Maria Alyokhina on Political Art, Pussy Riot, Hannah Arendt, Justice for Political Prisoners, and Working with Belarus Free Theatre
Maria Alyokhina, a member of the Russian punk performance group Pussy Riot, talks about political art and what she’s been up to since she and band member Nadya Tolokonnikova were released from prison in late December 2013. Only days after they were freed, the two artists announced their launch of Justice Zone, an organization that provides legal support to political prisoners in Russia, and MediaZona, an online publication that spotlight incidents of political injustice in their home country. In 2014, they were awarded the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought. Now in London, Maria is preparing to make her theater debut in Burning Doors, with the independent Belarus Free Theatre company.
-
- Pussy Riot members in their studio, 2012
-
- Maria and Nadia awarded Hannah Arendt Prize, 2014
-
- Maria Alyokhina with Belarus Free Theatre in The Jungle refugee camp, France, 2015
Listen to our podcast episode with filmmakers of the documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer to learn more about the arrests and televised trial that followed Pussy Riot’s two-minute performance in a Moscow cathedral on February 21, 2012.
Read English versions of MediaZona coverage published in Vice and the Guardian.
Sound Editor: Guney Ozsan | Photos courtesy Maria Alyokhina | Episode Sounds: Pussy Riot performance of “Virgin Mary, Redeem Us of Putin, Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow
