Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia

×

Expand

Pussy Riot, From the action “Putin peed his pants,” 2012

(Photo: Denis Bochkarev)

Opening Reception: March 21 6pm to 9pm

“Chaotic, surprising, visually striking, bold. It is a tacit reprimand, too, of the complicity of Western nations that ignored so many warning signs” - New York Times

Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia is the first survey exhibition of the infamous feminist art collective Pussy Riot. Formed in Moscow in 2011, Pussy Riot came together in opposition to their country’s increasingly authoritarian government. The exhibition features vivid documentation of the group’s performances and street activism as assembled by member Maria (Masha) Alyokhina. Visitors encounter more than fifty courageous actions, and how Russia’s repressive state apparatus was turned into a “non-consensual” creative partner, boldly playing with fire.

In Punk Prayer, an early and now legendary guerilla performance staged inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 2012, Pussy Riot took over the alter to perform a blistering song in response to the upcoming re-election of Vladimir Putin. Three of the collective’s members – Alyokhina, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich – were subsequently arrested, charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in penal colonies. In the eyes of Putin’s spiritual advisor Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov, the punishment was fitting: “... all of this is more than hooliganism, more than just banal anti-clerical acts, as people are wont to call it. This is a new reality of our life: ‘velvet terrorism.’”

Through videos, photographs, testimonies, song lyrics, and reflections, the exhibition offers a rich account of Pussy Riot’s non-violent actions, alongside the reactions of the Russian authorities to their provocations. In illustrating an increasingly hostile relationship between the group and the state authorities, the exhibition provides key insights into the evolution of Putin’s Russia over the past ten years, leading up to the military invasion of Ukraine.

Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot's Russia was originally presented at Kling & Bang (Reykjavik). Created by Maria Alyokhina and curated with artists Ragnar Kjartansson and Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir, the exhibition has been shown at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

Programming:

• March 21 at 7:30pm: Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot, and Nadya Tolokonnikova in conversation with Velvet Terrorismcurators Ragnar Kjartansson and Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir at The Pipe Shop (5 minute walk from The Polygon). Space is limited. Priority seating for Gallery Members. Doors at 7pm. 
• ​March 22 at 7pm: RIOT DAYS concert at The Pearl (881 Granville St). Find out more.
• ​More will be announced at thepolygon.ca