Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova on ‘Putin’s Ashes,’ Performing in Ukraine and ‘Popaganda’

Nadya Tolokonnikova, 33, is a hero. For more than 15 years, this artist-activist has spoken truth to power in wildly creative and provocative ways and done hard time for it. She is the co-creator and face of Pussy Riot, the feminist arts collective formed in 2011 in Moscow.  

Pussy Riot first made global headlines in February 2012 with “Punk Prayer,” a guerilla protest they performed inside the Russian capital’s Christ The Savior Cathedral. “Birth-giver of God, drive away Putin,” they screamed on consecrated ground clad in their signature brightly colored balaclavas. This came after the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin a “miracle of God.” 

Three members were charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and Tolokonnikova and Pussy Riot member Masha Alyokhina spent two years in jail, including in Russian labor camps, before being released in advance of the Sochi Winter Olympics. Today, Pussy Riot is a decentralized global movement that’s staged events from Eastern Europe to Buenos Aires to a float last weekend at a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade. Alyokhina currently tours with Riot Days, which is rooted in theater and poetry; while Tolokonnikova’s Pussy Riot is a more straightforward concert performance with a backing band and multi-media.

Putin, meanwhile, has for 23 years ruled Russia with an iron fist and last February invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine, costing hundreds of thousands of lives and adversely impacting the global economy and security. Pussy Riot’s message has never been more urgent.

On Jan. 27, at the L.A. outpost of the Jeffrey Deitch gallery, Pussy Riot debuted “Putin’s Ashes,” a multi-media installation incorporating film, visual art and live performance.

The “Putin’s Ashes” film, projected on the main’s gallery’s four walls, showed a dozen masked women from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus in the desert marching in a ritualistic ceremony burning a 10-foot painting of Putin while driving knives into the ground and pushing a button that “neutralizes Vladimir Putin.” Both the ashes and button were on display along with a beautiful print by artist Shepard Fairey.

Gallery attendees were given colorful balaclavas that made Pussy Riot’s performance in a nearby parking lot before some 500 people seem itself like a protest. Tolokonnikova screamed and growled in Russian on a make-shift stage with low-tech production on half a dozen abrasive songs (with Putin’s name spewed repeatedly). A Ukrainian activist expressed his gratitude for recently approved tanks and said they now need jets. 

It was powerful and provocative agitprop. Speaking with Tolokonnikova in an undisclosed location afterward, it’s clear she’s well versed in politics (which she studied at Moscow State University), art (she’s in touch with iconic women artists including Marina Abramović, Jenny Holzer and Judy Chicago) and music (she’s a classically trained pianist and worked with Big Freedia, Boys Noize and Tove Lo). Here, Tolokonnikova discusses plans for a European tour, her approach to performing in Ukraine and ways to help the cause. 

Pollstar: “Putin’s Ashes,” was a brilliant concept – will there be more performances? 

Nadya Tolokonnikova: I really enjoyed this model because it encompasses Pussy Riot. As a multimedia artist you can express all parts of your personality, you can deliver a speech, you can be serious, you can be silly, you can own the space. In the Russian art tradition, we call it “total installation,” because it occupies the whole space working with every inch of the space versus more traditional approaches of hanging things on a wall and leaving the white cube mostly untouched. We are going to keep doing these shows. We have interest from galleries, and potentially we’re going to bring the show somewhat modified, because I like things site-specific. With more traditional concerts or festivals we’ll bring elements, for example, I always insist that video is as important as music. 

Have you ever performed in Ukraine? 

I did a music video in 2016 called “Organs.” The war didn’t start in 2022, it started in 2014 [when Crimea was annexed]. At the time I came to Ukraine and spoke about the Russian prison system, torture by Russian police and Russia starting this terrible war, but I did not get a chance to perform.

Are you going to tour in Europe? 

We are in conversations with some institutional spaces to potentially put up “Putin’s Ashes.”

In terms of Ukraine, are there places artists should try to perform, perhaps galleries or other spaces? 

I don’t have an easy answer to your question; I wish I did. I’ve tried to do art pieces dedicated to Ukraine or in Ukraine since 2014 when the war first started, but it’s difficult. I was thinking of going to Ukraine in 2014 and perform at the front line, but it felt inappropriate after the [Malaysian commercial jet] crash. It was such a tragedy and I’m always cautious about the things I say, especially in Ukraine. It’s something the Ukrainian people should decide. If you’re an artist and you’re thinking about traveling to Ukraine, if you have a local community who wants you there, and they communicated that your presence is going be meaningful and uplifting, then yes; if it’s through a promoter, you have to check with your local community in Ukraine if it’s appropriate. They will tell me if it is meaningful and important for me to be there as a Russian-born person, then I’ll do it by all means. But for me specifically, or any person who was born in Russia or holds a Russian passport, it’s a really touchy subject and you want to make sure, as an activist, that you’re not going hurt more than you gonna help. 

One member of Pussy Riot, Peter Verzilov, is on the frontline in Bakhmut right now. He’s part of a Ukrainian Army unit and he films a documentary. So I think that’s a really good example of how it can be. He lives with them, he lives with people who defend Bakhmut. So for him, that reality check is something that happens naturally because he’s risking his life as much as they’re risking their lives. This is a good example of how to meaningfully contribute as an activist and artist.

You’ve done a great deal of fundraising,
I think through NFTs? 

Yes, in the beginning of the war
I raised $7 million.

And where do the funds go? Are there organizations you recommend? 

It was at the beginning of the war. The situation today might be different, but I would recommend looking into United24, it didn’t exist at the time. We also send money to Come Back Alive, they use it for things like bulletproof vests and helmets.

You’ve also performed at music festivals like Life Is Beautiful and Outside Lands. Is that something you want to continue?

This is my dream. I love performing at festivals. It feels like performing at a rally and you get to see people and attract people who aren’t familiar with your work. I think because we’re so colorful, and we always use video, and videos are really pop-y, it’s like “popaganda.” We had great traction at Outside Lands where we performed a full-on festival-ready set. I think we were one of the most well attended acts at the festival.

If somebody wants you to play at their festival, how does that happen? 

My agents are Marty Diamond at Wasserman and Lucy Atkinson at Earth Agency Ltd. in Europe.

You’ve worked with musicians like Tove Lo, Big Freedia and Boys Noize, put on guerilla performances that are abrasive and raw, and you’re a classically-trained pianist. How does the music side of your pursuits fit with Pussy Riot? 

We started Pussy Riot as an art project. Neither myself or other members of Pussy Riot knew how to write songs or really play music. My classical education helped. It’s nice to be able to play piano and know harmonies, I’m a music nerd, but to translate it to modern songwriting is not easy and wasn’t our goal. Our goal was to create something abrasive and scream about our ideas. The quality didn’t matter because we didn’t want to be played on radio. I started learning songwriting and working with professional producers when I got out of jail. Working with the amazing people you mentioned helped me be a decent songwriter and producer. I just put out my first track produced 100% by me. It’s “Putin’s Ashes,” it was just me in my bedroom, my microphone and computer.

This issue of Pollstar is going to the ILMC – what message would you like to tell the European live industry? 

I hope they are going to welcome Pussy Riot on a European tour. I look forward to bringing performances to clubs and festivals. I didn’t travel with my music as much in Europe, but I really would love to. I had a lot of fun playing and meeting Pussy Riot supporters on my short tour in North America last year. I hope to bring this material, the videos, the songs we created over the years to Europe.