Pussy Riot co-founder, activist, and conceptual artist Nadya Tolokonnikova has been placed on Russia’s Wanted List for “criminal activity” after news of her latest Vladimir Putin-related performance work began circulating earlier this year. Tolokonnikova filmed her collaborative performance “Putin’s Ashes” (2022) last August, showing herself and 11 other women clad in balaclavas setting fire to a 10-foot effigy portrait of the Russian president in the desert.
After she and the group collectively cast spells to chase Putin away from his post, Tolokonnikova bottled the ashes from his burnt portrait and showcased them with the short film during her first solo exhibition at Jeffrey Deitch’s Los Angeles gallery last January.
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“Coincidentally, my Instagram vanished and this new criminal case was announced within a week of the show,” the artist said in a press release once she discovered she was on the list. “Police detained friends and family, and my lawyers sent me the documents they found.”
In 2012, Tolokonnikova and two other members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” because of an impromptu concert at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
Earlier this month, Russia reportedly opened a criminal investigation against Tolokonnikova on grounds that an NFT she sold in 2021 “insulted religious sensibilities.” The NFT was an image of a hand-drawn Virgin Mary resembling a vulva on top of the digitized records of Tolokonnikova’s prison sentencing documents.
“Any truly political artist risks their personal safety for the sake of their art,” Tolokonnikova said. “It is not a new concept for me. They threaten us but we cannot show fear.”
“I will use the tools I have as an artist and crypto enthusiast to keep fighting,” she added. “I’m not a soldier, I’m an artist, art is my weapon. Glad to see they are scared.”
Source: Hyperallergic.com