One hundred years after the Russian Revolution, Russians still know how to do rebellion. Pussy Riot, a feminist art collective that came to existence in 2011, aimed for nothing less but to change the world they lived in.
In 2012, Pussy Riot was making headlines all over the world for performing Punk Prayer, an inciting anti-Putin song, in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The clever lyrics parody the Orthodox Church for campaigning for Putin, and call for Putin’s demise. The rest was history, as the Church and Putin didn’t quite appreciate the women’s artistic expression and arrested three of the group members. A few months later they were sentenced to prison for two years.
Behind bars, they continued to attract a lot of attention and support from all over the world. Madonna, Sting, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and many others all called for their release. Pussy Riot support concerts were taking place all over the world.
The three young women were released just a few months before their sentence term because of a government decree . Prison life didn’t do much to curve their revolutionary spirit. On the contrary, once released, the women were back to their revolutionary ways, and pledged to fight the political system in Russia.
Where are they now? Just this March, Masha Alyokhina was in San Francisco, performing in Revolution, a play based on the Pussy Riot church performance. Masha now warns Americans they are in for a Putin-like time with Trump at the wheel.
The film we are screening next week is Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer, a documentary that chronicles the group’s beginnings, its rapid and controversial rise to fame, and the response to their arrest and trial.
Join us on Sunday 14 May at 2.30pm for a glimpse into contemporary Russian politics and artistic resistance. Get your tickets now.
Image: Copyright Denis Bochkarev