Synopses & Reviews
"Can music change the world? Only in very special circumstances. Once in a generation, a band can create a moment on which society turns. Through your brave actions you have provided Russia with such a moment. Your fellow musicians stand with you."Billy Bragg
On February 21, 2012, five members of a Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot staged a performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Dressed in brightly colored tights and balaclavas, they performed their punk prayer, asking the Virgin Mary to drive out Russian president Vladimir Putin from the church. After just forty seconds, they were chased out by security. Three members of the collective, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, known as Masha, Nadya, and Katya, were later arrested and charged with felony hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. As their trial unfolded, these young women became global feminist icons, garnering the attention and support of activists and artists around the world.
SPECIAL TO THE PRINT EDITION: New courtroom statements from October 10 appeal, and tributes by Bianca Jagger, Peaches and Simonne Jones, Tobi Vail, Barbara Browning, Vivien Goldman.
Pussy Riot! is an essential document of this galvanizing historical moment. It includes letters from prison, courtroom statements, defense attorney closing arguments, poems, the infamous punk prayer, and tributes by Yoko Ono, Johanna Fateman, Karen Finley, Justin Vivian Bond, Eileen Myles, and JD Samson.
Pussy Riot is a feminist punk performance collective based in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 2011, they perform public artistic responses to Russian politics. In February of 2012, three members of the group were arrested and charged with felony hooliganism after performing in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced to two years in prison.
Synopsis
Letters from prison, songs, poems, and courtroom statements, plus tributes to the punk band that shook the world.
Synopsis
SPECIAL TO THE PRINT EDITION New courtroom statements from October 10 appeal, and tributes by Bianca Jagger, Peaches & Simonne Jones, Tobi Vail, Barbara Browning, Vivien Goldman.
On February 21, 2012, five members of a Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot staged a performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Dressed in brightly colored tights and balaclavas, they performed their punk prayer, asking the Virgin Mary to drive out Russian president Vladimir Putin from the church. After just forty seconds, they were chased out by security. Three members of the collective, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, known as Masha, Nadya, and Katya, were later arrested and charged with felony hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. As their trial unfolded, these young women became global feminist icons, garnering the attention and support of activists and artists around the world.
Pussy Riot is an essential document of this galvanizing historical moment. It includes letters from prison, courtroom statements, defense attorney closing arguments, poems, the infamous punk prayer, and tributes by Yoko Ono, Johanna Fateman, Karen Finley, Justin Vivian Bond, Eileen Myles, and JD Samson.
About the Author
Pussy Riot: PUSSY RIOT is a feminist punk performance collective based in Moscow. Founded in 2011, they perform public artistic responses to Russian politics. In February of 2012, three members of the group were arrested and charged with felony hooliganism after performing in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced to two years in prison.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface by Amy Scholder, editorial director of the Feminist Press
Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away (Punk Prayer)
Pussy Riot: Art or Politics?
Letter by Masha in Prison
Letters by Nadya in Prison
Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest
Letter to Patriarch Kirill
Kropotkin-Vodka
Letter to President Medvedev
Putin Has Pissed Himself
Opening Courtroom Statement by Masha
Opening Courtroom Statement by Nadya
Raze the Pavement
Excerpts from the Court Transcript
Closing Statement by Defense Attorney Violetta Volkova
Closing Statement by Defense Attorney Mark Feygin
Closing Statement by Defense Attorney Nikolay Polozov
Closing Courtroom Statement by Katya
Closing Courtroom Statement by Nadya
Closing Courtroom Statement by Masha
Three Poems by Masha
Tributes to Pussy Riot
Yoko Ono, Bianca Jagger, Peaches and Simonne Jones, Barbara Browning, Tobi Vail, Vivien Goldman, Johanna Fateman, JD Samson, Eileen Myles, Justin Vivian Bond, and Karen Finley