Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhinais has been ordered to do 40 hours of community service stemming from a protest staged at the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on 20th December. Judge Yulia Mordvina ruled that Alyokhina had “violated the law on public gatherings”.
Judge Yulia Mordvina ruled that Maria Alyokhina had “violated the law on public gatherings”
Maria was recently in London for the opening of her exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. The exhibition called Art Riot offered some interesting sidelights about what may or may not be happening in Russian art, without in any sense offering a full survey. Curated by Marat Guelman, the former director of PERMM contemporary art museum in Perm, and co-founder of the Foundation for Effective Politics.
The Art Riot exhibition was dedicated to Post-Soviet Union protest art over the past 25 years. This was a world premiere of protest artists Pussy Riot and Pyotr Pavlensky. Alongside this exhibition, award-winning theatre group Les Enfant Terribles presented Inside Pussy Riot, a groundbreaking immersive theatre experience including performances by founding Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Taking place 100 years after the Russian Revolution, Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism explored issues such as challenges to individual freedom of expression in the face of both political ideology and religion. While it does not have direct links to the Revolution, many of the problems that artists face in Russia today are comparable to those in 1917 such as persisting government censorship and police intervention.
The punk activist along with Olga Borisova were arrested for putting up a banner reading “Happy Birthday, Executioners” at an entrance to the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow.
The anniversary on December 20 was the 100th since the founding of the Cheka, the Soviet secret police organisation that preceded dictator Joseph Stalin’s NKVD, the KGB, and post-Soviet Russia’s FSB. On December 21, Judge Yulia Mordvina ruled that Alyokhina had “violated the law on public gatherings”.
Alyokhina and her photographer Denis Bocharyov now face up to 15 days in jail or a fine after spending the night at a police station ahead of the administrative hearing. They were charged with participating in an unsanctioned demonstration that “hampers citizens’ access to living space, transportation facilities, or social infrastructure”. Bocharyov hasn’t yet been charged.
Alyokhina and photographer Denis Bocharyov now face up to 15 days in jail or a fine after spending the night at a police station ahead of the administrative hearing. They were charged with participating in an unsanctioned demonstration that “hampers citizens’ access to living space, transportation facilities, or social infrastructure”. Bocharyov hasn’t yet been charged.