wanted, but there is eternal beauty in trying to find truth, in risking everything you've got for what's right."

 

 

Edited by: Brenda Haas

DW's interview with Nadya Tolokonnikova was conducted in Russian by Natalia Smolentceva.